APPEAL; I PART C -Decision under Appeal The Appellant appeals the reconsideration decision of the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (Ministry) dated February 6, 2014, in which the Ministry determined that the Ap p ellant received an overpayment of the shelter allowance of his disability assistance in the amount of $ 18,687.16 pursuant to Section 18 of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act (EAPWDA), for which he is responsible to repay to the Ministry. The Ministry determined that the Appellant was not eligible for shelter allowance under section 4(2) of Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation. PART D -Relevant Le g islation Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act (EAPWDA), section 18. Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation ( EAPWDR), Sections 1 and 24 and Schedule A, sections 1 and 4. EAAT 003( 10/06/01)
P A RT E -Summarv of Fact s T he Appel lant d id not at tend the appeal hearing, b ut his mother. The Appellant is a designated perso n with dis disab ility assistance as a s ingle per s on s ince his d es based o n the info r m ati o n in the Ministry's Over pa yme re con si deration c ons isted of: • Minis try Ov erpay me n t chart for the Appellant's December 2013, printed D e c e mb er 9, 2013 (9 • Copy of a letter from the Mini s try to the Appellant dated December 10, 2013 (1 page the Minist r y adv ised the Ap pe llant that it is reducin • Copy of a letter from the Ministry Investigative Officer dated Dec which th e M i n i stry advised the Appellant that he had re eligible an d an ov er payment of $20 ,53 8 . 5 8 had • Copy of a let ter f ro m the Appellant' s mother to the Min in whi ch she re s p onded t o the Min ist r y's file Ap pella nt "lives at h ome wi th his p arents an d app el lan t ] p u rchases househ old groceries and comple $375. 00 m o n thly "; • Copy of the Minist ry's Sh e lter Inf ormation f o behalf and dated F eb ruary 16, 2 009 ; and • Reque st f o r R e consi de ra t i on date d Jan uar y of the A p pellant p r ep ared b y his mo t he r. The Ap pell ant file d his no t i ce of a pp eal Feb r uary 18 additi onal s ubmissio ns for the ap pea l hea ring, c onsist • One page sub miss ion da ted March 22, 2014 adv att ending th e a ppe al hearing a nd the r ea son • One page submission on appeal signed by the App • Two-page sub missio n "bri e f revie w '' dat ed March 2 • Four page s ubmission " t rib u nal a ppe a l/recons • One-page submissio n "debt future" dated March 22, 2014; • One-page submission "parenting" dated March 22, 2014; • Eight-page submission "contact log" dated M • Copy of Ministry's S helter Information form completed by the Appellant's mother and dated February 16, 2009 (this document was • Four pages of copies of Ministry Notice of Deposits for the Appellant dated 2013, December 18, 2013, Janu ary 22, 2 014 The Appellant's advocate said that she prepared the additional submissions for the hearing so that the panel had a complete understanding of the experience the Appellant and his family have had dealing with the Ministry. She told the panel she included the copies of the Appellant's most recent Ministry generated deposit slips to show that the informatio particularly for a PWD, and pointed out that the February 26, 2014 indicates that the Appellant's shelter portion of his disabilitv assistance is $375, althouqh this is no lonaer the case. EMT003(10/06/01) APPEAL I was repre s e nted at t he hearing by hi s a dvocate, ab ilities (" P WD") and has been receiving ignation a s a PWD i n o r ab o ut March 2009, n t chart. The evidence before the Ministry at the ass istance months o f March 2009 through pages); ) in which g his assis tance by $375/month; em ber 1 0, 2013 (2 pages) in c eiv ed assistance for which he was not b een recorded on his fil e; ist r y dated D ecemb e r 5, 2013 (1 p age) r e vie w r equest for i nform atio n and wr ote t h at the we had o p ted i n lieu of rent payme nt s [ t h e tes h o u sehold chores equal in value t o rm c om p leted b y the Appellant' s mo t her on his 26 , 2 01 4 wit h attach ed 4-p age wr i tten subm i ssion , 2014. On Marc h 24, 2 014, t h e App ellan t fil ed in g of th e f o llo wing do cu ments: i s in g th at the Appe llan t would not be for his absenc e; ella nt's parents; 2, 20 1 4 ; id er a t io n decision" dated March 22, 2014; arch 22, 2014; on his behalf before the Ministry as noted above); and Novembe r 20, , and Febru a r y 26, 2014. n on the deposit slips is confusing, The Ministrv's
