General Information Regarding a State Hearing:
Time Limit on Requesting a Hearing: YOU ONLY HAVE 90 DAYS TO FILE YOUR REQUEST FOR HEARING.
The 90 days starts when the county/agency took the action you are complaining about. This date will often be the date the county/agency mailed or gave a Notice of Action to you—denying your application, stopping or reducing your benefits/services, or asking you to repay an overpayment. This date is usually listed on a Notice of Action as the "Date" or "Mailing Date". Just to be sure, keep the envelope in which the Notice of Action was mailed and take it to the hearing—you can show the envelope to the judge if you are asked when you received the Notice of Action.
Exception: If you did not know about the county’s action, you may file a hearing request after 90 days. At the hearing, you must prove that you never received the Notice of Action or that you did not receive it until the 90-day period was over.
The 90-day period does not stop for any reason. If you filed a formal complaint and/or discrimination complaint and are waiting to see what happens, please be aware that you cannot request a hearing after the 90 day period even if your complaint is not resolved until after the 90 days is over.
The 90-day period is not the same as three months. The 90-day period is often shorter than three months.
https://secure.dss.cahwnet.gov/shd/pubintake/cdss-request.aspx
Asking Someone to Represent You – Authorized Representatives: You may ask someone to represent you at your hearing. This person does not have to be a lawyer. You may ask someone you know, such as a friend, relative, co-worker, or neighbor, a lawyer (in private practice) or Legal Services, or any advocacy group that represents claimants in public assistance hearings.
To find the Legal Services office nearest to you, look at the back of a Notice of Action, ask your local county welfare department, or look in your local telephone book.
You are NOT required to have a representative. Many claimants do not have a representative.
For some cases, it is a good idea to have a representative. You may want to find a representative if you are being asked to repay a large overpayment and the county says you committed fraud, or if your case is very complicated, involves a lot of money, or will have many witnesses.
If you find someone to represent you, be sure to tell us your representative’s name and address.
If you already requested a hearing, you may tell us your representative's name and address by making a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-0634 or by sending a completed and signed Authorized Representative form (DPA 19)( You may get this form at your local county welfare department and at some Legal Services offices, or you may send a letter to State Hearings Division, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814.
This will allow your representative to see your case file at the county welfare department, discuss your case with a representative of the county welfare department, request subpoenas, ask for a postponement, and take other actions on your behalf before the hearing.
Generally, both you and your representative will attend your hearing. Your representative will help you present your case or will present your case for you. If you are not attending your hearing, you may ask your representative to attend the hearing for you.
IF you file your hearing request BEFORE the effective date shown on the Notice of Action. This is called AID PENDING.
Exception: If the county wants to reduce or stop your food stamps and you request a hearing before the effective date, you will ONLY continue to receive the existing amount of your food stamps until the end of your current certification period. This may be sooner than your hearing date.
If you receive aid pending and the hearing decision is not in your favor, you will be asked to repay the amount of cash aid and food stamps you received as aid pending.
AFTER the effective date shown on the Notice of Action, the county may reduce or stop your aid even though you requested a hearing.
Continued Enrollment for Covered California: If you submitted an appeal of an eligibility redetermination with Covered California, you may ask to keep your coverage while your appeal is being reviewed. If you choose to keep your coverage, you must continue to pay your premiums. Below is the link for the form to request Continued Enrollment:
https://www.coveredca.com/PDFs/HearingRequestFormCC.pdf
If your coverage has ended and you would like to be re-enrolled, Covered California will retroactively enroll you into the plan from the date on which your coverage has ended and you will need to pay your premiums for those months.
Finding Out About Your Hearing – When and Where: We will send you a letter with the date, time, and location of your hearing. We will mail this Hearing Notice to you at least 10 days before your hearing date.
If you move after requesting a hearing, tell us your new address by making a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-0634. If you do not tell us your new address, the Hearing Notice may go to your old address.
We will schedule your hearing in a county or state office in the county in which you live. This is true even if your hearing request is about a Notice of Action sent by another county.
