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Vermont Department for Children and Families Economic Services Division Reach Up Services Rules 2300 33

2. Failure to act with reasonable promptness; 3. Actions that affect the applicant's/participant's receipt of benefits or services, including sanctions; 4. Implementation of Department policy, or lack thereof, that affects the applicant's/participant's situation; and 5. Required provisions included in the FDP. b. Appeals related to Reach Up eligibility decisions are covered in rule 2262.

2331.3 Appeal of Reach Up Services Decision (08/01/2024, 23-30)

a. A request for a fair hearing on an applicant's/participant's appeal of a Department decision must be made within 90 days of the mailing date of the notice of decision.

b. Except where indicated below, benefits continue without change if a participant requests a fair hearing before the effective date of the decision and wishes to have benefits continue during the appeal process.

1. A participant may request that the adverse action be implemented pending the outcome of the fair hearing.

c. If the effective date of the decision is on a weekend or holiday, a participant has until the end of the first working day immediately following the effective date of the decision to appeal the decision and receive continuing benefits.

d. If a participant is sanctioned for not engaging in the Reach Up services requirements, receive a notice of termination, and request a fair hearing before the effective date of the sanction related termination, benefits for the month must be reinstated at the participant's request to the current month's level, pending the outcome of the fair hearing.

1. Assistance for subsequent months is dependent on cooperating with the sanctions process (rule 2327).

e. If benefits continue at the same level and the Human Services Board decision is favorable to the Department, then any overpayment received by a participant pending the fair hearing will be subject to recoupment (rule 2219).

f. If a participant requests that benefits not be continued at the present level and the Human Services Board decision is favorable to the participant, the Department must retroactively pay any underpayments to the participant.

g. If a participant withdraws from the fair hearing process prior to the fair hearing, the Department will seek recoupment of any overpayment received by the participant because of the fair hearing request.

h. Benefits do not continue without change in the following circumstances:

1. The sole issue is one of state or federal law or policy, or change in state or federal law; 2. The participant requests not to receive continued benefits pending the fair hearing;