representa tive d id no t object to the adm ission of the by the Ap pellan t, bu t noted that som e of the inf ormation 2014 deposit slip occurr e d after the Ministry's reconside The pa n e l not es that the bulk of the a dditional writt Appella n t r eiterate information t hat was before the Minist and admits the a dditional submissi ons as written t estimony Ministr y under sub s . 22(4)(b) of t he Employment and Ass obj e c t ion that some of the informati on c o n t ained in decision (for exam pl e, the recitat ion by the Appellant's mo Ministry representatives from February 18 through March relevant to the issue on appe al and the pa n e l places n The Appellant was designated a PWD in or about March A pp ellant's mothe r completed t he Minist r y Shel ter befor e th e Minis try at r ec o ns i dera ti on and t h e Minis t he copy i n the appe a l ma ter ia ls is the Shelter Inf o rm Mini str y g ene r ated f or m has designa ted s e c tio n s A a p plican t. S ection A is f or app lican ts who are renting amo u nt of rent the appli c a n t w il l pay, w hethe r a s ecurity d adul ts at a give n a dd ress. Sectio n B is fo r appli cants i n f orma tio n about the m onthly a mou nt. O n t he Appellan Febr uar y 16, 2009 bo th Sec t ions A a n d B ar e blan k. sh e comple t ed the form at the counter of th e Ministry off she said s he lef t s e c tions A an d B b lank and cou ld work e r at th e tim e s he compl ete d th e form a t t he Mini Shelt er Informatio n form "Landl o rd Info rma tio n," t he o wne r , wi t h t he family home ad dres s provided. T h for m as the landlor d. T he Mi n i s t ry's She lter Info rmation form states, ' We immediately upon payment of the first month's rent (if your rent is not paid directly to the landlord by MHSD). All information may be veri fi e d. A rent receipt is attached to this form for On the shelter information form, the bottom portion includes a "rent receipt" below a dotted line with sections for the date, the month, t he amou nt o f r e nt deposit, and the landlord's signature. On the App ellant Form, the Appellant's mot her si g ne d the r en t receipt over "landlord's signature" but the rest of the rent receipt portion of the form is blank. As indicated in the Ministry's Overpayment charts, the Appellant began receiving disability assis in M a rch 2009, which i n clud ed $ 375 per month for shel shelte r a llowance through December 2013. As noted in the Mini t he Appellant, o n Nove mber 15, 2013, the Ministry r receipts for proof of payment. In the letter to the Ministry from the Appellant's mother of December 5, 2013, the Appellant's mother indicated that the Appellant lives with his parents and purchases groceries and completed household chores in lieu of rent. advised the Aooellant that he was not eliqible for shelter allowance and reduced his assistance bv EM T003(10/06/01) I A PP E AL additio nal submi ssions and documents provid ed in t he s ub m issio ns and on the February 26, ration decision of February 6, 2014. e n submis sions and documents s ub mitted by the ry at th e time of the re consideration de c i sion in supp o rt of information before th e istance Act. The panel notes the Ministr y 's th e s ubmiss ions aros e a fter the reconsiderati on ther of her conve r satio ns w it h va rious 20 , 2014) a n d does not c ontain information o wei ght on this information . 200 9. On February 16, 200 9, the I n for ma t io n f o r m on hi s be half a n d t h i s f o r m wa s try rep r e s e ntat iv e confi rmed a t th e h ea ri ng tha t at ion fo rm on r ecord f o r the A ppellant. T his a n d 8 , one o f whi ch is to b e compl ete d by th e and s e eks s tandard information a b o u t th e e po sit is requi red, a s well as the nu m b er of wh o are paying room and bo a r d a nd seek s t 's S h elter Information f orm compl ete d At the heari ng , t h e A p pe llant' s mo th er said t h at i ce i n t he presence of a Mi n is try worker and not re membe r any dis cuss ion with the Mi n i str y stry off ice. On the s ecti on of t h e Appellan t 's App ellan t 's moth er's na m e appea rs as regis tered e A ppe l lant's mo ther s igned t h i s sect io n of t h e require a rent receipt i n a ddi ti on to t h i s form your co n ve n ie nce." , whe ther it is r oom and bo a rd o r a security 's Febr uary 16, 2009 Shelter Information tan c e ter allowance, and conti n ued to receive this s tr y' s Dec ember 10, 2013 letter to equ ested the App ellant to provide it with ren t On December 10, 2013, the Ministry
