Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a) The primary
purpose of the fair hearing is to safeguard the rights of clients and provide
recourse to address infractions of individual rights and interests. An
administrative fair hearing may be granted to the:
(1) foster parent when Oklahoma Department of
Human Services (OKDHS):
(A) denies the foster
parent's claim for foster care maintenance payment;
(B) pays foster care maintenance payment to
the foster parent in a sum lower than the amount claimed;
(C) does not pay foster care maintenance
payment to the foster parent in a timely manner;
(D) closes the foster parent's home as
indicated on Form 04FC008E, Notice of Closure to OKDHS Foster Parents, unless
the court has ordered children removed from the foster home or has upheld an
OKDHS decision removing children from the foster home following a
hearing;
(E) does not return a
child in OKDHS custody removed from the foster parent's home due to a child
abuse or neglect investigation and:
(i) the
foster parent was not provided notice of the foster parent's right to be heard
during proceedings before the court; or
(ii) the foster parent received the notice,
attempted to have the court hear the question but was denied a right to be
heard by the court regarding the decision not to return the child during a
hearing, and the court never heard the question about whether the child should
be returned; or
(F)
notifies the foster parent of an overpayment the foster parent disputes;
or
(2) adoptive parent
when OKDHS:
(A) denies the adoptive parent's
application for an adoption assistance payment as indicated on Form 04AN011E,
Request for Review of Denial;
(B)
approves the adoptive parent's application for an adoption assistance payment
in an amount less than requested; or
(C) delays or denies an authorized adoptive
placement out-of-state with the adoptive parent, per OAC
340:75-15-47;
or
(D) notifies the adoptive parent
of an overpayment the adoptive parent disputes; or
(3) kinship guardian when OKDHS:
(A) denies a kinship guardianship assistance
payment as indicated on Form 04AN011E, Request for Review of Denial;
(B) approves the kinship guardianship payment
in an amount less than requested; or
(C) delays or denies an authorized kinship
guardian placement out-of-state with the kinship guardian; or
(D) notifies the kinship guardian of an
overpayment the kinship guardian disputes.
(b) Fair hearing requests regarding:
(1) adverse decisions on adoption assistance
payments are filed within 30 days of the date of the written notice of the
adverse action per OAC
340:75-15-128;
or
(2) closures of approved OKDHS
foster homes are processed per OAC
340:75-7-94
and OAC
340:2-5-94.
(c) The appellant is given access,
prior to the date of the hearing, to any information to be used in the hearing.
Any information acquired after the notice of the adverse decision and after the
request for the fair hearing may be used in the hearing process provided the
appellant is notified of this information and of the intent to use it. Such
information is made available to the appellant ten days prior to the hearing
date.
(d) Rulings and issues
resulting from findings made by the court are not appealable in the fair
hearing process.
(e) Findings made
pursuant to a Child Protective Services (CPS) appeal process are not subject to
review in the fair hearing process.
Added at 17 Ok Reg
830, eff 1-6-00 (emergency); Added at 17 Ok Reg 1311, eff 5-11-00; Amended at
18 Ok Reg 2128, eff 6-11-01; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1242, eff 5-26-05; Amended at
27 Ok Reg 1092, eff 3-26-10 (emergency); Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1865, eff
7-1-10
