Berg v. State of Maine Dep't of Health & Human Servs.

• Court: Superior Court of Maine
• Decided: December 4, 2006
• Docket: CUMap-05-66
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE CUMBERLAND, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO: AP05-66 I/ / *> 1, ',,' .-- ' J:>+ - ( : , 4 , ' 5 ) - 4 2 1 ~

MARIA BERG

Plaintiff ORDER O N PLAINTIFF'S RULE 80C APPEAL v.

STATE OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF DONALD L. GARBRECHT HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES LAW LIBRARY Defendant JAN 1 9 2007 This case comes before the Court on Plaintiff Maria Berg's appeal of

governmental action pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Maria Berg ("Ms. Berg"), receives assistance from the State,

including a monthly allotment of food stamps. Defendant, the State of Maine

Department of Heath and Human Services ("DHHS"), manages her case. In July

2004, as required, Ms. Berg reported changes in her rent and also verified her

sources of income, including SSI, SSDI, and child support payments. Later, Ms.

Berg notified her caseworker, Rita Woodman, that there was an error, as she

noticed that the paperwork listed both her new and old rent amounts. Ms.

Woodman informed Ms. Berg that DHHS would correct the error.

In October 2004, Ms. Berg contacted DHHS again to report that she was no

longer receiving child support, as her chld's father lost his job. DHHS adjusted

Ms. Berg's income level in November 2004 to reflect this, and she then received

additional food stamp benefits. Ms. Berg did not receive c h l d support again until late November or early December 2004. Finally, in January 2005, Ms. Berg

reviewed and amended her benefit form, as was the usual procedure. At that

time, she noticed that her rent amount had never been adjusted, and that it

reflected a monthly rent of $1350 instead of $700. She again notified DHHS of

the mistake. On January 16,2005, DHHS notified Ms. Berg that her food stamp

benefits would be reduced as of February 1,2005. After spealung with her new

caseworker, Chnstine Garbin, Ms. Berg requested a hearing to contest the

reduction in benefits.

DHHS held a hearing on February 28,2005, before Hearing Officer Heidi

Johnson. The parties agreed that the error was the fault of DHHS and not Ms.

Berg, and that she had properly notified them of the rent change. Yet, the agency

determined that her food stamp allotment should be decreased so that the benefit

level would be based on the correct amount of her living expenses. Ms. Berg did

not appeal that decision.

Her case was then submitted to an overpayment specialist to determine

the amount of the error. On March 30,2005, DHHS wrote to Ms. Berg to inform

her that the overpayments totaled $336 and that $33 per month would be

deducted from her food stamp benefits to reimburse DHHS. Ms. Berg contends

that she did not receive this notice; she did not become aware of it until she was

grocery shopping on May 14,2005 and noticed that her available amount was

less than she thought it would be. Upon spealung with Ms. Garbin again, Ms.

Berg learned about the withholding of $33 per month. She requested that the $33

be refunded to her account until a hearing could be held.

A second hearing regarding the overpayment was held on June 13,2005

with Hearing Officer Tamara Longanecker, 'at which Ms. Berg argued that DHHS incorrectly determined her repayment amount. Specifically, she claimed that

DHHS did not consider the lapse in child support in October and November

2004. DHHS had estimated that Ms. Berg received $88 per week in chld

support; this calculation resulted from averagng the total support received over

the entire payment period, although Ms. Berg did not receive a consistent

monthly amount. The agency issued a final decision on August 11,2005, in

which it found that DHHS correctly calculated the overpayment for food stamps.

Ms. Berg then filed this 80C appeal1, renewing her miscalculation argument.

DISCUSSION

1. Standard of Review

When reviewing final agency action pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C, h s

Court's options include affirming the decision or remanding it for further

proceedings if necessary. 5 M.R.S. 9 11007(4)(A)-(B)(2005). Additionally, the

Court may reverse a decision if it was:

1)In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions; 2) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency; 3) Made upon unlawful procedure; 4) Affected by bias or error of law; 5) Unsupported by substantial evidence on the whole record; or 6) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion.

Id. 9 11007(4)(C).

T h s Court reviews "the factual findings of an agency only for clear error."

Street v. Bd. of Licensing ofAtlctioneers, 2006 ME 6, ¶8, 889 A.2d 319, 322 (citations

omitted). Traditionally, the Court "defer[s] to an agency in those areas w i h n its

expertise unless a statute or regulation compels a contrary result." Schwnrtz v.

'Ms. Berg filed this complaint pro se on September 8,2005, but did not properly serve the Attorney General's office. The AG's office later learned of the appeal after a telephone call from Ms. Berg and does not contest her right of appeal despite the service defect. Unempl. Ins. Commn., 2006 ME 41, 99, 895 A.2d 965, - (citations omitted). The

appellant bears the burden of proof; the Court will uphold the decision of the

agency if a review of the record demonstrates that "the agency could have fairly

and reasonably found the facts as it did." Seider v. Bd. of Examiners of

Psychologists, 2000 ME 206, ¶9,762 A.2d 551,555. But, this Court may remand a

case where "errors are found in administrative decision-mahng." Mtltton Hill

Estates, Inc. v. Town of Oakland, 468 A.2d 989, 992 (Me. 1983).

2. Did DHHS Err in Its Income and Overpavment Calculations?

DHHS is governed by its own administrative rules. The DHHS Food

Stamp and TANF Program Overpayment Procedures Guide sets forth

procedures for handling agency errors. According to DHHS, a claim for

overpayment would be submitted in this situation regardless of whether the

error resulted from fraud or from a simple mistake on the part of the client or the

agency.2 The parties do not dispute that any overpayment in Ms. Berg's case

resulted from an error on the part of DHHS.

Nevertheless, the error resulted in food stamp payments to w h c h Ms.

Berg was not entitled. Ms. Berg initially agreed that there had been an

overpayment; she later argued that the income level DHHS used to calculate the

overpayment was inaccurate. An examination of the payment records, however,

reveals that DHHS did consider the temporary lapse in child support and

provided additional benefits during that time (October and November 2004).

DHHS explains that it later used a constant monthly amount of chld support to

calculate the overpayment due to an irregular payment history, and that the

amount was merely an average. It further explained that the use of that figure 2 Food Stamp Manual, FS-777-3, p. 1. did not result in an actual inflation of Ms. Berg's income for purposes of

calculating food stamp benefits. T1-s figure was simply used to determine the

overpayment amount; indeed, the Hearing Officer noted that because the figure

was an average, there were several months in which Ms. Berg actually received

more than $88 in chld support, and some months in w h c h she received less. At

the hearing, the DHHS representative noted that using an exact monthly

calculation would actually increase the overpayment amount.

Regardless of specific monthly totals, the amount over the total period

appears to have been calculated correctly. As this Court's review of agency

decisions is deferential, it cannot be said that DHHS committed clear error when

calculating the amount of Ms. Berg's overpayment.

The entry is:

Plaintiff's 80C appeal is DENIED.

DATE: J)ACJ, 2006 SALLY DEMARTINI AAG 6 STATE HOUSE STATION AUGUSTA ME 04333

MARIA BERG 3 PERIMETER AVENUE STANDISH ME 04084