$ 37 5/month (th e p ort ion of s h e l ter allo wance ) . Also on Decembe r 10 , 2 013, a Ministry Investi ga t ive file audit, the Ministry had determined th at the Appellant had re not el igible and recorded an ove r p ayment of $20,538.58. O fficer w r o t e, "This overpaym ent o c curred a s a result of y our address and/or shelter costs fro m March 2009 Dec living at [App ellant's home addres s] and paying $375.00 in monthly shelter insuff icient documentation of your shelter co s ts to est al lowance you received fo r t he time period n oted." The pan e l no tes t hat the evidence of the Appe l lant's A p pell ant indicate to the Ministry that he was pa y ing $37 reflect e d in the blank sections of the February 16, 2009 Ministry Shelter Information fo Th e panel notes tha t i n it s Ministry' s reco n side r ati o o f chan ges i n the applicable legi slation i n 2003 w hich ap r ec e ive $ 7 5 pe r m on th as g uaranteed sh elter a llowance from Jul th at the o v erpa yment amou nt f o r December 2011, a nd the Minist ry re duce d th e amoun t of the ove rpay owin g as o v erpa ym e nt from $2 0,538 . 5 8 to $18,687 EAA T003(10/06/01) APPEAL I I Offi cer advised the Appellant that as a result of a c e i ve d assistance for which he w as In th is let ter, th e Minis t r y Inv e stigative a fail ure to provide docu mentat i on to ver i fy ember 2013. You declared that yo u we re costs. Th e ministry has ablish t hat you were eligible for the shelter mother on his behalf is that at n o t ime di d the 5 per mon th i n m onth ly shelter co sts, as rm. n decis ion, t h e Mini stry de termine d that as a resul t pli ed to th e Appe lla nt, he was e ntit led t o y 2009 t o May 2010(11 months ) an d D ecem ber 2 0 1 2, an d January 201 3 w er e adjust ed, m e nt o w ing by $1,85 1.42 (c h angin g t he a moun t . 16).
P A R T F R e a s o n s f o r P a n e l D e c i s i o n T h e i s s u e i n t h i s a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r t h e M i n i s t ry ' s F t h e M i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t r e c e i v e d s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e f o r w h i c h h e w a s n o t e l i g i b l e i n t h 2 0 0 9 t h r o u g h D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 p u r s u a n t t o S e c t i o n w i t h D i s a b i li t i e s A c t ( E A P W D A ) , i s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e u n d e r s e c t i o n T h e p a n e l n o t e s t h a t i n t h e M i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o A p p e l l a n t t h e s e c t i o n s o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n u p o n w h i c h r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n t e m p l a t e i s l e f t b l a n k , n o r e f e r e n c e A p p e n d i x A t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n r e a s o n s , a i n c l u d e d a s A p p e n d i x B , t h e r e i s n o r e f e r e n c e t o t h S e c t i o n 2 4 o f t h e E A P W D R s e t s o u t t h e a m o u n t o f m o n t h a n d s t a t e s t h a t t h e a m o u n t i s n o t m o r e t h a n E A P W D R , m i n u s t h e f a m i l y u n i t ' s n e t i n c o m e d e t e r p a n e l n o t e s t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s n e t i n c o m e i s n o t i n S c h e d u l e A o f t h e E A P W D R s t a t e s i n s e c t i o n 1 ( 1 ) t i n s e c t i o n 2 4 ( a ) o f t h e E A P W D R i s t h e s u m o f ( a ) t h S c h e d u l e A f o r a f a m i l y u n i t m a t c h i n g t h e f a m i l y u n i a l l o w a n c e c a l c u l a t e d u n d e r s e c t i o n s 4 a n d 5 o f S c h s u p p o r t a l l o w a n c e u n d e r s e c t i o n 2 o f S c h e d u l e A i s S u b s e c t i o n 4 ( 2 ) o f S c h e d u l e A o f t h e E A P W D R p r o f a m i l y u n i t t o w h i c h s e c t i o n 1 4 . 2 o f t h e E A P W D A d o 1 4 . 