Section 148-201-X - PROCEDURES FOR PAPER REVIEWThe following procedures apply to a paper review of a substantiation or indication finding:
A. An appellant shall appeal by sending a written and printed request for a paper review to the following address: Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011
The written request may be personally delivered, or sent by USPS, FedEx, UPS, or other delivery service, to the Department at 2 Anthony Avenue, Augusta, Maine 04333. In that case, the envelope containing the request should be addressed to Finding Reviews, Office of Child and Family Services.
The writing shall be taken as a written request for a paper review if it in any manner objects to the substantiation or indication finding or requests any type of review of the substantiation or indication finding.
There is no email address for receipt of appeal requests and requests made by email shall be invalid. However, the Department shall have the discretion to provide an email address and accept a request for appeal by email if the Department chooses to do so as a courtesy or accommodation.
B. Within thirty (30) calendar days of its receipt of a request for a paper review from an appellant, the Department shall:1. Determine whether the appeal is timely pursuant to Section IX (either within the original time for appeal or within the extended time with good cause); and2. If the Department determines that the appeal is untimely, notify the appellant of that determination. If the Department determines that the appeal is untimely, the appellant may make a written request for a review by the Office of Administrative Hearings, addressed to the address in paragraph A, above. The appellant may send with the request for review any documentation in support of the appellant's position that the appeal was timely, and may send a written argument. The Office of Administrative Hearings shall review the Department's record and the materials submitted by the appellant, and shall determine whether the request is timely. If the Office of Administrative Hearings determines that the request is timely, then the paper review shall continue as provided in paragraph C below, except that the appellant shall have thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the Office of Administrative Hearing's determination that the appeal was timely to submit the written information in support of his or her appeal.C. The appellant shall have thirty (30) calendar days from the date the Department receives the appellant's request for a paper review to submit to the Department written information in support of his or her appeal. The written information may include statements from other adults or argument.D. If the request for a paper review is timely, the Department shall conduct the paper review within ninety (90) calendar days after the date it receives the request for a paper review.E. The reviewer shall make his or her decision based solely upon the Department's record and any additional information that the appellant submits. If the reviewer relies on information in the Department's record that the Department obtained after notifying the appellant of the finding, then the reviewer shall notify the appellant of the substance of the information and shall give the appellant at least ten (10) days in which to provide a written response before the reviewer makes a final decision.F. The reviewer shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether the information in the record, taken as a whole, is sufficient to support the finding that the appellant was the person responsible for a child who was subject to abuse or neglect. The reviewer shall have the authority to overturn or sustain the finding. The reviewer shall also have the authority to lower a substantiated finding to an indicated finding. G. Within ten (10) business days of completing the review, the reviewer shall notify the appellant, by U.S. first-class mail, of the decision.1. If the finding is upheld, the notice, readable at a sixth grade level, shall include the following information:a. That the appellant is entitled to request an administrative hearing by writing to the address above for Findings Reviews at the Office of Child and Family Services within thirty (30) calendar days after the appellant is deemed, under these rules, to have received the notice of the result of the paper review. The notice shall explain that the administrative hearing will be conducted by a hearing officer of the Department in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services Administrative Hearings Regulations and these rules, as such regulations and rules are amended from time to time. The notice shall explain that an indicated individual requesting an administrative hearing on the indicated finding must allege specific collateral consequences that they have experienced or are likely to experience as a result of the indicated finding. The notice shall also explain that the appellant may obtain a copy of all non-privileged relevant records prior to the hearing upon request, with directions on how to obtain those records. The notice will also explain that the appellant will have the right at the hearing to provide written evidence, so long as the appellant supplies the written evidence to the Department's representative at least 10 days before the hearing; the appellant may present adult witnesses, cross-examine the Department's witnesses, speak directly to the hearing officer, and be represented by a lawyer or other legally-authorized person of the appellant's choice.b. That if an appellant does not request an appeal within thirty (30) calendar days, or within sixty (60) days if there is good cause, the finding shall be recorded permanently unless later overturned pursuant to these rules.c. That the names of substantiated and indicated persons are maintained in a database and that a substantiated or indicated person may be at risk of collateral consequences.d. If the person is substantiated or indicated, that the person may be eligible to receive no cost legal assistance from Pine Tree Legal Assistance or other legal service agencies, along with the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of legal service agencies that have communicated to the Department that they are willing to assist appellants at no cost The letter notifying the appellant of the result of the paper review shall comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
10-148 C.M.R. ch. 201, § X