Code of Maine Rules › 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › 144 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES - GENERAL › Chapter 330 - HIGHER OPPORTUNITY FOR PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT (HOPE) PROGRAM RULES › Section 144-330-7 - POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
Confidentiality
The Department of Health and Human Services must, by Federal
				  and State rules, provide for the basic rights and dignity of all applicants or
				  recipients of financial services regarding their confidentiality. The
				  Department must ensure that information about the recipient is maintained in a
				  confidential manner and only released under certain circumstances. All
				  employees of the Department must adhere to this policy.
The Address Confidentiality Program, administered by the
				  Secretary of State, provides address confidentiality for victims of domestic
				  violence, stalking, or sexual assault and requires state and local agencies and
				  the courts to accept a designated address as the program Participant's address
				  when creating a public record. When an Applicant or Participant verifies that
				  they are a certified participant in the Address Confidentiality Program, the
				  designated address is the only address accepted and provided when staff is
				  required to release information
Information requested from outside the Department shall be
				  released by permission, subpoena, or for program administration limited to
				  programs, which establish eligibility and provide services through agencies
				  subject to comparable standards of confidentiality. Information may be
				  released, or obtained, inside the Department when it is directly related to the
				  administration of the HOPE Program and/or when information reported to the HOPE
				  Program does not match information previously documented and currently being
				  used to determine eligibility for another program administered by the
				  Department.
B.
Application Process and Decisions
(1)
Application Process
a) An application must contain the
				Applicant's full name, mailing address, and manual or electronic signature. The
				application date is the date the paper or electronic document is received by
				the Department.
b) Missing
				documentation and verification will be requested in writing. Applicants will
				have twelve (12) days from the date of the letter to provide requested
				information to the Department. Failure to provide requested verifications
				within this timeframe will result in denial of the application. Applicants
				denied enrollment in the HOPE program for failure to provide verifications will
				have the decision reconsidered without a new application if the verifications
				are provided prior to the last day of the month following the month of
				denial.
c) Appeals of Department
				denials of applications must be filed within thirty (30) days of the date of
				the Department's written decision.
d) Completed applications must be received by
				the Department within six (6) months of the intended start date of the
				remedial, Training, or Education Program, or at any time during
				matriculation.
e) After receipt of
				an Application, the Department will request additional documentation from the
				Applicant in order to make a determination that the Training or Education
				Institution or Program is approved, when the Institution or Program is - an
				online program, a program without an Adequate Job Outlook, at an institution
				located outside of Maine, or at a for-profit entity.
f) Applicants who possess a bachelor's degree
				must include, with their application, a written letter petitioning the
				Department for a determination that the degree is not marketable in Maine, or
				with their current circumstances. An application lacking this petition will be
				denied.
g) When the HOPE Program is
				at maximum enrollment, new applications received will be denied. Applicants
				denied due to maximum enrollment must indicate their desire to be put on
				waitlist. The decision will be reconsidered without a new application if a
				program position is available prior to the last day of the month following the
				month of denial and the applicant requested to be added to the waitlist.
A waitlist for Applicants deemed otherwise eligible for the
				  Program will be maintained by the Department and will follow these
				  guidelines:
i. The waitlist will not
				exceed ten percent (10%) of maximum HOPE Program enrollment; and
ii. Applications will be processed first,
				from the waitlist, based on the date the application document is received. In
				the event that two (2) or more applications are received on the same day,
				Applicants with the shortest pathway to completion of their Training or
				Education Program will be processed first.
iii. An Applicant will remain on the waitlist
				until the last day of the month following the month of denial
h) Program enrollment begins with
				the first calendar day of the month eligibility is approved by the
				Department.