Current through August 26, 2024
(1) An applicant or recipient who wishes to
contest an action specified under s. HA 3.03 may request a hearing.
(2) A request for a hearing may be made by
the applicant, recipient or former recipient, by an immediate family member, or
someone with legal authority to act on their behalf. The division in its
discretion may require written authorization of such representation in an
individual case or a type of case.
(a) A
request for a hearing may be made in writing or orally and may be made to the
agency or the division. An oral request to the agency shall be reduced to
writing by the agency and signed by the petitioner, except that a request
involving only food stamps need not be signed. An agency receiving a hearing
request shall immediately date-stamp the request and forward it to the
division.
(b) The hearing request
shall include a short statement of the matter to be reviewed. If it is unclear
from the request what action the person seeks to appeal or whether the
petitioner has standing to obtain a hearing, the division may request
clarification before taking action on the request.
Note: A hearing request should be addressed to the Division of
Hearings and Appeals, P.O. Box 7875, Madison, Wisconsin 53707. Appeals may be
delivered in person to that office at 5005 University Avenue, Room 201,
Madison, Wisconsin.
(3) Except as provided in par. (a) or (b),
the petitioner shall have 45 days from the effective date of the adverse action
specified under s. HA 3.03 in which to file a hearing request.
(a) For a hearing request relating to food
stamps, the petitioner has 90 days from the date of the action specified under
s. HA 3.03 in which to file the hearing request.
(b) If a different time limit for a hearing
request is specified by state statute, administrative rule or federal
regulation, that limit shall apply and shall be stated in the notification of
Right to Appeal in the decision.
(c) A hearing request shall be considered
filed on the date of actual receipt by the division or agency, or the date of
the postmark, whichever is earlier. A request filed by facsimile is complete
upon transmission. If the request is filed by facsimile transmission and such
transmission is completed between 5 p.m. and midnight, 1 day shall be added to
the prescribed period.
(4) The division shall deny or dismiss a
hearing request under any of the following circumstances:
(a) The division does not have jurisdiction
to conduct a hearing on the matter appealed.
(b) The petitioner or the petitioner's
representative withdraws the request in writing.
(c) The sole issue is one of state or federal
law requiring automatic grant adjustments for classes of recipients, unless the
issue being contested is that eligibility or benefits were improperly computed
or that federal law or regulation is being misapplied or misinterpreted by the
department.
(d) The petitioner has
abandoned the hearing request. The division shall determine that abandonment
has occurred when the petitioner, without good cause, fails to appear
personally or by representative at the time and place set for the hearing.
Abandonment may also be deemed to have occurred when the petitioner or the
authorized representative fails to respond within a reasonable time to
correspondence from the division regarding the hearing.
(e) The hearing request is not received
within the time period specified in sub. (3).
(5) In cases involving discontinuance,
reduction, suspension of assistance or benefits or change in the form of
payment of assistance, the division shall order that the adverse action be
stayed and benefits continued unchanged pending the hearing decision if the
hearing request was filed within the time limits specified in
42 CFR
431.230 and
431.231 for
medicaid or within the time limits specified in
7 CFR
273.13 and subject to the exceptions therein
for food stamps or, for social services and public assistance, if the hearing
request was filed prior to the effective date of the adverse action.
(6) The division shall acknowledge the
receipt of a hearing request to the petitioner and the agency or department
which took the action or made the decision under appeal, and shall request that
the agency or department promptly provide a summary statement concerning the
action or decision, including the reason for the action or decision.
