California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - December 2, 1998

Under welfare reform, counties are permitted to use their own criteria rather than state law on some issues, such as in Welfare-to-Work.

When presenting the county’s position at a state hearing, the county representative should explain why its policies, criteria and/or procedures were applied in the case. The county is expected to cite the applicable state law giving the county authority to use county rules. The county should then explain how and why county policies, criteria and/or procedures were applied in the particular case. The county representative must then provide documentation of relevant county policies, criteria, or procedures. Relevant documentation may include specific written sections of the certified county plan, written county policies or written training manuals.

If the county representative fails to provide written documentation to support its action, the administrative law judge will give no weight to a verbal statement of county policy. The judge would then decide the case by applying the facts of the case to relevant state law without regard to county policy.