An official answer can settle a file without settling the question.

A file can be closed while the question is still open. The decision is recorded, the case is marked resolved, and the person is left with the same circumstances and now no route to raise them. Administrative completion and actual resolution are different states, and only one of them is tracked, which is why so many outcomes look fine in the reporting and not in the life.

If your matter is closed and nothing has changed, ask what the closure was based on and whether it can be reopened with new information. Keep the question separate from the file in your own mind. And if you close cases for a living, ask once whether the person’s situation is any different.