Redacted copies of Fair Hearing Decisions must be made accessible to the public. See 45 CFR § 205.10(a)(19); 42 CFR § 431.244(g); 7 CFR § 273.15(q)(5). See also State Administrative Procedure Act § 307[3].
Federal Food Stamp regulations, at 7 CFR § 273.15(q)(5), go even further by requiring that
(5) All State agency hearing records and decisions shall be available for public inspection and copying, subject to the disclosure safeguards provided in § 272.1(c), and provided identifying names and addresses of household members and other members of the public are kept confidential (emphasis supplied).
Under the doctrine of administrative stare decisis, Fair Hearing Decisions must be applied to similarly situated appellants unless the state agency specifically explains its departure from prior policy. "The underlying precept is that in administrative, as in judicial, proceedings 'justice demands that cases with like antecedents should breed like consequences'" (citations omitted). Matter of Charles A. Field Delivery Serv. (Roberts), 66 N.Y.2d 516, 519 (1985).
From the policy considerations embodied in administrative law, it follows that when an agency determines to alter its prior stated course it must set forth its reasons for doing so. Unless such an explanation is furnished, a reviewing court will be unable to determine whether the agency has changed its prior interpretation of the law for valid reasons, or has simply overlooked or ignored its prior decision . . . . Absent such an explanation, failure to conform to agency precedent will, therefore, require reversal on the law as arbitrary, even though there is in the record substantial evidence to support the determination made (citations omitted).
Field Delivery Serv., 66 N.Y.2d at 520.
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) maintains a database index of all Fair Hearing Decisions rendered by OTDA, including those issued on behalf of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and the New York State Department of Health (DOH). This database is known as the Fair Hearing Information System (FHIS).
FHIS uses various codes to identify the local agency, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and issues involved in each Fair Hearing as well as the outcome and reason for the outcome. See http://onlineresources.wnylc.net/FairHearingResources/showfaq.asp?fldAuto=7.
FOIL requests are invaluable for obtaining lists of FHIS data involving Fair Hearings as well as redacted copies of the Fair Hearing Decisions themselves. A description of the FHIS search capacities is found at this link: http://onlineresources.wnylc.net/FairHearingResources/showquestion.asp?faq=4&fldAuto=238.
Through the use of the various FHIS codes, FOIL requests can seek a wide or narrow range of Fair Hearing data and/or Fair Hearing Decisions. FOIL requests should describe both the search criteria and the data to be included in the list. This can be done in narrative form or by use of the various FHIS codes.
Example #1
You are interested in a listing of certain data related to Fair Hearings which have been requested by New York City residents who have appealed certain determinations pertaining to their eligibility or the amount of benefits awarded to them under the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP).
Your FOIL request to OTDA might describe the records you are seeking as follows:
The following Fair Hearing Information System (FHIS) data for Fair Hearings that have been requested by New York City households during the period from December 2003 through May 2006 to contest the denial or adequacy of Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits: • Fair Hearing number (FH #)
• Fair Hearing request date
• Local agency
• Current status of the appeal
• Notice date (if any)
• Type of action (determination) appealed (i.e., denial or inadequacy)
• Type of issue appealed
• Date of Fair Hearing Decision (if issued)
• Outcome (e.g., affirmed, reversed, defaulted) of Fair Hearing (if any)
• Outcome Reason for the Fair Hearing Decision (if any).
The resulting FHIS report would look like the one at this link: http://onlineresources.wnylc.net/FairHearingResources/docs/fhis_report__foil_06-77_.pdf. OTDA can provide such FHIS reports electronically in either Adobe Reader portable document format (pdf) or Microsoft Excel xls format.
Example #2
You have received the data described in Example #1 and now want copies of the Fair Hearing Decisions listed in that FHIS record. In your FOIL request to OTDA for "redacted copies of Fair Hearing Decisions," you can either:
• list each Fair Hearing number (FH #) and the date on which each Decision was issued, or
• attach a copy of the FHIS report that was previously furnished by OTDA.
You may also want to provide the following clarification:
As used in this request, the term, "redacted copies of Fair Hearing Decisions," refers to the deletion of the following identifying information:
• all but the first letter of the first and last name of the appellant [effectively leaving the initials of the appellant's name] or any other member of the appellant's household or assistance unit,
• the appellant's case number, Social Security number, Client Identification Number (CIN), and date of birth,
• the appellant's address and telephone number, and
• any other "information that, if disclosed, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of the public officers law." State Administrative Procedures Act § 307[3](b).
I ask that there be no redaction of such information as:
• the Fair Hearing number (FH #),
• the name of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ),
• the name of the local social services agency's representative,
• the name of any appellant's representative, provided the representative is an attorney or other advocate, and
• the name of any professionals or local social services agency personnel who appear as witnesses for the local social services agency or the appellant.
Example #3
You are preparing for a Fair Hearing involving the denial of assistance because of the "excess value" of a non-exempt vehicle. From the Online Resource Center [http://onlineresources.wnylc.net], you read the June 15, 2007 Fair Hearing Decision in the Matter of M. A., FH #: 4674362H [http://onlineresources.wnylc.net/getdoc.asp?scaseid=2573&sdocID=4597&strdb=fairhearing&sfile=4674362h%2Epdf], which reversed a similar denial of Public Assistance (PA) and Food Stamp (FS) benefits due to alleged "excess" resources, including the disputed value of the household's non-exempt vehicle.
To refute the agency's reliance on "the NADA Official Used Car Guide to value the car at $10,850.00," the Fair Hearing Decision explained that the appellant provided
a printout of the Kelly Blue Book Trade-In Value for the car, which ranges from $4,540.00 for fair condition to $6,125.00 for excellent condition. She also provides several Worksheets from various car dealerships which range (sic) the car’s Trade-In Value from $2,500.00 to $4,000.00. The Appellant indicates the car is in poor condition and has damage to the bumper from a previous accident. She provides an estimate for the car’s repair, from Maaco, in the amount of $864.84.
You want to see that evidence so that you can obtain similar documentation to refute the agency's determination in your case. In your FOIL request, you might ask for:
A redacted copy of the Fair Hearing record, as defined in 18 NYCRR § 358-5.11, in the appeal of M. A., FH #: 4674362H, which was decided on June 15, 2007, including but not limited to all agency and appellant exhibits.
Please note that 7 CFR § 273.15(q)(5) requires that both "hearing records and decisions shall be available for public inspection and copying, subject to the disclosure safeguards provided in § 272.1(c), and provided identifying names and addresses of household members and other members of the public are kept confidential" (emphasis supplied).
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