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 privatebegin delete agencyend deletebegin insert agency, upon request,end insert 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. The bill wouldbegin delete exemptend deletebegin insert exempt, for a specified period,end insert 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. 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 welfarebegin delete department andend delete
13begin insert
department, via United States mail, or, upon request,end insert through
14electronic means.begin insert Except as provided in subdivision (d), if the
15applicant or recipient requests a position statement that contains
16personal identifying information to be delivered through electronic
17means, the position statement shall be delivered through secure
18electronic means.end insert A public or private agency shall be required to
19comply with this section only if the public or private agency has
20received a 10-day prior notice of the date and time of the scheduled
21hearing.
22(b) If the public or private agency does not make the position
23statement available not less than two business days before the
24hearing or if the public or private agency decides to modify the
25position
statement, the hearing shall be postponed upon the request
26of the applicant or recipient, if an applicant or recipient agrees to
27waive the right to obtain a decision on the hearing within the
P3 1deadline that would otherwise be applicable under regulations. A
2postponement for reason of the public or private agency not making
3the position statement available within not less than two business
4days shall be deemed a postponement for good cause for purposes
5of determining eligibility to any applicable benefits pending
6disposition of the hearing.
7(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to the State
8Department of Health Care Services or the State Department of
9
Public Health, except that the State Department of Health Care
10Services shall make its position statement available to the applicant
11or recipient and the State Department of Social Services through
12electronic means not less than two business days before the
13scheduled hearing.
14(d) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insertA public or private agency shall not be required to make
15a copy of its position statement available to an applicant or
16recipient through electronic means if the agency submits a report
17by December 31 of each year to the State Department of Social
18Services that includes both of the following:
19(1)
end delete
20begin insert(A)end insert The barriers the agency has identified that substantially
21impede or prohibit the electronic provision of hearing documents.
22(2)
end delete23begin insert(B)end insert The steps the agency is taking to address these barriers.
begin insert
24
(2) This subdivision shall become inoperative on the date that
25the statewide electronic case management system administered by
26the State Department
of Social Services becomes operational and
27has the capacity to provide position statements to claimants
28through secure electronic means.
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