The purpose of a hearing is to provide the claimant with an impartial review of the county's action when they are dissatisfied with an action.
A state hearing is a form of administrative hearing mandated by federal and state law. Before the request is heard, county hearings staff reviews the request. This review process is the last stop before a case is heard at the state level.
The responsibility of providing a full and impartial hearing to the claimant rests jointly with the county and the state department.
Hearings staff is managed through the Business and Support Services Branch of the Health and Human Services Agency. This ensures that there is no conflict of interest when reviewing cases under the various programs, such as CalWORKs, Food Stamps, Medi-Cal, In-Home Support Services, Adoptions, and Foster Care as there are separate managers for each workgroup.