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Cash Assistance Appeal Case

Decent Essays

The Appellant’s cash assistance appeal request was filed untimely. The regulation at 55 Pa. Code § 275.3(b) provides that the time limits for filing a cash assistance appeal is “thirty days from the date of written notice of a decision or action by a County Assistance Office, administering agency or service provider”.

In this case, the Department’s Representative testified to mailing the Appellant a manual notice on June 3, 2016 advising that the household’s application for cash assistance was being denied due to failure to meet residency requirements. On August 9, 2016, The Appellant called the Department to make an oral appeal. The Appellant’s appeal was filed August 10, 2016, sixty-eight (68) days after the denial. Since the appeal was …show more content…

The Bureau of Hearings and Appeals may allow appeals nunc pro tunc (allow a hearing on the appeal as if it had been submitted timely) only upon a showing of fraud or the equivalent, including the wrongful or negligent act of [an] official, Wess v. Commonwealth, Department of Public Welfare, 462 A.2d 955, 957 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983); or in non-negligent circumstances where the appeal is filed within a short time after the appellant learns of and has an opportunity to address the untimeliness, and the elapsed time period is of very short duration, and the appellee is not prejudiced by the delay. Cook v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 671 A.2d 1130 (Pa. 1996).

In this case, the Department credibly testified to mailing the Appellant a Notice. Although the Appellant stated that she did not receive the Notice, she provided no evidence to show that that it was caused by the Department. Furthermore she testified to her mail carrier placing her mail in the mail receptacles of other tenants as well as other unassigned places. The ALJ finds that errors made by the Postal Service, are not caused by the Department, and therefore finds that the Department had no fault in the non-receipt of the Appellant’s

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