Sweeney v. Affleck

• Decision Date: 04 February 1983
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 83-004B.
• Citation: 560 F. Supp. 1118
• Parties: Donna SWEENEY, Frances Marquis and Joseph Covill, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. John J. AFFLECK, Individually and in his Capacity as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, and Richard Schweiker, as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

560 F. Supp. 1118

Donna SWEENEY, Frances Marquis and Joseph Covill, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. John J. AFFLECK, Individually and in his Capacity as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, and Richard Schweiker, as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 83-004B.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

February 4, 1983.

Barry Best, Cynthia Mann, Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc., Providence, R.I., for plaintiffs.

Everett Sammartino, Asst. U.S. Atty., Providence, R.I., Nancy S. Nemon, Deputy Regional Atty., Dept. of Health and Human Services, Boston, Mass., William Walsh, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Providence, R.I., and Robert Fallon, Cranston, R.I., for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

FRANCIS J. BOYLE, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs bring this motion for preliminary injunction challenging the application of the so-called "lump sum" rule contained in the 1981 amendments to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (hereafter "AFDC") program. This "lump sum" rule was contained in Section 2304 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35, which added a new Section 402(a)(17) to the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(17).

In response to this 1981 amendment Defendant Schweiker, as Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, amended his regulations at 45 C.F.R. § 233.20(a)(3)(ii)(D). Similarly Defendant Affleck, as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, promulgated additional regulations concerning the treatment of "lump sum" income. These regulations are found under Rhode Island SRS Manual § 207, pp. 23-26.

These state and federal regulatory provisions dictate that when any AFDC recipient receives nonrecurring "lump sum" income, a fixed period of automatic ineligibility is imposed. During this fixed period of ineligibility AFDC benefits are denied to the entire family. The period of ineligibility is based upon the size of the "lump sum" and the applicable AFDC monthly payment standard. This mandatory period of ineligibility continues without regard to the fact that the "lump sum" may be exhausted and without consideration of the circumstance under which the "lump sum" is exhausted. The family is then left totally without income.

Plaintiffs challenge the state and federal regulatory provisions relating to the treatment of "lump sum" income as being inconsistent with the controlling provision of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(17). Plaintiffs contend that § 602(a)(17) applies only to AFDC recipients with earned income at the time the "lump sum" was received. The named Plaintiffs are all former AFDC recipients whose aid was terminated due to the receipt of a "lump sum" of income. All three named Plaintiffs were without any earned income at the time the "lump sum" payment was received. Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction on behalf of themselves and for all others similarly situated.

Plaintiffs request that this action be determined to be a class action. The Court, at this time, declines to undertake such a consideration. The Motion for Preliminary Injunction will be confined to the three Plaintiffs named in Plaintiffs' Amended Class Action Complaint.

All three Plaintiffs are parents of minors. Plaintiffs were AFDC recipients in 1982, with the AFDC benefits being their only source of income. During 1982 Plaintiffs received a "lump sum" payment and, as a result, no longer were deemed eligible for AFDC benefits. All three Plaintiffs have totally exhausted their "lump sum." There is no evidence that any Plaintiff deliberately either expended monies in order to qualify for AFDC benefits or transferred funds to others in order to qualify. Plaintiffs are now without income and without any means to support their families.

Donna Sweeney is the mother of four children, aged ten, eight, six and four months. In January of 1982, Plaintiff Sweeney was a recipient of AFDC benefits for herself and three minor children. Plaintiff did not have any other source of income. On or around January 11, 1982, Plaintiff received payment in settlement of a claim arising out of an automobile accident. From the total settlement of $25,000 Plaintiff received a check for $12,000; $13,000 was paid for attorney's fees and hospital bills.

The day Plaintiff Sweeney received her "lump sum" settlement, she informed the Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services that she would no longer be requiring benefits as she was taking her family to Florida. Plaintiff Sweeney purchased a 1979 Toyota for $3,550 and left for Florida that same day. Plaintiff was accompanied by her three children and a male companion. Portions of her settlement money were used for transportation and lodging costs on the journey to Florida. Upon her arrival a further $2,100 was spent for a security deposit and required rent to secure an apartment for her family.

