Transcript

Speaker 1

Your rights under California public benefits programs for people applying for or receiving public aid in California. Public benefit agencies comply with federal and state law and may not discriminate, exclude or provide you with aid, benefits or other services that are different from what is provided to others. All people and organizations providing public assistance must respect your rights. They can help you understand and apply for benefits and services. You have the right to an interpreter free of charge. Ask the agency responsible for your benefits or services for language assistance. 

You have the right to: 1. Understand what is happening with your application or benefits. 2. Get written and oral explanations about your application for benefits. You have the right to have a free interpreter for this information. Ask the agency responsible for your benefits services for language assistance. 3. If the state agency has a written explanation in non-English languages, you have a right to get this information in those languages. 4. Get a receipt for hand delivered documents. 5. See your case record 6. See laws and regulations about your program 7. Ask a judge to review any agency action or inaction about your eligibility, benefits or services. 8. Not face discrimination in applying for or receiving program benefits or services. 9. File a complaint about discrimination. 10. Get a “reasonable accommodation” if you have a disability. This is specific help for you to access or participate in the program. 11. Have your information kept confidential. 12. Be treated with courtesy and respect. 

If you are having problems with your benefits or services: Keep records of all your information, documents and contacts with the agency. Get a receipt when you turn anything in, bring someone with you to meetings. Complain, there are four ways to do this: 1. An informal complaint, ask to speak to a supervisor to talk about problems with a worker or review the rules and the proposed action on your benefits or services. 2. State hearing, ask for a state hearing if you disagree with an agency 's action or inaction on your benefits or services, you must ask for a hearing within ninety days of the date of an agency 's notice about your benefits or services. If you ask for a hearing within ninety days a judge will decide if you have good reason for asking late, like an illness or disability. 3. Discrimination complaint. See the discrimination complaint section. You may have different rights to file a complaint with state or federal agencies. 4. Grievance, you can file a complaint with the agency if they have a grievance procedure. This does not protect your benefits in the way that asking for a state hearing does. 

You can also ask for a state hearing if the agency is not giving you benefits or services you think you should get. See PUB 412 for state hearing information. Note if your problem is with general assistance or general relief, you must ask the county for a county hearing. If your problem is with Social Security benefits, you must contact the Social Security Administration for a hearing. You can ask for a state hearing online, by phone, by fax, by e-mail or by mail. Online at http://acms.dss.ca.gov/ you can create an account to get all your appeal information online. Or submit an online request without an account. 

Expedited hearings: If you have an urgent problem, you can ask for an “expedited” hearing to have the hearing held sooner. For Medi-Cal, this is when regular hearing scheduling could seriously jeopardize the enrollee 's life or physical or mental health. State hearings will decide and let you know if your case can be expedited. State law prohibits agencies from denying benefits or services or providing you with aid is different from aid provided to others based on:

 Race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, domestic partnership, political affiliation, citizenship, immigration status and genetic information.

 Federal laws also prohibit discrimination on several, although not all, of the bases listed above. Federal law also prohibits: Delaying or denying the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care based on the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parents, or the child; Denying any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent based on the race, color, or national origin of the individual or child involved. 

Persons with physical or mental disabilities have the right to request reasonable accommodations from government agencies to help them access and participate in programs and services. If you have a disability and need extra help, you should inform the agency responsible for your application or benefits/services. The agency must work with you to determine what help you need. If the agency is denying your request, it must give you a written notice stating the reason for the denial. The notice must list your appeal rights. If you think you have been discriminated against, you may file a complaint. Where you file a complaint depends on what type of complaint you have. For all the programs your county agency administers: Ask your county office for the name, address and phone number of their Civil Rights Coordinator. The County agency, not the state agency, will independently investigate your complaint. 

For Covered California:

Civil Rights Coordinator Covered California

PO Box 989725

West Sacramento, CA 95789

(916) 228-8764

CivilRights@covered.ca.gov

For Medi-Cal & Medi-Cal Dental Program:

You may contact the county’s Civil Rights

Coordinator, the State Department of Health

Care Services or the federal Health and Human

Services.

Department of Health Care Services

Office of Civil Rights

PO Box 997413, MS 0009

Sacramento, CA 95899-7413

(916) 440-7370 or 711 (Calif. Relay Service)

CivilRights@dhcs.ca.gov

For all other state programs covered by this

pamphlet:

Civil Rights Unit

California Department of Social Services

PO Box 944243, MS 9-7-41

Sacramento, CA 94244-2430

(866) 741-6241 (toll free)

(916) 651-0602 (fax)

crb@dss.ca.gov

To file a CalFresh complaint with the federal

agency:

United States Department of Agriculture

Director, Office of Adjudication

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20250-9410

(866) 632-9992 (toll free) or (202) 260-1026

(800) 877-8339 (hearing impaired)

program.intake@usda.gov

To file a complaint with a federal agency:

Only for discrimination based on Race, Color,

National Origin, Disability, Age, or Sex:

Centralized Case Management Operations

United States Department of Health and

Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Room 509F, HHH Building

Washington, DC 20201

File a complaint online at:

US Health & Human Services Civil Rights

Complaint Portal

(800) 368-1019 (toll-free)

(800) 537-7697 (hearing/speech impaired)

You must file a discrimination complaint within 180 days of the date you were discriminated against. If the discrimination also affected the level of benefits and services, ask for a hearing. Judges cannot make decisions about discrimination complaints at a hearing. A discrimination investigation cannot change your benefit or service levels. Only a state hearing can do that. Agencies are not allowed to retaliate against you if you request a hearing or file a discrimination complaint. 

Programs that are covered by this pamphlet include:

• Adoption Assistance Program (AAP)

• Alcohol and Drug Program

• CA Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

• CalWORKs

• Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI)

• CalFresh (Food Stamps)

• Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

• Covered California Eligibility

• Foster Care/Child Welfare Services

• Housing Programs through County Social

   Service Departments

• In-Home Supportive Services

• Kinship Guardianship Assistance (KinGAP)

• Medi-Cal – Medi-Cal Dental Program

• Refugee Cash Assistance

• Resource Family Approvals (RFA)

• Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option

   Program (ARC)

• Service Animal Allowance

This pamphlet is available from your local county Welfare office and on the CDSS website in the following languages:

• Arabic

• Armenian

• Cambodian

• Chinese

• Farsi

• Hmong

• Japanese

• Korean

• Lao

• Mien

• Portuguese

• Punjabi

• Russian

• Spanish

• Tagalog

• Ukranian

It is also available for free in large print, Braille, and audio formats. This publication explains your rights to equal benefits and services, how to ask for language assistance or a reasonable accommodation for a disability, and how to file a discrimination complaint.