2 o f t h e E A P W D A d o e s n o t a p p l y t o t h e A p p e l l a n s h e l t e r c o s t s a n d ( b ) t h e m a x i m u m s e t o u t i n t h e t a b o f 1 p e r s o n ( t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s f a m i l y u n i t ) , t h e m o n t h l y $ 3 7 5 . S e c t i o n 5 o f t h e E A P W D R s e t s o u t h o w a c t u n o t e s t h a t t h i s i s n o t i n i s s u e o n t h i s a p p e a l . S e c t i o n 1 8 o f t h e E A P W D A a d d r e s s e s o v e r p a y m e n ( 1 ) I f d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e o t h a t i s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r i t , r e c i p i e n t s w h o a r e m w h i c h t h e o v e r p a y m e n t i s p r o v i d e d a r e l i a b l e o f t h e o v e r p a y m e n t p r o v i d e d f o r t h a t p e r i o d . ( 2 ) T h e m i n i s t e r ' s d e c i s i o n a b o u t t h e a m o u n t a p n o t a p p e a l a b l e u n d e r s e c t i o n 1 6 ( 3 ) [ r e c o n s i d I n h e r s u b m i s s i o n s o n t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s b e h a l f , t h e A p r e c e i v e d $ 3 7 5 p e r m o n t h f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e f r o m w h i c h t i m e t h e A p p e l l a n t w a s l i v i n g w i t h h i s p a r e n t s a r o c e r i e s a n d o r o v i d i n a h o u s e h o l d c h o r e s i n l i e u o f E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L e b r u a r y 6 , 2 0 1 4 r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n , i n w h i c h a n o v e r p a y m e n t o f h i s d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e f o r e a m o u n t o f $ 1 8 , 6 8 7 . 1 6 f o r t h e p e r i o d f r o m M a r c h 1 8 o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e f o r P e r s o n s o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e o r a r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n a n t . T h e M i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t 4 ( 2 ) o f t h e E A P W D R . n d e c i s i o n , t h e M i n i s t r y d i d n o t i n d i c a t e t o t h e i t r e l i e d i n r e a c h i n g i t s d e c i s i o n ( t h i s s e c t i o n o f t h e i s m a d e t o t h e p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n i n n d a l t h o u g h e x c e r p t s o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n a r e e s p e c i f i c a p p l i c a b l e A c t o r R e g u l a t i o n ) . d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e t o b e p r o v i d e d i n a c a l e n d a r t h a t a m o u n t d e t e r m i n e d u n d e r S c h e d u l e A o f t h e m i n e d u n d e r S c h e d u l e B o f t h e E A P W D R . T h e i s s u e o n t h i s a p p e a l . h a t t h e a m o u n t o f d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e r e f e r r e d t o e m o n t h l y s u p p o r t a l l o w a n c e u n d e r s e c t i o n 2 o f t o f t h e a p p l i c a n t o r r e c i p i e n t p l u s ( b ) t h e s h e l t e r e d u l e A . T h e a m o u n t o f t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o n t h l y n o t i n i s s u e o n t h i s a p p e a l . v i d e s t h a t t h e m o n t h l y s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e f o r a e s n o t a p p l y ( a n d t h e r e i s n o i s s u e t h a t s e c t i o n t ) i s t h e s m a l l e r o f ( a ) t h e f a m i l y u n i t ' s a c t u a l l e f o r t h e a p p l i c a b l e f a m i l y s i z e . F o r a f a m i l y u n i t s h e l t e r c o s t s s e t o u t i n t h e a p p l i c a b l e t a b l e i s a l s h e l t e r c o s t s a r e c a l c u l a t e d a n d t h e p a n e l t s a n d s t a t e s : r a s u p p l e m e n t i s p r o v i d e d t o o r f o r a f a m i l y u n i t e m b e r s o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d f o r t o r e p a y t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t t h e a m o u n t o r v a l u e e r s o n i s l i a b l e t o r e p a y u n d e r s u b s e c t i o n ( 1 ) i s e r a t i o n a n d a p p e a l r i g h t s ] . p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t M a r c h 2 0 0 9 t h r o u g h D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , d u r i n g i n a " m i n i s u i t e " i n t h e i r h o m e , p u r c h a s i n g o a v i n a r e n t . H o w e v e r , t h e A n n e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r
t o l d t h e p a n e l t h a t t h e s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e w a s p a i d t o t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r d i d n o t c o m p l e t e t h e S h e l t e r A a n d B a r e b o t h b l a n k a n d t h e r e i s n o i n f o r m a t i o n A p p e l l a n t w a s p a y i n g i n r e n t o r w h e t h e r h e w a s r e c t o l d t h e p a n e l t h a t s h e r e c e i v e d n o a s s i s t a n c e f r o m t h e S h e l t e r I n f o r m a t i o n f o r m o n h e r s o n ' s b e h a l f a n d a l l o w a n c e t o h e r s o n i n e r r o r b a s e d o n t h e i n c o m p l e m o t h e r t o l d t h e p a n e l t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y n e v e r a d v i s e r e c e i p t s t o p r o v e h e w a s e l i g i b l e f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c n o t e l i g i b l e f o r t h e s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e w a s i n D e c e m b f i r s t d e s i g n a t e d a P W D . 