Challenge to the denial of a request for an adoption support subsidy; Whether a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) was timely; The law of the case doctrine; Judicial review of an administrative decision; Polania v State Employees’ Ret Sys; Abandoned argument as to MI Admin Code, R 792.11023 (Rule 1023)

Holding that the circuit court violated the law of the case doctrine in ruling against petitioners, the court remanded. Respondents denied petitioners’ request for an adoption support subsidy for their now adopted child, for whom an order of adoption was entered in 4/09. The DHHS determined they failed to timely appeal the denial to an ALJ and dismissed the case. The probate court affirmed. In a prior appeal, the court remanded to the ALJ, who found their request for a hearing was untimely. The circuit court affirmed the ALJ’s decision. In the present appeal, the court agreed with petitioners that the circuit court’s decision violated the law of the case doctrine by finding their 5/10/09 “hearing request was inadequate to request a hearing regarding the denial of the adoption support subsidy.” The court concluded that to the extent the circuit court found “the 1605 forms were not sufficient to satisfy the request for hearing regarding the denial of an adoption subsidy, [its] finding was contrary to this Court’s prior holding that the 1605 forms, if timely filed, were adequate as a matter of law to trigger an appeal to the ALJ, and violated the” law of the case doctrine. The circuit court failed to “review the ALJ’s factual findings and determination with respect to the question that was properly before the ALJ pursuant to” the court’s remand – whether petitioners, not later than 7/23/09, “filed written and signed requests for a hearing before an ALJ.” Lastly, the court found petitioners abandoned their claim that respondents’ dismissal of their request for a hearing violated Rule 1023.