Section 148-201-XVI - SUBSTANTIVE RULES FOR THE APPEAL FROM DENIAL OF ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS If a parent, legal guardian, custodian, or caretaker of a child requests disclosure of information about the child contained in the Department's record under 22 M.R.S.A. §4008(2) and the Department denies the request, the parent, legal guardian, custodian, or caretaker has the right to appeal the denial pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. §4008(7). In such cases the parent, legal guardian, custodian, or caretaker is the appellant.
A.Paper Review1.Time Limit for Appeal: An appellant must send a written request for a paper review of the denial no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the appellant's receipt of notice that access to the records has been denied. The request must be submitted to the following address: Finding Reviews
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-011
2.Time Within Which the Department Must Acknowledge Request for Paper Review: If an appellant requests a paper review the Department shall send a written acknowledgment within fourteen (14) business days.3.Time Within Which the Department Must Conduct Paper Review: The Department shall complete the paper review with ninety (90) calendar days after mailing the acknowledgment described in the foregoing paragraph.4.Time Within which the Department Must Notify Appellant of Paper Review Decision: The Department shall mail written notice of the outcome of the paper review to the appellant within fourteen (14) business days after completing the paper review. If the Department upholds the decision to deny access to the records, the appellant must submit a written request for an administrative hearing no more than thirty (30) calendar days after the appellant's receipt of notice that the Department's decision has been upheld after paper review.5.Issue to be decided: The issues to be decided are limited to whether the nondisclosure of some or all of the information requested is necessary to protect the child or any other person.6.Standard of Review: The standard of review is whether a preponderance of the evidence supports the Department's decision that nondisclosure of some or all of the information requested is necessary to protect the child or any other person.B.Administrative Hearing1.Order of Reference Required: An Order of Reference shall issue in each case. The Order of Reference shall state the issue for hearing as follows: "Whether, in accordance with 22 M.R.S.A. §4008(7) the Department determined that [Appellant] is the parent, legal guardian, custodian, or caretaker of the child; and the nondisclosure of information requested is necessary to protect the child or any other person."2.Separate Hearing Regulations: The Department's administrative hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the agency's "Administrative Hearing Regulations", 10-144, Chapter 1, found online at https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/10/144/144c001.doc, subject to the exceptions and supplemental provisions herein.3.Exceptions and Supplemental Substantive Rules for Conducting Administrative Hearingsa) At the hearing, the Department shall bear the burden of persuasion.b) Only adult witnesses may testify.c) The hearing officer may admit and consider oral or written evidence of statements made by any child that are offered by an adult witness. The hearing officer may rely on such evidence to the extent of its probative value. The only exception is that the hearing officer may not admit statements by a child that were made solely for the purpose of the administrative hearing.d) The Department employee(s) who conducted the paper review may not testify at the hearing.e) After the hearing has been conducted, the hearing officer may examine the records which were the subject of the hearing in camera, without disclosure to the parties. The hearing officer's examination of the records may be used to inform his or her decision.f) Privileges are abrogated in administrative hearings in the same manner as child protection court proceedings under 22 M.R.S.A. §4015.g) The Maine Rules of Evidence are not strictly followed in administrative hearings. Generally, evidence shall be admitted if it is relevant and is the kind of evidence upon which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. Evidence which is irrelevant or unduly repetitious may be excluded.4.Decision: If the Department upholds the decision to deny access to the records, the Department's decision must inform the requester that the requester may file a petition for judicial review of the decision within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision. The Department shall send a copy of the decision to the requestor by regular mail to the requestor's most recent address of record.10-148 C.M.R. ch. 201, § XVI