Community Services Programs
Grievance Process Guide for Recipients of Mental Health Services -
What Happens Next - Administrative Hearing
The DHHS Grievance Coordinator or the hearing officer
will contact you to arrange a time and location
for the hearing to take place. The hearing must
be held within five (5) calendar days of the Grievance
Coordinator's receipt of the fully completed Grievance
Form.
However, you may waive this requirement that the administrative hearing take place within five calendar days, if you desire. You will be considered to have waived this requirement if you are unavailable to attend any administrative hearing offered to you within this five day period. If this happens, the hearing will be held as soon as practicable.
The administrative hearing is a formal process, conducted in accordance with State law and presided over by an impartial hearing officer from the Division of Administrative Hearings of the Department of Labor. All hearings are recorded in a form susceptible to transcription, as required by law.
Pre-hearing Conference:
A pre-hearing conference is not required by law, but the hearing officer will probably hold a meeting to talk to you and someone who represents the agency or facility you have filed a grievance against. During this meeting, you will be asked to identify the issues that need to be discussed during the hearing. You may also be asked to talk about what, if any, witnesses and documents you may want to bring to the hearing, so that it will proceed as smoothly as possible.
The Administrative Hearing:
At the hearing, you may present any witnesses to the event(s) under discussion, or present any documents that are relevant to the situation under review. In addition to yourself, providers as well as advocates for your child/adolescent may testify at the administrative hearing.
You also may examine and/or cross-examine witnesses,
and have an attorney, a designated representative,
or Disability Rights Center of Maine or the DHHS
Office of Advocacy staff help you if you wish. While
hearings are not conducted like courtroom trials,
the hearing officer is allowed to establish and
maintain rules that everyone present at the hearing
must follow.
The Hearing Officer's Decision:
The hearing officer will issue to the Commissioner
of DHHS a formal written recommended decision
that discusses the issues and testimony presented,
and the facts of the situation, as he or she has
determined them. This recommended decision must
be issued within one week of the Grievance Coordinator's
receipt of the Grievance Form, unless otherwise
agreed to by the parties involved. If the administrative
hearing was requested at the conclusion of a mediation,
then the hearing officer must issue the written
recommended decision with findings of fact within
two weeks of the Grievance Coordinator's receipt
of the Grievance Form.
You may waive the deadline for a recommended decision, if you so desire. You will be considered to have waived the deadline if the hearing is held outside the five day period at your request or due to the unavailability of you or any person you want to have present at the hearing.
At any point after requesting an administrative hearing, you may elect mediation. If you do this, the deadline for scheduling the administrative hearing as well as the hearing officer's deadline for issuing a written recommended decision are suspended, and mediation will be held as soon as practicable.
It is important to remember that you can avoid a hearing and settle your grievance at any point in the process--until the hearing officer has issued his or her decision. You can even settle your grievance after the hearing has begun.
The Commissioner's Review:
The commissioner will review the recommended decision and must issue a final decision adopting, modifying, or rejecting the hearing officer's recommended decision no later than seven (7) business days from the date of the hearing officer's recommended decision. Parties to the grievance may submit written memoranda to the Commissioner for his/her consideration no later than five (5) business days from the date of the hearing officer's recommended decision.
APPEALING THE COMMISSIONER'S DECISION
The decision of the commissioner represents the final state agency action on the matter. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of this ruling, you may appeal to the Maine Superior Court under Rule 80C of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
