An Act To Ensure Foster Parents Have Access to the Appeal and Fair Hearing Process
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1962
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 22 MRSA §4067

Legislative Document 
No. 1962 
H.P.1374 
House of Representatives, January 12,2006 
An Act To Ensure Foster Parents Have Access to the Appeal and 
Fair Hearing Process 
Reported by Representative SIMPSON of Auburn for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Order 2005, H.P. 1179. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed on recycled paper 
'11/~ /J7. 7i!dC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec.t. 22 MRSA §4067 is enacted to read: 
§4067. 
Foster parent's right to heari~9 
1. 
Appeal. 
A person liJ;;ensed or formerly licensed as a 
foster parent who is aggrieved by any decision or action made by 
the department concerning that licensure has the right to appeal 
pursuant to the Maine Administrative Procedure Act. 
The person 
must file written notice of appeal within 30 days of the written 
department decision or action. 
2. 
Prior decisi_ons and act.i.m:l§. 
A person who was aggrieved 
by a decision or action made by the department concerning the 
licensure of that person as a foster parent within the 5 years 
preceding the effective date of this section has the right to 
appeal pursuant to the Maine Administrative Procedure Act. 
The 
person must file a written notice of appeal under this subsection 
within 30 days of the effective date of this section. 
3. 
Fair hearing procedure. 
A hearing under this section 
mus~e held within 30 days of receipt of a request and must be 
conducted by one or more fair hearing officers who 
were not 
responsible for the decision or action. 
The hearing officer 
shall hear all evidence pertinent to the matter at issue and 
render a decision within a reasonable period after the date of 
the hearing. 
An action or failure to act under this section is a 
final 
agency action subject to 
review pursuant 
to Title 
5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 7. 
4. 
Rules. 
The dep9.rtment shall 
this section. 
Rules adopted pursuant to 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
adopt rules to impleme:n,t 
this section are routine 
chapter 375, subchapter 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides current and former foster parents with 
the right to appeal any Department of Health and Human Services 
action or decision that affects licensure. 
The appeal must be 
requested in writing within 30 days of the action or decision. 
This bill allows a person who is aggrieved by an action or 
decision of the department concerning that person's license as a 
foster parent within the last 5 years to appeal that decision by 
submi tting a written request for appeal wi thin 30 days of the 
effective date of this Act. 
Page l-LR2395(1) 
The decision-maker in the fair hearing process may not be 
the same person or body that took the action or made the decision 
from which the person is appealing. 
The decision made after the hearing is a final agency action 
that 
is 
subject 
to 
appeal 
under 
the 
Maine 
Administrative 
Procedure Act. 
This bill includes routine technical rulemaking.