Ask a Superior Court to review a DSHS hearing decision
If you appealed a state agency's decision about your public benefits and lost your administrative hearing, you can appeal the administrative law judge's decision.
The information here relates to DSHS cases like TANF, food stamps, licensing, and childcare; and HCA cases like Medicaid, including long-term care.
Contents
1. Procedure
Am I ready to go to court?
If you disagree with a decision by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) or Health Care Authority (HCA) about benefits you get from them, you must first appeal the agency’s decision by asking for an administrative hearing. If the Administrative Order from that hearing upholds the agency’s decision, you have 2 options, depending on which type of Administrative Order it is. The Order will say which it is:
- If it’s an Initial Order, you must first file an appeal with the Board of Appeals (BOA). In HCA cases, the ALJ’s written decision is always an Initial Order. If you then disagree with the BOA’s decision, you can file a Petition for Review of an Administrative Order.
- If the Order is a Final Order, you can Petition a Superior Court to review the Administrative Order.
If you Petition a Superior Court to review your Administrative Order, the Superior Court could decide to transfer your case to the state Court of Appeals. If that happens, try to talk to a lawyer right away. It’s very hard and expensive to represent yourself in the Court of Appeals.
What is a Petition for Review of an Administrative Order?
If you disagree with the final decision from your administrative hearing, you might be able to appeal your case to Superior Court by filing a Petition for Review of an Administrative Order. You’ll file this Petition in the Superior Court of the county where you live or in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia.
Petitioning for Superior Court review isn’t easy. Don’t get discouraged! You may need to read this several times or ask someone about it.