PICS Denied

**urexcellency** · October 9th, 2008, 03:58 PM

Greetings All,
I applied for an LTCF yesterday and was denied by PICS. I am awaiting the letter from PSP to ascertain why. I have a misdemeanor conviction from years ago, similar to this man, but to the best of my knowledge the incident is not a disqualifying event. By browsing this forum I was able to glean invaluable information with regards to avenues of recourse, and I am creating this thread to solicit further advice once the controversy is known. Thanks in advance to all.

**LM4300** · October 9th, 2008, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by urexcellency

By browsing this forum I was able to glean invaluable information with regards to avenues of recourse, and I am creating this thread to solicit further advice once the controversy is known. Thanks in advance to all.

Good luck on this. Finally, someone that did a little research before blindly asking similar questions that have been addressed here.

**Robert Kayland** · October 9th, 2008, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by urexcellency

Greetings All,
I applied for an LTCF yesterday and was denied by PICS. I am awaiting the letter from PSP to ascertain why. I have a misdemeanor conviction from years ago, similar to this man, but to the best of my knowledge the incident is not a disqualifying event. By browsing this forum I was able to glean invaluable information with regards to avenues of recourse, and I am creating this thread to solicit further advice once the controversy is known. Thanks in advance to all.

Even when it's not a disqualifier (technically-speaking), PICS often will make you "explain yourself" for any given arrest incident listed.

The usual process is that you send in the challenge form, they then send you back a letter stating the specific reason why you were denied, also stating that your status will remain as such within their computer until you send in your "appeal" with an explanation and/or additional paperwork where applicable (e.g., court documents about the disposition of the case, expungement orders, whatever).

Then, if it truly is a non-disqualifying event, they send you a reversal letter and you're good to go... leastwise to the next step of having your sheriff continue with the application.

It's a pain in the neck that PICS can demand that you 'explain yourself' even for incidents that have led to non-disqualifying convictions... heck, they've even demanded such for incidents that didn't lead to formal charges nor convictions, and which occurred over 35 years ago, when the subject was a minor, in two cases that I know of.

But it's their ball and their game... if you want to play, you've got to go through the rigamarole.

**mikepro8** · October 9th, 2008, 04:28 PM

If you have an M2 conviction, you should be okay - like the posters noted above, you may need to "explain yourself."

An M2 in PA - punishable by a maximum of two years imprisonment, but in PA there is the "MIN/MAX RULE." The minimum sentence cannot exceed more than half of the maximum sentence. Therefore, in PA, an M2 does NOT fit the definition of exclusion in PA or federally.

**PA-Joe** · October 9th, 2008, 07:23 PM

Does he wait to get something from the PSP or should he be sending in a challenge form? "The usual process is that you send in the challenge form"

**P89** · October 9th, 2008, 07:31 PM

I'm surprised the system was actually working.
Could you imagine if banks & credit card companies had systems that just went down at random like PICS does.

**Robert Kayland** · October 9th, 2008, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by PA-Joe

Does he wait to get something from the PSP or should he be sending in a challenge form? "The usual process is that you send in the challenge form"

The sheriff's office first sends him the initial denial letter along with a challenge form. If they don't do that, he can get one online, but the sheriff's office is supposed to provide it along with the formal initial denial letter.