THE FAIR HEARING

WHEN AND WHERE ARE FAIR HEARINGS?

In Nassau:
Fair Hearings are held in the Department of Social Services at County Seat Drive, Mineola, on the third floor of the building.

In Suffolk:
Fair Hearings are held at the Department of Social Services at 1140 Motor Pkwy., Hauppauge.

In special circumstances, hearings can be held by phone or at your home. (See the section on Special Problems).

All hearings are scheduled to begin at either 9:00 A.M. or 1:00 P.M. You must sign-in when you get to the fair hearing unit. The hearings are usually heard in the order people sign in. The earlier you get there, the less time you'll have to wait.

Before the hearing, you must be given copies of all the papers DSS will use at your hearing. (See Section 2). DSS must also provide a Fair Hearing Summary before the hearing. The summary is different from the packet of documents you should have been sent by DSS. The Fair Hearing Summary explains DSS' reasons for what it is doing. Remember, this is only DSS' side of the story. You will also have a chance to tell your side when the hearing starts.

Read the Fair Hearing Summary carefully before you go into the hearing room. If you do not understand something, ask the hearing officer to explain it once you get inside the hearing room. Don't be embarrassed to ask questions. It is often difficult to understand what is written on those papers. If you do not get a Summary before the hearing, tell the hearing officer. The hearing officer should have DSS give you one and then give you a chance to read it. If you need more time, the hearing can be adjourned by the hearing officer for you to prepare. You can ask for this.

THE CASE FILE

The DSS representative should have your entire case file at the fair hearing. If the entire case file is not available, tell the hearing officer. He or she should order the DSS representative to get the file so it is available for the hearing.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE FAIR HEARING?

Fair hearings usually take place in a small room with a table and chairs. There are usually three people at the hearing: you, the hearing officer and the DSS fair hearing representative. There can be more people if you or DSS bring witnesses.

Remember, fair hearings are confidential. You can ask the hearing officer to keep anyone, who you do not think should be there, out of the hearing.

The hearing officer acts like a judge and is there to listen and record on a tape recorder what is said in the room. The DSS fair hearing representative is there to tell only DSS'side of the story and why DSS thinks it is correct.

Sometimes, just before the fair hearing begins, the DSS fair hearing representative will want to meet with you informally (without the hearing officer) to try to "resolve" the fair hearing problem. This can be advantageous to you as well in order to gather more facts before the hearing, but if you are dissatisfied with the proposed resolution, be persistent about going ahead with the formal hearing. If you do agree to the resolution, make sure this is told to the hearing officer while being taped on the tape recorder.

The hearing officer will sit at the head of the table. He will have a tape recorder and will turn it on at the beginning and record everything. Speak up and make sure that the tape recorder is on all the time. You and any of your witnesses will sit on one side of the table, and DSS fair hearing representative and any DSS witnesses will sit on the other side of the table.

Usually, the hearing officer will first state the problem or the issue for the hearing. For example, "Mrs. Smith requested this fair hearing today because she disagrees with the agency's determination to discontinue public assistance and food stamps because she has a bank account with $5,000 in it." Ask questions if you do not understand what the hearing off icer says. Make sure the issue that the hearing officer states is the reason why you asked for the hearinq in the first place.   Tell the hearing officer right away if it is not. Do not wait to say something.Your objection can prevent the hearing from dealing with other additional or unrelated issues which you did not come prepared to discuss. This is also the time to raise any problems you have about seeing your case file or getting a copy of the summary, or problems with the Notice of Intent that DSS sentyou. Next, the DSS fair hearing representative will present the case for DSS. He or she will give the hearing officer any papers to be used as proof. Ask to see the papers and ask for time to read any papers that you have not seen before. If the DSS fair hearing representative gives the hearing officer any papers you never saw before, tell the hearing officer. Again, these should have been included in the fair hearing summary you got beforehand. The DSS fair hearing representative should explain what was done in your case and why. For example, the representative might say something like, "On February 15th, the agency asked Mrs. Smith to bring in copies of her rent receipts to prove what her rent is and copies of her 1992 federal and state tax returns by March 5th. Mrs. Smith did not bring in the copies by March 5th, and she did not ask her caseworker for more time. Therefore, on March 7th the agency denied her application for public assistance, Medicaid and Food Stamps." You, then, have a chance to ask the DSS representative questions about what she has said. In the example above, Mrs. Smith may want to ask if anyone from the agency contacted her landlord or the Internal Revenue Service to obtain the information requested because she told her caseworker that she tried to get the information but could not. If there is another witness for DSS, the hearing officer will hear from him or her and then allow you to ask any questions you may have.

Then, it is your turn to tell the hearing officer your side of the story. Usually the hearing officer will ask you questions first. Answer carefully and completely. Do not guess if you do not know the answer to a question. If you do not know the answer say, "I don't know" or "I can't remember."

Make sure to tell the hearing officer everything you think is important. Show him any papers that you brought as proof. When you are done, the DSS fair hearing representative will have a chance to ask you questions.

Next, any witnesses you brought will speak, one at a time. Your witnesses may have been asked to wait outside the hear- ing room. Ask each one to tell the hearing officer what he or she knows about the facts of your case. The fair hearing representative will also have a chance to ask your witnesses questions.

Finally, the hearing officer will ask if there is anything else. Tell him anything that you have forgotten to say, or it will be too late. If you forgot to bring any papers to the hearing or did not know you would need them, ask the hearing officer if you can send them to him. Sometimes the hearing officer will give you time to send them. You must ask before the hearing officer stops the hearing and turns off the tape recorder.