Fair Hearings Client Rights and Responsibilities

Fair Hearings in Dutchess County are presently being rescheduled to assure the COVID 19 safety protocols are met.
Any person scheduled for a fair hearing should contact the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) at 1-800-342-3334. OAH will assist each client/appellant with the best viability options to conduct their fair hearing.

If you think DCFS has made a wrong decision about your case, a Fair Hearing is your chance to explain it to an Administrative Law Judge from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s (OTDA) Office of Administrative Hearings. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance will then issue a written decision, indicating whether our decision was right or wrong. The written decision may order DCFS to correct your case.

Please contact OTDA online, by mail, telephone, or fax to:

• Request a Fair Hearing 
• 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. 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 you have requested, let OTDA know.
• Inquire about other issues, including a specific fair hearing decision, an additional copy of a decision, amending a decision, and/or reopening a hearing.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

Office of Administrative Hearings
PO BOX 1930
Albany, N.Y. 12201-1930

Fax: 518-473-6735
Phone: 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.