We received a letter from the Texas Attorney General's Office today notifying us of the scheduling for the State Office of Administrative Hearings. It comes to us with no surprise that the Texas Attorney General's Office who is acting as an extension of Adrienne Driggers Childcare Licensing Department has changed their reasoning for placing Marla on the Central Registry and closing her daycare! Given the response that we have received it is apparent that any person that has read this blog is well aware that Adrienne Driggers orders to place Marla on the Central Registry and to close her daycare were not only unjustified but came as a result of Ms. Driggers animosity towards us.
It is obvious that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division needs a major overhaul to prevent the kind of abuse of power of which you have read throughout the blog. What this case also illustrates is the need to overhaul the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) who is supposed to act as an independent party in judging over actions committed by State agencies.
To schedule a hearing before SOAH, you must go through the Texas Attorney General's Office who acts as an extension of the agency that you are fighting. For some bizarre reason SOAH does not schedule the hearings with the two parties. The Attorney General's Office can delay the hearing as long as they please or even schedule the hearing for a date/day that they know is difficult for you. If you need a continuance to reschedule the hearing you must obtain the permission from the Attorney General's Office.
Documentation that SOAH receives is solely provided by the Attorney General's Office in the form of the agencies opinions that very likely contains false information as it does in our case. The presiding judge will make the assumption that the agency and the Attorney General's Office is acting in good-faith, which as is in the case is simply not true. What it means to the person fighting the State agency is that the odds are stacked against you before you even step foot inside the court room. The judge, who will very likely be influenced by the demonization of you, may not allow certain evidence, questions that you would like to ask representatives of the agency, or answers that you may try to give that will help clear you of the State agencies punishment
SOAH was created to allow a person due process against State agencies. Unfortunately, due process is denied because of the way SOAH is structured.
No comments:
Post a Comment