1. (a) A subject of the report and the appropriate county agency have the right to appeal the Secretary’s decision to grant or deny a subject’s request to amend or expunge an indicated or founded report by filing an appeal with the Secretary.
2. (b) Appeals shall be in writing to the Secretary and be postmarked within 45-calendar days from the date of the Secretary’s notification letter to either grant or deny the request.
3. (c) If a subject or county agency files an appeal under § 3490.105 (relating to request by the subject of a founded or indicated report for expunction or amendment of an abuse report when the report was received by ChildLine prior to July 1, 1995), the subject or county agency has the right to a hearing before the Department’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals.
4. (d) Except as provided in subsection (e), hearings will be conducted under 2 Pa.C.S. § § 501—508 and 701—704 (relating to the Administrative Agency Law) and 1 Pa. Code Part II (relating to General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedures).
5. (e) Hearings will be scheduled and final administrative action taken in accordance with the time limits specified in § 275.4(b) and (e)(1), (3) and (5) (relating to procedures).
6. (f) The burden of proof in hearings held under this section is on the appropriate county agency.
7. (g) A court finding of fact of child abuse is presumptive evidence that the report was substantiated.
8. (h) Parties to a hearing held under this section have 30-calendar days from the date of the final order of the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals to request the Secretary to reconsider the decision or appeal the final order to the Commonwealth Court.

Source

The provisions of this § 3490.106 adopted December 20, 1985, effective January 1, 1986, 15 Pa.B. 4547; amended July 2, 1999, effective July 3, 1999, 29 Pa.B. 3513. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (229425) to (229426).

Notes of Decisions

Expungement

The social worker produced enough evidence, through the child’s medical history, psychological evaluations of the family members and interviews with relevant parties to establish that the report was accurate and the Department properly refused to expunge the indicated report of child abuse. M.R.F. v. Department of Public Welfare, 595 A.2d 644 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1991).

The Department’s 45-day period during which a subject must request a hearing is not applicable when the Department refuses rather than grants a subject’s request for expungement under 23 Pa.C.S. § § 6301—6384 (relating to the Child Protective Servicces Law). Keely v. Department of Public Welfare, 552 A.2d 739 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1989); appeal denied 568 A.2d 1250 (Pa. 1989).

Hearsay

Uncorroborated hearsay cannot satisfy the agency’s burden unless the following requirements are met: the statement was accurately recorded by audio or video equipment; the audio-visual record discloses the identity and at all times included the images and/or voices of all individuals present during the interview of the minor; and the statement was not made in response to questioning calculated to lead the minor to make a particular statement and was not the product of improper suggestion. A. Y. v. Department of Public Welfare, 641 A.2d 1148 (Pa. 1994).

Substantial Evidence

In proceeding to expunge name of suspected abuser from child abuse registry, hearsay testimony in conjunction with admissible corroborative evidence of the act in question can in toto constitute substantial evidence which will satisfy the agency’s burden to justify a conclusion of abuse. A.Y. v. Department of Public Welfare, 641 A.2d 1148 (Pa. 1994).