Section 4710.5.

(a) Any applicant for or recipient of services, or authorized representative of the applicant or recipient, who is dissatisfied with any decision or action of the service agency which he or she believes to be illegal, discriminatory, or not in the recipient's or applicant's best interests, shall, upon filing a request within 30 days after notification of the decision or action complained of, be afforded an opportunity for a fair hearing. The opportunity to request a voluntary informal meeting and an opportunity for mutually agreed upon voluntary mediation shall also be offered at this time.

(b) The request for a fair hearing and for mediation, or for a voluntary informal meeting, or any combination thereof, shall be stated in writing on a hearing request form provided by the service agency.

(c) If any person makes a request for mediation or a fair hearing other than on the hearing forms, the employee of the service agency who hears or receives the request shall provide the person with a hearing request form and shall assist the person in filling out the form if the person requires or requests assistance. Any employee who willfully fails to comply with this requirement shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(d) The hearing request form shall be directed to the director of the service agency responsible for the action complained of under subdivision (a). The service agency director shall simultaneously facsimile (FAX) a copy of the hearing request form to the department and the director of the responsible state agency or his or her designee pursuant to Section 4704.5 within five working days of the service agency director's receipt of the request. The department shall keep a file of all hearing request forms.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 416, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2001.)