Plaintiff Sweeney's attempt to start a new life in Florida proved disastrous. In February her car had to be sold for a substantial loss. Her male companion had used the car and did not add oil, resulting in a $900 engine replacement. Plaintiff Sweeney eventually transferred her car and $500 to a dealer to purchase a 1974 Chevrolet. A substantial part of the "lump sum" Plaintiff Sweeney received was forcibly taken from her by her male companion. Between $5,000 and $6,000 was either stolen or extorted from her by him. On a number of occasions money was taken by him to support his drinking habit and she was beaten by him to force her to sign over her traveler's checks, which she did.

Plaintiff had exhausted virtually all of her resources, including her "lump sum" payment, by the end of April, 1982. Following her eviction from her Florida apartment, Plaintiff and her three children returned to Rhode Island. Upon her return to the State, on May 1, 1982, Plaintiff Sweeney reapplied for AFDC benefits. Plaintiff presented the receipts she had retained to show that her "lump sum" was no longer available to support her family. Plaintiff Sweeney was informed that under the state policy her three minor children were nonetheless ineligible to receive further AFDC benefits until approximately March, 1984.

From May, 1982 to October, 1982 Plaintiff was without any income and was unable to provide a home for her family. Her three older children have been temporarily placed with their father, although Plaintiff retains legal custody by decree of the Rhode Island Family Court.

In September, 1982 Plaintiff gave birth to a baby. Since October of 1982 Plaintiff Sweeney has received AFDC benefits for her baby, but not for herself. Plaintiff Sweeney and her baby did not have a home of their own. Following her discharge from the hospital, Plaintiff and baby resided with a friend. From November 19 to December 27 they resided at an emergency shelter normally limited to use by battered women and children. On December 27, Plaintiff and her baby left the emergency shelter and, with nowhere else to go, stayed in her car in Providence for two days. Plaintiff and her baby thereafter stayed in a private home and yet another emergency shelter.

On January 10, 1983 the Department for Children and Their Families (DCF) took physical custody of Plaintiff's four-month-old infant. On January 12, 1983 DCF obtained temporary custody of the baby, due to Plaintiff's financial inability to provide basic necessities for the child.

Plaintiff currently resides with a volunteer from one of the emergency shelters at which Plaintiff and her baby stayed. Without AFDC benefits Plaintiff has no income, no home and she is separated from all of her children.

Plaintiff Frances Marquis is the mother of three minor children, aged ten, nine and four years. Plaintiff Marquis had been receiving AFDC benefits since 1976. In January, 1982 Plaintiff Marquis received an insurance payment of approximately $20,000, paid upon the death of a fourth child. At the time she received the insurance payment AFDC benefits were her sole source of income.

Plaintiff Marquis immediately reported the receipt of the insurance payment. Plaintiff was then informed that she would be ineligible for further AFDC benefits for herself and her three minor children until at least March, 1985.

Between January, 1982 and November, 1982 Plaintiff Marquis exhausted all of her resources, including the $20,000 insurance payment. A large portion of the money was spent on funeral expenses for Plaintiff's son. Household items including beds for her children, sheets, blankets and clothing were purchased. In addition, back bills were paid, including a winter's gas bills and electric bills. A 1974 Pinto was purchased, and that car was later traded for a 1972 Chevrolet. The remaining money was spent on food and basic necessities.

Plaintiff Marquis reapplied for AFDC benefits in early November, 1982, and was denied those benefits on November 19, 1982. Plaintiff Marquis currently receives food stamps, housing and utility subsidies. Irregular weekly payments from her ex-husband are Plaintiff Marquis' only source of cash income.

Plaintiff Joseph Covill is the father of two minor children, aged four years and twenty months. In March, 1982 Plaintiff Covill was a recipient of AFDC benefits for himself, his wife and his two daughters when he received payment for the settlement of a claim arising out of an automobile accident. Out of a total settlement of $9,000, Plaintiff received only $5,700; the balance was used to pay medical bills and attorney's fees.

Plaintiff reported his settlement payment and was determined to be ineligible for further AFDC benefits. Plaintiff's period of ineligibility was stated by various Department of Social and Rehabilitative Service employees to extend until April, 1983 at the earliest, with dates as late as January, 1984 also having been quoted.

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