If your hearing is scheduled as a telephone hearing and you do NOT want a telephone hearing, you may ask us to schedule an in-person hearing at a regular hearing site by making a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-0634 or by sending a letter to: State Hearings Division, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Choosing Documents and Other Evidence to Bring to Your Hearing: Before your hearing, it is a good idea to start gathering documents and other evidence that you might want to take to your hearing. The items you chose may include bills, letters, documents, notices, receipts, records, reports, or any other physical evidence.
Choose items that are relevant to the issues and/or facts to be discussed at your hearing. Relevant items have something to do with the issues and/or facts and may make a difference in the outcome of your hearing.
To identify the issues and facts important to your hearing, look at the Notice of Action for the reason(s) the county took the action that led to your hearing request (e.g., denied your application, stopped your benefits, computed an overpayment). You may also ask the county representative.
The list below are examples of items which might be relevant to the Issue and/or Fact listed to the left. This chart is not a complete list of all relevant types of evidence.
Examples of Relevant Evidence:
Deductions: wage stubs, bills, and receipts showing medical expenses (including health insurance and medical transportation), bills and receipts for attendant and child care, bills and receipts for school tuition and fees, disaster, and casualty losses
Disability, Incapacity, Or Other Medical Issues: medical reports, hospital records, doctor’s notes, written statements from doctors, psychologists, medical clinics, or hospitals about your medical condition
Living Expenses: bills and receipts showing the amount you pay for housing and utilities (including telephone),
rental or lease agreements
Income: wage stubs, award letters showing how much you receive from Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Veterans Benefits and/or student financial aid, court records about court-ordered support payments, union or welfare funds, records showing your income from rental property, stocks, bonds, boarders, roomers, relatives, or payments made on your behalf, including gifts
Personal Property: bankbooks, insurance policies, automobile ownership slips, stocks, bonds, notes, and contracts
Real Property: tax receipts, deeds, contracts, and mortgages
Choosing Witnesses to Testify at Your Hearing: If you disagree with the county about any facts important to your case, you may want to have one or more witnesses testify at your hearing.
Choose witnesses who have personal knowledge of the facts. In other words, choose people who actually saw or heard what happened.
Choose witnesses who can testify about facts which are important (relevant) to the issues to be discussed at your hearing. To identify the facts important to your hearing, look at the Notice of Action for the reason(s) the county took the action that led to your hearing request (e.g., denied your application, stopped your benefits, computed an overpayment). You may also ask the county representative. Example: If a county contends a child no longer lives in your home, you may ask neighbors, relatives, friends, or others you know have recently seen the child in your home to testify at your hearing.
Asking for Subpoenas: You may ask us to issue a Subpoena or a Subpoena Duces Tecum. A Subpoena is a legal document that orders a person to appear and testify at a hearing. A Subpoena Duces Tecum is a legal document that orders a person or organization (such as a bank, school, hospital, medical clinic, etc.) to produce documents or other records by a certain date.
If you want a witness(s) to testify at your hearing and you are not sure the individual(s) you have asked to come to your hearing will come OR you cannot reach the individual to ask that he/she come to your hearing and testify, you may want us to issue a Subpoena.
If you are having difficulty getting documents or other records from a bank, school, hospital, medical clinic, etc., you may ask us to issue a Subpoena Duces Tecum.
To request either type of subpoena, you must submit a letter to State Hearings Division, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Your subpoena request will be reviewed by the Presiding Judge of the appropriate Regional Office. If your request is denied, you will be notified by a letter.
If your request is approved, you will receive the subpoena documents in the mail, along with a cover letter. Please look at the instructions in the cover letter. It is your responsibility to serve each subpoena on the person or organization named in the subpoena.
Seeing the County’s Position Statement: Before your hearing, the county will prepare a written Position Statement explaining what the county has done and the reasons for the county action(s).
You may pick up a copy of the county’s Position Statement before your hearing. The times and days you may do this are: anytime during business hours during the two working days before the day of your hearing. For example, if your hearing is on a Thursday, you may pick up the county’s Position Statement anytime during business hours on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the same week.
