Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 510 - APPEALS AND HEARINGS › Section 510.105 - Conduct of Hearings

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Every
			 proceeding pursuant to this Section is to be confidential and not open to the
			 general public unless requested to be so by the grievant.
b) Procedures set forth in the Code of Civil
			 Procedure [735 ILCS 5 ], except as provided in subsection (g) of this Section,
			 do not apply to the procedures contained in this Section.
c) The grievant must notify DHS-ORS Hearings
			 Coordinator of the appointment of a personal representative by filing, no later
			 than 3 working days in advance of a hearing, a notice of appearance stating the
			 personal representative's name, address and telephone number, identifying the
			 grievant represented, and signed by the grievant. If the grievance pertains to
			 the conduct of a customer of the adult residential training program for persons
			 with visual disabilities, the notice must be made no later than 1 working day
			 in advance of the hearing. The notice must be accompanied by appropriate
			 consent to the release of confidential information to the representative, if
			 one is not already on file.
d) At
			 least 3 working days prior to the hearing, the grievant and the DHS-ORS staff
			 person who has taken the action being grieved must provide each other and the
			 Impartial Hearing Officer with a list of witnesses, copies of documents not in
			 the possession of the other party, and a summary of the evidence that they plan
			 to present at the hearing. If the grievance pertains to the conduct of a
			 customer of the adult residential training program for persons with visual
			 disabilities, the information must be shared within 1 working day prior to the
			 hearing.
e) All parties involved in
			 the hearing must avoid repetitive continuances so that the subject matter of
			 the grievance may be resolved expeditiously. A hearing may for good cause shown
			 be continued by the Impartial Hearing Officer. "Good cause" means death in the
			 family, personal injury or illness that reasonably prohibits the grievant from
			 attending the hearing, or sudden and unexpected emergency, or other
			 circumstances beyond the grievant's control that reasonably prevents the
			 grievant from attending the hearing. In the absence of an emergency, notice of
			 the request must be given in writing to the other party and the Impartial
			 Hearing Officer no later than 3 working days prior to the original hearing
			 date. In the absence of an emergency, if the grievance pertains to the conduct
			 of a customer of the adult residential training program for persons with visual
			 disabilities, the notice must be provided to the other party and the Impartial
			 Hearing Officer no less than 1 working day prior to the original hearing date.
			 The granting of continuances for hearings arising from HSP shall be governed by
			 DPA.
f) The grievant shall have the
			 responsibility to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that the action or
			 inaction by DHS-ORS was not in accordance with federal or State laws or
			 regulations, against DHS-ORS policy, not in accordance with the grievant's IPE
			 (89 Ill. Adm. Code 572) or HSP Service Plan (89 Ill. Adm. Code 684), or
			 inappropriate for the customer. The Impartial Hearing Officer shall inform the
			 grievant of this requirement at the beginning of the hearing.
g) Evidence
1) The rules of evidence and privilege as
			 applied in civil cases in the Circuit Courts of this State shall be followed
			 except that any relevant evidence not admissible under those rules of evidence
			 that is of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the
			 conduct of their affairs, has probative value, and is relevant and material to
			 the facts and issues may be admissible.
2) DHS-ORS employees directly involved in the
			 contested action will be present to testify and can be questioned by the
			 grievant. However, if the person is no longer employed by DHS-ORS and declines
			 to attend the hearing after DHS-ORS has made a reasonable attempt to secure
			 his/her attendance, the person most knowledgeable about the case will
			 attend.
3) Only information bearing
			 directly on the issue under review, pursuant to Section
			 510.20, may
			 be introduced from the grievant's case file. The Impartial Hearing Officer may
			 not consider any information that has not been made available to the other
			 party.
4) Either party may present
			 information and evidence in addition to the case file that must also be made
			 available to the other party at least 3 working days prior to the hearing or by
			 stipulation at the hearing.
5) The
			 grievant and DHS-ORS may call any person as a witness and conduct examination
			 and cross-examination.
6) The
			 grievant and DHS-ORS may, by stipulation, agree upon any facts involved in the
			 proceeding. The facts stipulated must be considered as evidence in the
			 proceedings.