How to Appeal a WV WORKS Benefit Denial or Reduction

When You Have the Right to Appeal

Any time the Department of Human Services denies your application, reduces your benefits, or terminates them, you receive an official adverse action notice. That notice triggers your right to request a Fair Hearing through the DoHS Board of Review (BOR), an independent hearing authority within the Office of Inspector General.

This applies to WV WORKS, SNAP, Medicaid, and other economic assistance programs. You do not need an attorney to file a request, though free legal help is available through Legal Aid of West Virginia.

The 90-Day Window

You must request a Fair Hearing within 90 days from the effective date of the adverse action. Note: this is measured from the action's effective date, not the date printed on the notice letter. Missing this deadline forfeits your right to appeal that specific decision.

How to File

Submit your request through any of these channels:

• DoHS Pre-Hearing Conference and/or Fair Hearing Request Form (DFA-FH-1) — sent with the applicable adverse-action notice
• In writing by mail to: Board of Review, State Capitol Complex, Building 6, Suite 817, Charleston, WV 25305
• By phone: 304-352-0805
• By email: [email protected]

A verbal request by phone counts. You do not need a formal letter, though written requests create a clearer paper trail.

Keeping Benefits While You Appeal

If your existing benefits are being reduced or terminated (not a denial of a new application), and you request a Fair Hearing before the effective date of the adverse action, the action is delayed pending the hearing decision, subject to any exception authorized by law, rule, or policy.

When continuation applies, the adverse action is delayed pending the hearing decision. Your notice must explain when assistance may continue and whether you may have to repay it if the action is upheld.

The risk: if the state's action is upheld at the hearing, you may be required to repay any benefits that were overissued during the appeal period.

What Happens at a Fair Hearing

The process typically follows these steps:

1. Adverse action notice — you receive the denial, reduction, or termination letter
2. Request filed — you contact the Board of Review within 90 days
3. Pre-Hearing Conference (optional) — an attempt at informal resolution between you and the local DoHS office
4. Formal Fair Hearing — conducted by the Board of Review, where both sides present evidence
5. Written decision — a binding ruling issued by the Board

If you disagree with the Board of Review's decision, judicial review goes to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals under W. Va. Code §29A-5-4 (for final agency orders issued after June 30, 2022).

Common Kinship Appeal Scenarios

Kinship caregivers most often need to appeal when:

• A caseworker counts the caregiver's income for a child-only application (it should be disregarded for non-needy caretaker relatives)
• A support service payment is denied based on a policy limitation that does not actually exist in the Income Maintenance Manual (a 2026 Board of Review decision reversed a second-vehicle repair denial on exactly this basis)
• Benefits are terminated after a recertification deadline is missed

Knowing the actual policy — specifically which sections of the Income Maintenance Manual apply — gives you concrete grounds for your appeal. The West Virginia Kinship Financial Help Guide includes the relevant policy citations and a preparation worksheet for fair hearing requests.

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