Lens Vicki A. author Columbia University. Social Work Vorsanger Susan Elizabeth author Columbia University. Social Work Columbia University. Social Work originator text Articles 2005 English Over 30 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court granted welfare clients the right to an administrative hearing before the termination of their benefits. Fair hearings have since become a mainstay of the welfare bureaucracy, but there has been scant empirical research on them, particularly since welfare reform, which eliminated the entitlement status of welfare while emphasizing clients' obligations. This article reports on an empirical study of the fair hearing systems in New York, Wisconsin, and Texas. The findings indicate that fair hearings are rarely used but frequently successful. This article explores why clients so infrequently rely on fair hearings. Social work 79 3 430 453 2005-09 http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:14963 NNC NNC 2012-10-16 15:47:13 -0400 2012-10-16 15:51:36 -0400 8967 eng