STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

MARGIE KNOWLES, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 84-0731L

)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND )

REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This is a Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program case which arose when Petitioner's application for low income energy assistance was denied by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services because the Department did not receive a reply to is letter requesting additional information from the Petitioner. The Petitioner requested a formal hearing upon the denial, asserting that she had not received the Department's letter requesting the additional information.

This case was heard in the City Council Chambers of the New Port Richey City Hall, New Port Richey, Florida, on April 19, 1984. The Petitioner represented herself, and the Department was represented by Carol M. Wind, Esquire, 2255 East Bay Drive, Clearwater, Florida 33546.

The Department denied the Petitioner's application pursuant to Rule 10C- 29.11(6), Florida Administrative Code, which provides that when sufficient verification is not presented with the application form a request for information will be mailed to the applicant with a ten-working-day deadline for the applicant's response. Further the applicant will be ineligible for assistance and the application denied if the applicant does not provide the information or contract the Department by the date of the deadline.

Based upon the foregoing rule, there are two issues presented in this case, as follows:

1. Did the Petitioner receive the Department's letter requesting additional information?

   
   

2. May the Department deny the application of the Petitioner even if the Petitioner did not receive the letter requesting the additional information?

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Petitioner, Margie Knowles, applied for low income home energy assistance payments by an application filed with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services at is New Port Richey service center on November 2, 1983.

2. After reviewing the application, the Department sent a letter to Petitioner requesting additional verification of the Petitioner's income on November 3, 1983, by United States Mail at the following address: 7th Avenue, route 2, Box 3072, Hudson, Florida 33567. This request was made because there was a variance between what the Petitioner reported on her application and what was recorded on her food stamp application, although both amounts were well within the eligibility requirements of the program. The Petitioner explained the variance by reporting that in one week they had picked tomatoes for only two days.

   
   

3. The Petitioner did not receive the Department's letter requesting additional verification of income.

   
   

4. Petitioner receives her mail in the mailbox of the primary house on the lot where she has her trailer.

   
   

5. On November 17, 1983, the Department denied the Petitioner's application and found her ineligible for participation in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program because it had not received a reply to its letter of November 3, 1983.

   
   

6. The Petitioner testified at hearing that she earned a total of $174 and received $121 in AFDC during the period of eligibility determination.

   Petitioner is well within the eligibility amount. She and her two grandchildren receive food stamps, live in Zone 4, use propane gas to heat with, and constitute a family of three.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services has jurisdiction over this proceeding pursuant to Sections 409.026 and 409.508, Florida Statutes. This Recommended Order is entered pursuant to the provisions of Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

   
   

8. Rule 10C-29.11(6), Florida Administrative Code, provides in pertinent part that when sufficient verification is not presented with the application, a request for additional information will be mailed to an applicant with a ten- working-day deadline for the applicant's response. Further, the applicant will be ineligible for assistance and the application denied if the requested information is not received by the Department or the Department is not contacted by the applicant by the date of deadline. However, the rule also provides that the Department will attempt to assist the applicant in securing the information if the applicant contacts the Department by the date of the deadline and indicates that he/she has been able to secure the information.

   
   

9. Although the foregoing rule permits the Department to deny the application of an applicant who does not provide in a timely fashion the additional information requested by the Department, the rule presumes actual notice receipt of the Department's letter. In this case, the Petitioner did not actually receive the Department's letter, and the basis for the verification is questionable because by either the food stamp figure or the energy assistance program figure the Petitioner was within the eligibility requirements by several hundred dollars. Petitioner's case worker should have been aware that Petitioner's income varied dependent on available days of work. A simple check within the local office should have obviated the need to verify income in this case, in which the need is very real.

RECOMMENDATION

Because the Petitioner did not actually receive the Department's letter requesting additional information, and because the Department could have resolved the different income figures within its own records and personnel, it is recommended that the Petitioner receive low income home energy assistance benefits based upon the income figures and family size provided in paragraph six of the Findings of fact, supra.

DONE AND RECOMMENDED this 1st day of June 1984 in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

STEPHEN F. DEAN

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 1st day of June 1984.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Ms. Margie Knowles Seventh Avenue Route 2, Box 3072

Hudson, Florida 33567

Carol M. Wind, Esquire Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services 2255 East Bay Drive Clearwater, Florida 33546

David M. Pingree, Secretary Department of Health and

Rehabilitative Services 1323 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 84-000731

Orders for Case No: 84-000731