The procedure outlined in OAH Transmittal 96-41 for New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) Resolutions of Fair Hearing Requests has been revised to reflect the current need to render a decision known as a "Disposition of Fair Hearing Request" for those cases in which the NYC HRA sends the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) its clear, written confirmation that the action has been withdrawn or that the issue has been resolved.
Upon receipt of the HRA form, H.R.A. Action to Resolve Client's Fair Hearing Request (M-186Y), OAH staff will commence the system work to render a Disposition of Fair Hearing Request.
If the hearing is already scheduled, heard, adjourned, or defaulted, i.e., in any scheduling status other than "S" (ready to be scheduled), no further action will be taken to interrupt the scheduling or issuance process. No Emergency Assistance (EA), NYC Employment Verification Review (NEVR), or NYC Department of Homeless Services (NDHS) issues will be handled by this process.
In summary, if the HRA resolution form cites a specific notice-based action by referencing an actual notice/effective date and the case is in "S" scheduling status, or if the action pertains to certain non-notice-based INADEQUACY issues whereby the agency documents issuance of specific benefits that the client has requested and the case is in "S" scheduling status, the case will be given a subcategory of "NYCR" which interrupts the scheduling of the hearing and initiates the process that will generate a Disposition of Fair Hearing Request.
The Dispositions will proceed through the regular issuance process and will be coded as Outcome Raason Code 24, "Agency Resolved Issue to Client Satisfaction. No Hearing Held."
If, after receiving a Disposition of Hearing, the appellant is dissatisfied or feels that any part of the agreement has failed to be implemented by the agency, the appellant's remedy is to pursue compliance with the Disposition through the OAH compliance process.
In all matters where a case appears to be a part of this "NYCR" process, any request by an appellant to have a withdrawn fair hearing reopened should be processed without delay. There may be occasions where an appellant has defaulted a hearing due to a belief that the agency has resolved the fair hearing issue; any requests for reopening defaulted hearings for this reason should be considered. All NYCR cases should, therefore, be vlewed on a case-by-case basis (with appropriate supervisory intervention as warranted) to ensure that the appellant's due process rights are not impaired in any way.
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