Warning

You are using an out of date browser. On December 1, 2021, New York State will upgrade security protections to our websites and applications. Access to government websites and applications will now require the use of up-to-date and secure web browsers. View a list of supported browsers.

Fair Hearings

Overview

A Fair Hearing is a chance for you to tell an Administrative Law Judge from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of Administrative Hearings, why you think a decision about your case made by a local social services agency is wrong. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance will then issue a written decision which will state whether the local agency's decision was right or wrong. The written decision may order the local agency to correct your case.

• Request a Fair Hearing - Requests for Hearings can be completed online, by US Mail, by telephone or by fax.
• Request an Adjournment or Reopening - If you cannot appear at a hearing that has been scheduled but hasn't been held yet, you may request that it be adjourned (postponed) to another date. You may submit your request for an adjournment online, by US Mail, by telephone or by fax. If the hearing date has already passed and you didn't attend the hearing, under some limited circumstances, you may be able to have the hearing rescheduled.
• Cancel a Fair Hearing - If you no longer need a hearing that you have requested, you may let us know online, by US Mail, by telephone or by fax.
• Request Compliance with a Fair Hearing Decision - If you have received a fair hearing decision that says that your local agency should do something and you believe that they haven't done it, you may submit a Compliance Complaint to us. You may do this online, by US Mail, by telephone or by fax.
• Search the Fair Hearing Decision Archive - The Office of Administrative Hearings publishes all of its Fair Hearing Decisions on the Internet. These decisions have all personal and confidential information removed. If you want to look at old decisions or find other decisions whose facts are similar to yours, you may search this archive.

Contact Fair Hearings

For all other issues, including inquiries or complaints regarding a specific fair hearing decision, obtaining an additional copy of a decision, or requests to amend a decision and/or reopen a hearing, you may contact the Office of Administrative Hearings at:

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
Office of Administrative Hearings
PO BOX 1930
Albany, N.Y. 12201-1930

Fax: 518-473-6735
Phone: 1-518-474-8781 or 1-800-342-3334 (toll free)

Speech or Hearing Impaired Individuals

Please contact the New York Relay Service at 711 and request that the operator call us at 1-877-502-6155. Service at this number will only be provided to callers using TDD equipment.