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T h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r e x p r e s s e d a g r e t r e a t e d h e r a n d h e r s o n a s t h e y h a v e t r i e d t o g e t i n f o m a y b e e n t i t l e d , a n d h o w t o a d d r e s s t h e o v e r p a y m e T h e M i n i s t r y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e a c k n o w l e d g e d a t t h e h e c o m p l e t e d i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9 w a s d e f i c i e n t i n t h a t s e M i n i s t r y h a d n o i n f o r m a t i o n b e f o r e i t a b o u t t h e a m o u h e w a s r e c e i v i n g r o o m a n d b o a r d ) a n d t h e r e n t r e c e s h o w i n g o n l y t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r ' s s i g n a t u r e a s l s u b m i t t e d t h a t t h e o n u s i s o n t h e A p p e l l a n t t o p r o v i d e l i g i b i l i t y f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e ( f o r e x a m p l e , t o p r o v i a m o u n t t h a t h e i s p a y i n g i n r e n t , o r f o r r o o m a n d b o a M i n i s t r y i n e r r o r i s s u e d t h e A p p e l l a n t m o n t h l y s h e l t e A p p e l l a n t i s s t i l l r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o v e r p a y m e n t a s a l l o w a n c e i n t h e f i r s t p l a c e . A t t h e h e a r i n g , t h e p a n e l a d v i s e d t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e M i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n a n d t h a t b e c a h a s n o j u r i s d i c t i o n t o r e d u c e t h e a m o u n t o f t h e o v e r p T h e p a n e l f i n d s i t v e r y t r o u b l i n g t h a t t h e o v e r p a y m e n t h e p a r t o f t h e M i n i s t r y i n p r o c e s s i n g t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s 2 0 0 9 . T h e p a n e l a l s o a c c e p t s t h e e v i d e n c e o f t h e A t h e A p p e l l a n t ( o r h i s m o t h e r ) a t t h e t i m e t h e S h e l t e r N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t w a s r e q u i r e d t o s a l l o w a n c e ( f o r e x a m p l e , t h e M i n i s t r y d i d n o t a s k t h e c o n f i r m h i s o n g o i n g e l i g i b i l i t y f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e u H o w e v e r , t h e p a n e l n o t e s t h a t t h e r e i s n o p r o v i s i o n i p a n e l t o r e d u c e o r e l i m i n a t e a n o v e r p a y m e n t t h a t w a a n e r r o r o n t h e p a r t o f t h e M i n i s t r y . E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L t h e A p p e l l a n t t h r o u g h t h e M i n i s t r y ' s o w n e r r o r I n f o r m a t i o n F o r m i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9 t h e s e c t i o n s p r o v i d e d o n t h i s f o r m a b o u t t h e a m o u n t t h e e i v i n g r o o m a n d b o a r d . T h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r t h e M i n i s t r y w o r k e r s w h e n s h e w a s c o m p l e t i n g a r g u e d t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y i s s u e d t h e s h e l t e r t e S h e l t e r I n f o r m a t i o n f o r m . T h e A p p e l l a n t ' s d h e r s o n ( o r h e r ) t h a t h e n e e d e d t o s u b m i t r e n t e a n d t h a t t h e f i r s t t h e y w e r e a w a r e t h a t h e w a s e r 2 0 1 3 , a l m o s t 5 y e a r s a f t e r t h e A p p e l l a n t w a s s v e r y c o n c e r n e d a b o u t h o w h e r s o n w i l l r e p a y t h e p a n e l t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y w i l l d e d u c t i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e f o r t h e n e x t 5 0 y e a r s . T h e e p a n e l t h a t h e r s o n , d e s p i t e h i s d i s a b i l i t i e s , i s h a s o b t a i n e d s e a s o n a l w o r k w h i c h h e f i n d s a t d e a l o f f r u s t r a t i o n w i t h t h e w a y t h e M i n i s t r y h a s r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e t o w h i c h h e n t s i t u a t i o n . a r i n g t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s S h e l t e r I n f o r m a t i o n f o r m c t i o n s A a n d / o r B w e r e n o t c o m p l e t e d ( s o t h e