Adoption/Guardianship Subsidies, Title IV-E, Licensing (adult and child facilities and child welfare)

The Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (MOAHR) Benefit Services Division (BSD) holds hearings if you dispute an action taken by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services concerning your eligibility for adoption or guardianship subsidies or Title IV-E funding.

MOAHR BSD also holds hearings involving the denial of applications for, or the revocation or suspension of, licenses for adult foster care facilities, child day care facilities, and child welfare (including foster care).

Before a hearing is scheduled on these cases, MOAHR will schedule a telephone prehearing conference and send you notice. At the prehearing conference, the administrative law judge (ALJ) will discuss preliminary matters related to the case. If you do not attend the prehearing conference, you will be bound by any orders made by the ALJ.

The Order Following Prehearing Conference and Notice of Hearing will let you know when the hearing is scheduled, how to access the hearing, and when documents are due.

At the hearing, the ALJ will allow each party to explain their case under oath, present witnesses, present documents into evidence, object on legal grounds to evidence the other side wants to admit into evidence, and question the other party’s witnesses. A party’s rights are subject to the ALJ’s rulings which may include limiting the number of witnesses, deciding what evidence is admissible, and excluding repetitious or irrelevant testimony. The ALJ will make a decision based on the exhibits (documents admitted into evidence), the parties’ sworn testimony from the hearing, and the applicable law, rules and policies.

If you need to reschedule or cancel your hearing, you must send a written request to the ALJ. The request can be sent by either mail, fax, or email. The request should include your docket number, your name, the reason for the request, and your signature. Please note that a request to reschedule or cancel must be made before the scheduled hearing date and time. If the ALJ denies the request, the hearing will proceed as scheduled.

After the hearing, the ALJ will send you a proposal for decision. The ALJ’s proposed decision will explain what you can do if you do not agree with the ALJ’s proposal. All the documents in the case, the proposal for decision, as well as the parties’ responses, will be sent to the director of the agency who will issue a final decision and order.

If you have any questions about the hearing process, you can review the MOAHR Administrative Hearing Rules by clicking on the PDF file for the Michigan Administrative Hearing System Uniform Hearing Rules.

You can contact MOAHR by phone at 517-335-7519 or 800-648-3397; by fax at 517-763-0155 (the fax machine limit is 25 pages); by email at MOAHR-BSD-Support@michigan.gov; or by mail at Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules-Benefit Services Division, P.O. BOX 30639, Lansing, MI 48909. Please note that MOAHR does not provide legal advice or assistance. Also, you cannot talk to the ALJ outside of the hearing, and if you send documents to the ALJ, you must also send them to the other party.