FAQs

No. Personnel complaints are not under the jurisdiction of the State Hearings Division. Visit the personnel complaints page for more information.
Yes, you can look at your case file before the hearing. All you have to do is ask your hearing officer and he or she will set up an appointment for you to look at it. You can also look at your case file even if you have not filed a hearing. You will need to call your case manager to set up an appointment to view your case. Learn more about looking at your case before the hearing.
Generally, you may pick up your position statement early if it is ready. Call your hearing officer to see if it's going to be available early. It depends on if the hearing officer has prepared it already or if there are plans on making any changes. The rules about position statements say that the position statement must be available two days prior to the hearing so there is a possibility that it may not be available early.
No, just call your hearing officer and tell him or her that you want your case worker at the hearing. Sometimes, the hearing officer has already requested that the case worker attend the hearing.
Visit the civil rights and discrimination page. At the bottom of the page you will find several links to the State. Those links will take you to three areas that will give you more information about civil rights and discrimination.
There are two main ways to file a hearing. You can send in your written request to the County or you can call the State's toll-free number. Visit the How To File A Hearing page for more information about how to file a hearing.
You can postpone your hearing by calling the State's toll-free number.
You can find instructions about how to make requests on the subpoenas page.
Go to our Aid Paid Pending page to see the rules for receiving aid paid pending your hearing. Call your assigned hearing officer if you have questions about aid paid pending your hearing.
You can request a rehearing. You must do this within 30 days of receiving the hearing decision. Read more about rehearings.
You should first call your worker and ask for an explanation of the action. After your worker has explained the reasons for the action and why the County took the action, if you disagree and wish to dispute the action in front of a judge, file your hearing as soon as possible. Be aware of the time limit for filing hearings.
Please visit our Authorized Representatives page. You will find information about who can help you and where you can call to get help.
No. If you only want an explanation of what the County did, you can call your case manager. Your worker will be able to explain the action he or she took on the case. If you disagree with the explanation, you can file a hearing. You have the right to know what's going on with your case and why. It is appropriate for you to call your case manager and ask questions about your case.

Example: Your food stamps are decreasing next month and you don't understand why. You should call your case worker and ask why your food stamps are decreasing. It may be because of income that was reported on your status report or you may have reported a decrease in your housing costs or a household member may have moved out of your home.

Or you may have received an overpayment notice of action. It's OK to call the worker on the notice of action and ask why an overpayment was calculated. If you disagree with the explanation, you can file a hearing.
The Department of Social Services is required to follow the regulations as they are written by the state and federal government. The Resources page lists the regulations that are used in the day-to-day operations of Social Services.
You will find directions to the hearing location by visiting our Hearing Location and Directions page.
You can withdraw your hearing by calling the State's toll-free number or you can call your hearing officer, who will contact the State for you. Our Withdrawals page has more information about how to withdraw.
You should try to bring evidence or witnesses that support the reasons why you disagree with the County's action. Learn more about what to bring to your hearing.
Generally, the hearing decision comes 30-45 days after the hearing. The judge has 90 days from the date you filed your hearing to make the decision unless a time waiver has been sent.
You can find links to a variety of regulations by visiting our Resources page.
Read about how CMSP Hearings differ from Medi-Cal hearings.
The County's position statement contains all of the information about why the County took the action. It contains all relevant regulations, evidence and the reasons for the action. The position statement is what the County gives the judge in support of their action.
There are two types of withdrawals: Straight Withdrawals and Conditional Withdrawals. If the County made a mistake, you were probably offered a conditional withdrawal, which means the County has agreed to review something within your hearing request and they will notify you of the results of their review. By notifying you of the results of their review, you retain your hearing rights because the County will send you a new notice of action. If you disagree with the new notice, you can file a new hearing. Remember to do this within 90 days of the notice of action.
That means that there is an issue within your hearing request that is leading the County to believe there is no jurisdiction for the State to hear details on that issue. Bifurcation basically means "to split in two."

Example: If you filed a hearing on an overpayment and the County believes you did not file within the 90-day time period, the County would request that the State bifurcate your hearing request. This means that the State will split your hearing request into two issues: The first issue would be whether you filed your hearing timely, and the second issue would be about the reason you filed your hearing.

This is how it works: The first issue of whether you filed your hearing timely would be determined at the hearing. If the judge determines that you did NOT file a timely request for hearing, there would be no more discussions about your issue. If the judge determines that you did file a timely hearing request, the judge would set another hearing to hear the details of your issue, which is the second issue.

Note: If the County requests bifurcation, you will be notified in writing by the State.