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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT

OF SOCIAL SERVICES ENERGY ASSISTANCE

01/03 VOLUME IX, CHAPTER F, PAGE 7

9. HEARING DECISION

The decision of the hearing officer or the Commissioner as appropriate shall be based exclusively on evidence and the findings and conclusions of the hearing officer. This constitutes the exclusive record for decision and such record shall be available to claimant or his/her representative at any reasonable time at the State Regional Office serving the LDSS.

Except as follows the decision of the hearing officer shall be rendered within 60 days following the date the appeal request is received in Home Office. When the claimant or his/her representative requests an extension or otherwise occasions a delay in the hearing, the time limit is extended by the number of days the hearing is delayed. The maximum period of delay is 30 days. The hearing officer determines whether the provision of extension or delay is being abused and reserves the right to set a date beyond which the hearing and decision will not be further delayed. This constitutes prompt and definitive administrative action.

The claimant and the LDSS shall each be notified of the decision by a copy of the written official report of the decision.

At the time the official decision report is received, the claimant, the claimant's representative and the LDSS shall be given written notice of the right to request a review of the hearing officer's decision by the Commissioner. A request for review from a LDSS must be submitted by the director or his/her designee. To be timely the request for review must be received in Home Office or postmarked no later than the 12th calendar day following the date of the hearing decision. The request must include a statement of arguments. New evidence shall not be submitted since it will not be considered in reviewing the decision of the hearing officer.

A copy of the request shall be sent to the other party of the appeal and any representative when the request for review is submitted to Home Office. The other party must have any counter arguments in Home Office or postmarked within seven days of the date of the request for review. Only those counter arguments received timely will be considered during the review.

The State Hearing Authority, within a reasonable time, may reconsider any decision it has made if there is new evidence that the original decision was not a valid one. In this regard, the hearing officer's decision is also subject to review by the Hearings Manager.

All decisions are available for inspection and copying; if identifying names and addresses of individuals in the specific case and other members of the public are kept confidential.

TRANSMITTAL #03-1