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(1)
Administrative Law Judge
Administrative Law Judges are a
part of the Office of the Secretary of State in Tennessee
and hear appeals and make decisions on Family Assistance Program issues at
various locations within the state, including Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Nashville, Jackson and Memphis. [Note: See also, definition of Hearing Officer,
below.]
(2)
Appeal
An appeal is a procedure for
bringing grievances, which cannot be resolved in the local office to the
State Office for a hearing.
(3)
Appellant
An appellant is an individual
who is dissatisfied with an action of the Department in regard to the
furnishing or denial of assistance and who, as a result, is requesting a fair
hearing before the State Office.
(4)
Complaint
A complaint is an expression of
dissatisfaction by an applicant or recipient with action taken, or the failure to take action, by the local
office or a Service
Center of the
Department of Human Services. A
complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction is one that is not yet lodged
in a request for a fair hearing and that retains the possibility that it can
be resolved in a conference.
(5)
Complainant
A complainant is an applicant
or recipient, or individual acting in behalf of the applicant or recipient,
who initiates expressed dissatisfaction with action taken by DHS staff in
relation to assistance for which the client has applied or
which he is receiving.
(6)
Conciliation
Conciliation is a review of the
issue under appeal between the appellant and the Conciliation Unit in the Division
of Appeals and Hearings in the State Office.
Conciliation Unit staff will make the initial determination as to
whether the appeal was filed timely and whether the issue is subject to
appeal. They will acknowledge the
appeal that has been filed and will determine if the case action at issue was
appropriate. If the case requires
correction, Conciliation staff will make the correction, whenever
possible. Otherwise, they will notify
the appropriate county staff and specify the correction(s) needed. If Conciliation Unit staff is successful in
resolving the issue with the appellant, they will mail the appellant a
Resolution Letter, along with a copy of a Withdrawal form. If Conciliation Unit staff is unable to resolve
the issue with the client, the appeal must be forwarded to the Case
Preparation Unit to prepare for a hearing.
Staff will authorize continuation/reinstatement of benefits if
appropriate, pending an appeal.
(7)
Conference
A conference is a discussion of
the grievance between the complainant and county office staff in an effort to
resolve the complaint.
It is mandatory that a
conference be offered to a Food Stamp household, which wishes to contest a
denial of expedited service.
(8)
Fair Hearing
A fair hearing is a proceeding
before an impartial official designated by the Commissioner of the Department
of Human Services in which an appellant or his representative may present his
case. The case may be presented with
or without witnesses, to show why action or inaction by the county, area, or
district office should be corrected.
(9)
Hearing Officer
A Hearing Officer is an
impartial official of the Department of Human Services designated by the
Commissioner to conduct a fair hearing.
The staff member so designated shall have had no personal stake or
involvement in the case. A Hearing
Officer must not have been directly involved in the initial determination of
the action that is being contested, and was not have been the immediate
supervisor of the caseworker who took the action. [Note:
See definition of Administrative Law Judge in the section, above.]
(10)
Local Office
The Departmental office having
jurisdiction over the case, primarily the county office.
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