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DCF Fair Hearing Process
DCF Attorney Lawyer Kevin Seaver in Boston, MA
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Facing an adverse decision? Learn about the DCF fair hearing process.
Facing an adverse DCF investigation decision? You have only 30 days from the date of that determination to request a DCF Fair Hearing. Our team will guide you through the DCF fair hearing process and help you win your appeal.
What is a DCF Fair Hearing?
A Fair Hearing is a formal appeal of a supported 51B investigation decision—not part of a standard Assessment. Even if DCF continues visiting your home, you must request your appeal within 30 days of receiving the written adverse decision, or you lose the right to challenge it.
While Assessments and Fair Hearings may happen at the same time, their purposes differ. The DCF fair hearing process gives you the chance to challenge DCF’s findings, evidence, and procedures, ensuring transparency and accountability within the system. Success at this stage can often help close an active Assessment.
With over three decades of experience, Attorney Kevin Patrick Seaver knows the rules and deadlines that control the DCF fair hearing process. From filing requests to drafting pre-hearing briefs, gathering evidence, and presenting witnesses, Attorney Seaver provides strong advocacy at every stage. When negative DCF decisions threaten your family, you need strategic, thorough, and passionate representation.
- Fair Hearings are a Key Step of the DCF Process
- Get Experienced and Zealous Legal Representation For Your Hearing
- Documentation and Witnesses are Key!
- Stay On Top of Strict Timelines
Fair Hearings are Your Chance to Defend Against the Initial Allegations Against You – Get Legal Help Now
We are fully committed to protecting the rights of you and your family at the Law Office of Kevin Patrick Seaver. We are highly knowledgeable, skilled, and relentless in defending families against the overreach, abuse of power, and unjust actions of DCF. Hiring Attorney Seaver at this stage of the process will lessen your overwhelm at this more formalized administrative appeal process, make sure you stick to the deadlines, and help you close your DCF case once and for all. Our firm is dedicated to protecting your parental rights, preserving your family unity, and ensuring DCF is held accountable to the law.
How is a Fair Hearing Different from other DCF actions?
A Fair Hearing is an administrative appeal of the 51B investigation outcome decision, not an evaluation of your family’s current or ongoing situation.
Correctly File a Fair Hearing Request
- When: Make sure you have a written letter of DCF’s 51B decision and look at the date of that letter. File your request for a fair hearing as soon as possible, but no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the 51B decision letter.
- How: Use DCF’s Hearing Request form or if you make your own request, make sure you provide at minimum:
- your name, contact info, address; and
- date the alleged abuse or neglect occurred; and
- name and address of your DCF area office from which the decision is being appealed; and
- a request for review of the 51B decision that you are challenging.
We strongly advise that you consult with a knowledgeable DCF lawyer to help you file your request correctly.
Who is a DCF Hearing Officer?
- A Hearing Officer is an impartial decision-maker responsible for conducting the Fair Hearing. The Hearing Officer shall not have any other involvement in your underlying DCF matter and should have no direct or indirect involvement or bias having to do with the underlying allegations and investigation at issue in the appeal.
- The Hearing Officer, reviews the evidence provided by DCF’s side and by your side, including testimony, listens to oral arguments at the hearing, and reviews the credibility and sufficiency of each admitted item of evidence.
Assessments Vs. Fair Hearings
- Winning your Fair Hearing is a likely path to ending DCF’s intrusion into your life, as winning your hearing can force DCF to close an open Assessment.
- Although fair hearings are often scheduled parallel to any ongoing Assessments, the Fair Hearing focuses solely on the 51B investigation record of the initial supported or substantiated allegations.
Witnesses at the Fair Hearing
- Usually, the DCF 51B Response Worker and their supervisor will testify. On your side, you and other household and family members, and possibly collateral sources, may testify at the hearing, depending on legal strategy and other factors. The child(ren) who is the subject of the underlying investigation rarely testifies at the fair hearing, unless there is a “compelling reason.”
Fair hearing Location and Time
– Fair Hearings usually take place virtually, but may take place in person in the town of the DCF Area Office overseeing your case.
– Hearing last about 2 hours
– The Hearing Officer can add additional time if necessary. You may ask for an additional hearing date if you believe that you need more time to present key evidence, but ultimately the Hearing Officer must grant that request.
Preparing for a Fair Hearing
Gathering evidence:
- you must obtain all documentation that DCF has against you and challenge any misstatements and falsehoods.
- try to get originals of key documents, but if you are unable to do so, copies are usually considered reliable evidence
- if DCF refuses to provide you with your case file, you must file a request for subpoena to the Fair Hearing Officer; ask them to subpoena all DCF’s records that they relied upon in supporting the allegations against you.
Oral Evidence - Preparing witnesses:
- you have the right to subpoena witnesses to testify, including the DCF social workers on your case and the DCF supervisor; and
- You want to provide the most efficient opportunity for witnesses to tell your side of the story and offset DCF’s side of the story.
Writing and submitting written pleadings:
we strongly suggest you get in touch with a highly-skilled DCF defense attorney to prepare for this otherwise overwhelming and tedious process, which you must go through to fight any supported decisions of abuse or neglect.