n t t h e A p p e l l a n t w a s t o p a y f o r r e n t o r w h e t h e r i p t p o r t i o n o f t h e f o r m w a s a l s o i n c o m p l e t e , a n d l o r d . H o w e v e r , t h e M i n i s t r y ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e e t h e M i n i s t r y w i t h a c c u r a t e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t h i s d e t h e M i n i s t r y w i t h m o n t h l y r e c e i p t s t o s h o w t h e r d ) . T h e M i n i s t r y ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e r a l l o w a n c e o f $ 3 7 5 f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s , t h e h e w a s n o t e l i g i b l e t o r e c e i v e t h e s h e l t e r t h e r t h a t t h e p a n e l c a n o n l y c o n f i r m o r r e s c i n d u s e o f s e c t i o n 1 8 ( 2 ) o f t h e E A P W D A , t h e p a n e l a y m e n t . t i n t h i s c a s e a r o s e a s a r e s u l t o f a m i s t a k e o n d e f i c i e n t S h e l t e r I n f o r m a t i o n f o r m i n F e b r u a ry p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y d i d n o t a d v i s e i n f o r m a t i o n f o r m w a s s u b m i t t e d o r a n y t i m e b e f o r e u b m i t p r o o f t h a t h e w a s e l i g i b l e f o r t h e s h e l t e r A p p e l l a n t t o p r o v i d e c o p i e s o f r e n t r e c e i p t s t o n t i l i t c o m m e n c e d i t s a u d i t i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 ) . n t h e l e g i s l a t i o n a l l o w i n g t h e M i n i s t r y o r t h i s s a c c r u e d a s a r e s u l t o f a n i n n o c e n t m i s t a k e o r
T h e A p p e l l a n t d o e s n o t d e n y t h a t h e r e c e i v e d $ 3 7 5 t h r o u g h D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 . T h e A p p e l l a n t ' s m o t h e r a a n d s h e d i d n o t i s s u e r e n t r e c e i p t s a s t h e A p p e l l a n w i t h h o u s e h o l d c h o r e s i n l i e u o f r e n t . A c c o r d i n g l y , s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e b e t w e e n M a r c h 2 0 0 9 a n d D e c e m n o t p a y i n g r e n t t o h i s f a m i l y . T h e p a n e l a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t a d m i n i s t r a t i v e e r r o r s t o t h e a p p r o v a l a n d c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e A p p e l l a n t ' s H o w e v e r , i t i s t h e r e a s o n a b l e n e s s o f t h e M i n i s t r y ' s w i t h i n t h e p a n e l ' s j u r i s d i c t i o n , a n d f o r t h i s r e a s o n , t d e t e r m i n e d t h e A p p e l l a n t r e c e i v e d a n o v e r p a y m e n t a s s i s t a n c e b e t w e e n M a r c h 2 0 0 9 a n d D e c e m b e r 2 0 i s r e s p o n s i b l e t o r e p a y t h i s o v e r p a y m e n t . A s p r o v i d a d d r e s s t h e a m o u n t o f o v e r p a y m e n t t h a t t h e A p p e l t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n i s r e a s o r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e e n a c t m e n t c o n f i r m s t h e M i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n . E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L p e r m o n t h f o r s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e f r o m M a r c h 2 0 0 9 c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t h e r s o n d i d n o t p a y h e r r e n t t p u r c h a s e d g r o c e r i e s a n d p r o v i d e d a s s i s t a n c e t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e A p p e l l a n t r e c e i v e d m o n t h l y b e r 2 0 1 3 f o r w h i c h h e w a s n o t e l i g i b l e , a s h e w a s o n t h e p a r t o f t h e M i n i s t r y c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e o v e r a f i v e y e a r p e r i o d . a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e l e g i s l a t i o n t h a t f a l l s h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b l y o f t h e s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e o f h i s d i s a b i l i t y 1 3 , a n d t h e l e g i s l a t i o n p r o v i d e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t e d b y s . 1 8 ( 2 ) o f t h e E A P W D A , t h i s p a n e l c a n n o t l a n t i s l i a b l e t o r e p a y . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e p a n e l f i n d s n a b l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e a n d i s a i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e A p p e l l a n t . T h e p a n e l
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.