AB 2346, as amended, Baker. Public social services: hearings.
Existing law provides various public social services and requires that an applicant for, or recipient of, public social services be accorded an opportunity for a state hearing if, among other reasons, the applicant or recipient is dissatisfied with any action of the county department relating to his or her application for, or receipt of, public social services. Existing law requires, if regulations require a public or private agency to write a position statement concerning the issues in question in a fair hearing, or if the agency chooses to develop such a statement, the agency to make available to the applicant or recipient a copy of the agency’s position statement at the county welfare department not less than two working days prior to the date of the hearing. Existing law excludes the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Public Health from that requirement.
This bill would additionally require a public or private agency to provide a copy of the agency’s position statement to the applicant or recipient through electronic means and would require the State Department of Health Care Services to make its position statement available to the applicant or recipient and the State Department of Social Services through electronic means, as specified.begin insert The bill would exempt a public or private agency from complying with this requirement if it submits a specified report to the State Department of Social Services by December 31 of each year.end insert The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 10952.5 of the Welfare and Institutions
2Code is amended to read:
(a) If regulations require a public or private agency
4to write a position statement concerning the issues in question in
5a fair hearing, or if the public or private agency chooses to develop
6that statement, not less than two
business days before the date of
7a hearing provided for pursuant to this chapter, the public or private
8agency shall make available to the applicant for, or recipient of,
9public social services requesting a fair hearing, a copy of the public
10or private agency’s position statement on the forthcoming hearing.
11The public or private agency shall make the copy available to the
12applicant or recipient at the county welfare department and through
13electronic means. A public or private agency shall be required to
14comply with this section only if the public or private agency has
15received a 10-day prior notice of the date and time of the scheduled
16hearing.
17(b) If the public or private agency does not make the position
18statement available not less than two business days before the
19hearing or if the public or private agency decides to
modify the
20position statement, the hearing shall be postponed upon the request
21of the applicant or recipient, if an applicant or recipient agrees to
22waive the right to obtain a decision on the hearing within the
23deadline that would otherwise be applicable under regulations. A
24postponement for reason of the public or private agency not making
25the position statement available within not less than two business
26days shall be deemed a postponement for good cause for purposes
27of determining eligibility to any applicable benefits pending
28disposition of the hearing.
29(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to the State
30Department of Health Care Services or the State Department of
P3 1begin deletePubicend deletebegin insert
Publicend insert
Health, except that the State Department of Health
2Care Services shall make its position statement available to the
3applicant or recipient and the State Department of Social Services
4through electronic means not less than two business days before
5the scheduled hearing.
6
(d) A public or private agency shall not be required to make a
7copy of its position statement available to an applicant or recipient
8through electronic means if the agency submits a report by
9December 31 of each year to the State Department of Social
10Services that includes both of the following:
11
(1) The barriers the agency has identified that substantially
12impede or prohibit the electronic provision of hearing documents.
13
(2) The steps the agency is taking to address these barriers.
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