Fair Hearing

The one-sentence answer

A fair hearing is the formal stage of an appeal — a hearing before a neutral officer from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), who issues a binding decision.

What this means for you

It is not a court case, but it is not informal either. There is a hearing officer, evidence, and a written decision the regional center must implement. Many disagreements are resolved before reaching this point, at the informal meeting or in mediation.

What happens before you get here:

1. You file an appeal
2. The regional center holds an informal meeting — within 10 days
3. Mediation, if requested — now mandatory when asked for, scheduled within 30 days
4. The fair hearing — within 50 days

Preparing for it — the three things that matter most:

• Exchange your position statement and evidence at least 2 business days before. This is required, and it applies to the regional center too, which means you should receive theirs. Read it.
• Bring the documents. Your IPP, the Notice of Action, assessments, letters, anything showing the need you are arguing for. A written record carries far more weight than recollection.
• You may bring a representative. Form DS 1819 authorizes one. An independent facilitator can help, and Disability Rights California assists regional center consumers free of charge.

The hearing officer applies a standard called "engaged neutrality" — they are not a passive referee and may ask questions to get at what is actually going on. In practice that is helpful if you are unrepresented.

Make sure you requested aid paid pending within 30 days of the Notice of Action. By the time you reach a hearing, months may have passed. Whether your services continued through that period was decided by a deadline much earlier — see appeal.

For the detail-oriented

Statutory basis: WIC 4710, 4710.5 and 4712.

The hearing itself is held within 50 days of the appeal request. All of these run from the date of the appeal request rather than from each other, and "days" means calendar days unless a line says otherwise.

A decision is issued within 10 business days of the hearing, and in any case no more than 80 days from the appeal request. The regional center must then implement it within 30 days — unless reconsideration was requested, or there is an extension for exceptional circumstances. If it does not: HearingImplementation@dds.ca.gov.

Some decisions are proposed rather than final. Those go to the DDS Director for review, which happens within 90 days of the appeal request instead.

If you disagree with the outcome, you may request reconsideration within 15 days of the final decision, or appeal to superior court within 180 days.

Since 1 March 2023, appeals go directly to DDS rather than to the regional center.

Check your own dates against the source. These come from the DDS Appeals Process Timelines flow chart, effective 1 March 2023 — one page, and the thing to trust over any summary including this one. The fuller Lanterman Act Appeals Information Packet sits behind it.