Legal Aid urges fixes to Human Services Board fair hearings, citing record gaps and access problems

Mary Ellen Griffin, a staff attorney at Vermont Legal Aid, told the committee that H.92 is an opportunity to fix recurring procedural problems in the Human Services Board fair hearing process that limit access and obscure outcomes for people seeking emergency housing and other services.

Griffin described steep demand for help and gaps between requests and representation: "We had 708 calls asking for emergency housing and 3,278 page views of our website on that topic" in the 2022–2023 legal needs survey period, she said, and added: "We probably represent maybe 20 people through the entire fair hearing process all the way to decision per year and probably another 15 or 20 that we resolve beforehand."

Griffin pressed two core problems she said should be addressed by statute and rule changes. First, she said the process routinely produces favorable hearing officer recommendations that never appear as final Human Services Board decisions: "The statute says that the hearing officer says shall go to the Human Services Board and they shall approve it unless there's good cause not to," she told the committee, but in practice favorable outcomes are often implemented administratively and then dismissed as moot when appealed to the Board, so they do not enter the public record.

Second, Griffin said emergency-housing appeals should have an express statutory expedited track and clearer discovery timelines. Legal Aid proposed several concrete fixes: require that favorable hearing officer decisions can be formally acknowledged by the Human Services Board so they enter the Board's library and create precedent; codify an expedited process and a near-term timeline (she suggested the hearing officer issue decisions within five days); improve same-or-next-day supervisor review and record transfer to reduce delays in producing agency records; and provide plain-language instructions and remote "clinic" access so unrepresented appellants can get brief legal assistance before hearings.

Representatives of agencies present—Jennifer Micah, general counsel for the Department for Children and Families (DCF), and Stuart Shore, general counsel for DAIL (Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living)—said departments try to gather records and resolve cases as quickly as possible but face staffing and resource constraints. Micah said DCF tries to change processes when a pattern of adverse decisions suggests a legal deficiency. Shore said department attorneys are required to "zealously advocate" the agency's position but also noted he and his attorneys aim to treat appellants respectfully; both department representatives supported exploring process improvements and closer coordination with the Human Services Board and advocates.

Committee members and witnesses discussed options to reduce delay and improve clarity. Griffin and others urged the committee to require better reporting of hearing outcomes so the legislature and agencies can identify repeated errors and correct them, and to expand plain-language materials and clinics that would help appellant preparedness in an adversarial process that can feel like a court proceeding.

Ending: Agency counsel said they will provide additional suggested statutory language next week, and committee members encouraged continued discussions among the Human Services Board, advocates and department counsel to map process improvements and resource needs.