Everett v. Schramm

587 F. Supp. 228, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17308
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedApril 24, 1984
DocketCiv. A. 83-209-WKS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 587 F. Supp. 228 (Everett v. Schramm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Everett v. Schramm, 587 F. Supp. 228, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17308 (D. Del. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

STAPLETON, Chief Judge:

The plaintiffs in this class action, 1 Delaware residents who are or have been recipients of assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program since October 1981, allege that this assistance has been or will be illegally reduced or terminated by the defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 602(a)(18) and 602(a)(31). Defendants Schramm and Hayward are state officials who administer the AFDC program in Delaware. Plaintiffs allege that the terminations or reductions of their benefits are not based on Delaware’s “standard of need,” as federal law requires, and that defendants have violated various provisions of state law as well. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. This opinion addresses those motions.

I. BACKGROUND

AFDC is a public assistance program undertaken jointly by the federal and state governments. 2 Under the program, financially needy households which include dependent 3 children receive monetary payments. The amount paid depends upon household size and income. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(7).

States must set two standards for the program: the standard of need and the payment level. The standard of need is a set of amounts each state considers adequate to provide for subsistence needs for various sizes of households. It is a measurement of the cost of satisfying basic needs. While federal law requires that the standard of need reflect the cost of living as of 1969, 4 it does not mandate any adjustment to account for inflation that has occurred since 1969. New Jersey Welfare Rights Organization v. Cahill, 483 F.2d 723, 726 (3d Cir.1973). The payment levels, in contrast, are the amounts the state actually pays to eligible households. The amounts paid vary with the number of household members and the amount of the household’s other income. A household with no income from any source other than the program receives an amount equal to the full payment level for a family of that size. A family with other income receives an amount equal to the payment level, less the amount of other income. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(7).

The payment levels set by states need not be equal to their standards of need. *231 The federal statute specifically allows states to set their payment levels at a percentage of their standards of need. 45 C.F.R. § 233.20(a)(2)(ii). The purpose of setting a standard of need is not, therefore, to insure that recipients of benefits receive an amount necessary for basic subsistence. Rather, the standard of need serves as a benchmark against which to measure the adequacy of the payment levels. The Supreme Court explained the relationship between the standard of need and the payment level this way:

[Wjhile [the statutory provisions governing the setting of payment levels] leaves the States free to effect downward adjustments in the level of benefits paid, it accomplishes within that framework the goal, however modest, of forcing a State to accept the political consequences of such a cutback and bringing to light the true extent to which actual assistance falls short of the minimum acceptance.

Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 413, 90 S.Ct. 1207, 1218, 25 L.Ed.2d 442 (1970).

The standard of need assumed additional significance in 1981 with the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA), Pub.L. 97-35, § 2302, 95 Stat. 357 (1981). The OBRA affected AFDC applicants and recipients with two types of income: (1) those with earned income, and (2) those with income from stepparents. First, the OBRA declared automatically ineligible for AFDC benefits any household whose gross income exceeded 150 percent of the state’s standard of need. Second, the OBRA required the states to assume that stepparents contribute a certain part of their income to the household, regardless of how much actually is contributed, for purpose of calculating the amount of household income to be subtracted from the payment level. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(31). The amount assumed to be contributed by the stepparent to the household is calculated by starting with the stepparent’s income and disregarding a certain amount of that income. The amount disregarded includes an amount equal to the state’s standard of need for a household of the number of people the stepparent actually supports.

The situations of the named plaintiffs illustrate the effects of these changes. In January 1983, Karen Everett was receiving a monthly AFDC grant of $197 for herself and her daughter. She then began part-time work which brought her an average gross monthly income of approximately $400. Delaware’s standard of need for a family of two, Ms. Everett was informed, was $197. Her $400 income exceeded 150 percent of $197, or $295.50. The state therefore terminated her benefits. Marion Mickens was receiving a monthly AFDC grant of $266 for herself and her two children when she married Charles Mickens in February of 1983. Mr. Mickens had an income at that time of approximately $400 per month. Calculations required by Section 602(a)(31) were done to determine how much of this stepparent income would be assumed to be available to Mrs. Mickens and her children. The amount of Mr. Mick-ens’ income disregarded was $197, the standard of need for a household of two. Since only $197 was disregarded, enough of Mr. Mickens’ income was left and assumed to be available to Mrs. Mickens and her family that her benefits were terminated.

Mention of several acts of the Delaware General Assembly completes the background of the issues for decision. In 1970, when the General Assembly revised Delaware’s Public Assistance Code, it included the following administrative provisions:

The Department [of Health and Social Services] shall administer this chapter and in connection therewith shall:
(1) Establish rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including rules, regulations and standards as to eligibility for assistance and as to its nature and extent;
(2) Cooperate with the Federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare or with any successor department or agency thereof, in any reasonable manner not contrary to law, as may be required to qualify for federal aid with respect to functions and programs com *232 ing within the purview of this chapter,

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Bluebook (online)
587 F. Supp. 228, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/everett-v-schramm-ded-1984.