What are the Potential Outcomes of a Fair Hearing and What Does Each One Mean?
First, the Hearing Office is supposed to submit a written decision, with copies to all parties, including importantly YOU, within 60 business/working days of the conclusion of the hearing.
Reverse
Hearing Officer found that there was not sufficient evidence to support DCF’s original findings against you. This means that the supported or substantiated allegations were overturned, and you/the accused individual’s name is removed from the Central Registry, if applicable.
Affirm
Hearing Officer found that DCF showed sufficient evidence that it was correct to issue its original 51B determination against you. You have the option of appealing to Superior Court within 30 days of the Hearing Officer’s decision.
Partial Decision
Hearing Officer found adequate evidence to support some aspects of the original findings, but not all aspects. This might result in some findings being reversed, but others being affirmed. You have the option of appealing any adverse parts of the decision against you to Superior Court within 30 days of the Hearing Officer’s decision.
What Happens During the Fair Hearing?
At the Fair Hearing, which can be in-person but is usually virtual, the Hearing Officer will oversee the hearing but otherwise take a mostly passive role. DCF will present their reasons for supporting or substantiating the allegations and details of their investigation. For your part, you or your counsel will present legal and factual arguments against DCF’s findings, question direct witnesses and cross-examine DCF’s 51B investigator and supervisor under oath, refer to and present key evidence, and provide a closing statement. This is a highly-involved and complex process that you should not handle alone. At the Law Office of Kevin Patrick Seaver, we know how to support your story and disprove DCF’s allegations. That’s why we use our decades of DCF defense experience to represent you strategically and aggressively at the Fair Hearing. We are ready to educate you about your fundamental constitutional rights, present the optimal and strongest collection of evidence to win your hearing, and push back when DCF presents an inaccurate and false portrayal of what happened. We will guide you through every step of this process!
Key Points to Ensure Success at Your Fair hearing
Key point 1: Act immediately in Requesting Your Fair Hearing
Key point 2: Understand your rights
The clock starts on receipt of DCF’s written investigation decision—filing even one day late means losing your appeal rights. Attorney Kevin Patrick Seaver knows this process inside and out and will help you spot DCF procedural and factual errors to leverage them at your hearing.
Key point 3: Gather and Present Critical Evidence and Witness Testimony
Key point 4: Be Prepared to Win at this Critical Stage!
Attorney Seaver’s expertise will work at presenting your version of events clearly and factually. Don’t risk DCF’s biased record remaining unchallenged. Put your trust in Attorney Seaver and let him and his team make a rock-solid preparation for you—from legal briefs to witness prep—to demonstrate how strong your case is to the Hearing Officer.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What if I have not received a letter from DCF after the 51B investigation?
- You should immediately make a written request for a copy of your entire DCF file.
- In the DCF file, there should be a letter mailed to you stating your legal rights to appeal the supported decision against you. If the file is missing such a letter, then DCF failed to send this required letter.
- If you find yourself unsure of how to prove you never received a DCF letter, or if the dates on the DCF envelope of your letter are different than the date of the letter itself, we strongly advise you to contact a highly-qualified attorney, such as Attorney Kevin Patrick Seaver, practicing since 1991, to make sure any required appeal does not slip through the cracks.
Should I request a Fair Hearing?
If DCF issued a supported or substantiated finding of abuse or neglect against you, and you wish to challenge this finding, then YES, you should request a fair hearing.
Where should I send my request for a fair hearing?
You should send your request in writing and can send it by U.S. Mail, fax, or e-mail. The DCF Fair Hearing mailing address is 600 Washington Street, 5th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. The fax number is: (617) 748-2062. The email is: DCFFairHearingUnit@state.ma.us
What is a DCF Fair Hearing?
A Fair Hearing is a formal administrative appeal of an adverse 51B investigation decision, during which you can present your evidence and arguments against DCF’s adverse findings in front of a neutral decision maker. DCF technically has the burden of proof to show sufficient evidence that more likely than not, the determination against you was correct.
What Happens After I Request a Fair Hearing?
DCF has 65 business days (excludes weekends and holidays) to schedule a fair hearing and must notify you of such scheduled hearing in writing.
Who Decides the Outcome at a Fair Hearing?
A Hearing Officer is an impartial decision-maker during a fair hearing, meaning they are not to have been involved in the original investigation. They are responsible for reviewing the investigation file, listening to witness testimony, reviewing all exhibits, evaluating the credibility and sufficiency of the evidence.
What are the Potential Outcomes of a Fair Hearing?
- Fair hearings can be affirmed, reversed, or partially affirmed.
- Affirmed means that the Hearing Officer agrees with DCF’s original supported or substantiated findings against you.
- Reverse means that you won – congratulations! The Hearing Officer found DCF lacked sufficient evidence to support its original findings against you. This means that the findings against you will be overturned and if you were placed on any Central Registry, your name is to be removed from the Registry.
- Partial affirm means the Hearing Officer found evidence to support some aspects of DCF’s original findings, but not all. This means that the findings against you that lacked sufficient evidence will be overturned but the other findings will remain on your record.
How Can I appeal if I Lose the Fair Hearing?
You may be able to appeal the Decision to Superior Court.