2011 Vermont Code
Title 33 Human Services
Chapter 49 CHILD WELFARE SERVICES
§ 4916b Human services board hearing

§ 4916b. Human services board hearing

(a) Within 30 days of the date on which the administrative reviewer mailed notice of placement of a report on the registry, the person who is the subject of the substantiation may apply in writing to the human services board for relief. The board shall hold a fair hearing pursuant to 3 V.S.A. { 3091. When the department receives notice of the appeal, it shall make note in the registry record that the substantiation has been appealed to the board.

(b)(1) The board shall hold a hearing within 60 days of the receipt of the request for a hearing and shall issue a decision within 30 days of the hearing.

(2) Priority shall be given to appeals in which there are immediate employment consequences for the person appealing the decision.

(3) Rule 804a of the Vermont Rules of Evidence (V.R.E.) shall apply to hearings held under this subsection only as follows:

(A) V.R.E. 804a(a)(1) and (4) shall apply.

(B) V.R.E. 804a(a)(2) shall apply, except that any deposition or testimony given under oath at another proceeding shall be admissible evidence in a hearing held under this subsection.

(C) V.R.E. 804a(a)(3) shall apply to hearings under this subsection unless the hearing officer determines, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that requiring the child to testify will present a substantial risk of trauma to the child.

(D) V.R.E. 804a(b) shall not apply.

(4) Convictions and adjudications which arose out of the same incident of abuse or neglect for which the person was substantiated, whether by verdict, by judgment, or by a plea of any type, including a plea resulting in a deferred sentence, shall be competent evidence in a hearing held under this subchapter.

(c) A hearing may be stayed upon request of the petitioner if there is a related case pending in the criminal or family division of the superior court which arose out of the same incident of abuse or neglect for which the person was substantiated.

(d) If no review by the board is requested, the department's decision in the case shall be final, and the person shall have no further right for review under this section. The board may grant a waiver and permit such a review upon good cause shown. (Added 2007, No. 77, { 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2007; amended 2007, No. 168 (Adj. Sess.), { 10; 2009, No. 1, { 29; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), { 222.)