Exception: If your hearing involves Medi-Cal benefits (dental care, prescription drugs, wheelchairs, surgery, medical transportation, etc.), the California Department of Health Services is not required to make its position statement available until the hearing.
You will need to find out where to go to pick up a copy of the county’s Position Statement. Look for the address on the Hearing Notice or ask your local county welfare department for the address and phone number of the office where you can pick up a copy of the county’s Position Statement. Before going to that address, call to make sure the county’s Position Statement is ready.
If the county’s Position Statement is not ready or the county makes a lot of changes to the Position Statement after giving you a copy, you may ask us to postpone (delay) your hearing. This means your hearing will be rescheduled and any aid pending the hearing will be continued.
If you do not pick up a copy of the county’s Position Statement before your hearing, you will be given a copy when you arrive for your hearing. You will be given an opportunity to read the county’s Position Statement before your hearing begins.
Withdrawing (Canceling) Your Hearing Request: If you want to withdraw your hearing request, you may tell us by making a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-06934 or by sending a letter to: State Hearings Division, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814.
You may withdraw your hearing request any time before the date we mail your decision. You cannot withdraw your hearing request after we mail your decision.
Postponing (Delaying) Your Hearing Request: If you want your hearing postponed to a later date, you may ask us to delay your hearing.
You must have a good reason for your postponement request. Examples of good reasons are: a death in the family, personal illness or injury, sudden and unexpected emergencies which prevent you or your authorized representative from appearing, a conflicting court appearance, or the county not having its Position Statement ready for you to pick up during the two business days before the hearing date.
Exception: If your hearing request is about your CalFresh benefits (only) and not any other type of benefits, we will grant your first postponement request without asking you the reason.
To request a postponement before the hearing date, make a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-06934. We may ask you to provide proof of the reason for your postponement request.
If you do not ask for a postponement until the day of your hearing, we may not be able to grant your request. We may direct you to go the hearing and discuss your postponement request with the judge. The judge will decide whether to grant or deny your postponement request.
If granted, a postponement will generally delay your hearing about 3 or 4 weeks.
If You Missed Your Hearing: If you did not go to your hearing or you were more than 30 minutes late for your hearing, we will mark your hearing as a "No Show".
If your hearing was marked a "No Show" and you still want a hearing, you must request a reopening of your hearing request by making a toll-free call to 1-800-743-8525 (TDD 1-800-952-8349) or 1-855-795-0693 or by sending a letter to State Hearings Division, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814. You must make this request within ten calendar days of the date of your scheduled hearing.
You must have a good reason for missing your hearing. Examples of good reasons are you did not receive notice of the hearing, a death in the family, personal illness or injury, or sudden and unexpected emergencies which prevented you and your authorized representative from attending the hearing. We may ask you to provide proof of the reason you missed your scheduled hearing.
If you do not ask for a reopening within ten days of the date of your scheduled hearing or you do not have a good reason for missing your hearing, we will issue a decision dismissing your hearing request. If you are not happy with this dismissal decision, you may request a rehearing.
Requesting a Rehearing or Judicial Review: If you are not happy with your decision AND you want another judge to review it, you may request a rehearing and/or seek judicial review.
To request a rehearing, mail a written request (a letter) to the Rehearing Unit, 744 P Street, MS 9-17-37, Sacramento, CA 95814 within 30 days after you receive your decision. In your rehearing request, state the date you received your decision and why a rehearing should be granted. If you want to present additional evidence, describe the additional evidence and explain why it was not introduced before and how it would change the decision. You may contact Legal Services for assistance.
To ask for judicial review, you must file a petition in Superior Court (under Code of Civil Procedure §1094.5) within one year after receiving your decision. File your petition in the Superior Court for the county named in your decision. You may file this petition without asking for a rehearing. No filing fees are required. You may be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if the Court issues a final decision in your favor. You may contact Legal Services for assistance.
If a rehearing was heard and you are unhappy with the decision from the rehearing, you may seek judicial review but you cannot request another rehearing. See the above paragraph for information about asking for judicial review.