Chambers v. Klein
| Decision Date | 25 August 1976 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 76-1286. |
| Citation | 419 F. Supp. 569 |
| Parties | Jan CHAMBERS, on behalf of herself and her minor children, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Ann KLEIN, Commissioner, Department of Institutions and Agencies, State of New Jersey, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Joan Vermeulen, Essex-Newark Legal Services, Newark, N.J., for plaintiffs.
Richard M. Hluchan, Dep. Atty. Gen., Trenton, N.J., Howard Pfeffer, Essex County Welfare Bd. Legal Dept., Richard T. Philips, Asst. U. S. Atty., Newark, N.J., for defendants.
This class action has been brought to challenge 42 C.F.R. § 232.10 promulgated by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) and § 210, Appendix D, Public Assistance Manual (PAM) established by the Department of Institutions and Agencies of the State of New Jersey (I & A), requiring applicants for or recipients of federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 42 U.S.C. §§ 601-610, to obtain and supply social security numbers for all family members as a condition of eligibility for assistance. Plaintiffs Jan Chambers (Chambers) and Sharon Epps (Epps), who were formerly recipients of AFDC benefits, sue on behalf of themselves, their minor children and all others similarly situated pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 23. Defendants herein are the Commissioner of I & A; the Director of the Division of Public Welfare of I & A; the Director of the Essex County Welfare Board; the Director of the Monmouth County Welfare Board; and the Secretary of HEW.
This action has been brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1983; directly under certain amendments to the federal Constitution; and pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201. It is stated that the court has subject matter jurisdiction over the suit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343 (3) and (4), and 1361.
The facts relating to this action are set forth in the Verified Complaint, as amended, and Agreed Stipulations of Fact filed herein by the parties.
Sometime in early March 1976, Chambers entered East Orange General Hospital. She did not notify the Essex County Welfare Board that she was going to enter the hospital. During her stay in the hospital, Chambers' residence was visited by a caseworker as part of a regularly scheduled redetermination of eligibility for AFDC benefits. Apparently, the caseworker was not informed that Chambers had entered the hospital because, upon her return to her residence, she found a written Notice of Intention to Suspend or Terminate Assistance, dated March 5, 1976 (Notice).
The Notice indicated that her AFDC grant would be terminated on April 1, 1976 because of her failure to contact the Essex County Welfare Board as requested in a letter sent to her on March 3, 1976. Since the Essex County Welfare Board was not informed that Chambers was in the hospital, the letter apparently requested that she contact the Essex County Welfare Board because she could not be located. In any event, the Notice stated the following:
Chambers, however, did not seek a fair hearing and on March 31, 1976 her AFDC benefits were terminated. It is noted that prior to March 31, 1976, Chambers contacted and orally explained her absence to the Essex County Welfare Board. Notwithstanding, in view of her failure to halt the termination process through a request for a fair hearing, all AFDC assistance to Chambers and her children ceased on that date.
In early April 1976, a caseworker visited Chambers to assist her in reapplying for AFDC benefits. During the visit she was informed that she would have to obtain and supply to the Essex County Welfare Board social security numbers for her three children before AFDC assistance would be restored. Although she provided the Essex County Welfare Board with her social security number, she refused to obtain social security numbers for her children.
On April 14, 1976, Chambers requested a fair hearing as to regulations requiring social security numbers for her children. Chambers was given that hearing on May 4, 1976, at which time she was represented by counsel and challenged the validity of the regulations requiring her to supply social security numbers for her children. At the hearing she contended that she was improperly notified of the termination of AFDC benefits because the Notice she had received indicated that the assistance was being terminated because she could not be located, and not because she had failed to supply the Essex County Welfare Board with the aforementioned social security numbers. She also argued that the regulations requiring the social security numbers were invalid in that they were not authorized by the federal statute which they were designed to implement and were in violation of the constitutional right to privacy of her children.
On May 28, 1976, the Director of the Department of Welfare of I & A issued a decision which upheld the validity of the regulation requiring the social security numbers of dependent children. The decision, however, found that, while Chambers' AFDC benefits could be terminated, the benefits to her children had to be reinstated because the termination as to them was improper pursuant to Circular Letter No. 75-8-12, dated August 27, 1975. Thus, the decision required reinstatement, and back payment, of AFDC benefits to the children but not to Chambers. Chambers asserts that the termination of AFDC benefits to her compelled her to send two of her three children to live with relatives in South Carolina. Since those two children are no longer living with her, she states that she is receiving a single AFDC grant in support of the one child with whom she now resides.
Prior to March 19, 1976, Epps met with her caseworker for a regular redetermination of her eligibility for AFDC benefits. When asked to obtain and supply social security numbers for her children, Epps refused. On March 19, 1976, she was notified in writing that her AFDC assistance would be terminated due to her failure to supply social security numbers for her children to the Monmouth County Welfare Board.
A fair hearing on Epps' case was held on April 15, 1976. At the hearing she challenged the validity of the regulation requiring social security numbers for her children by arguing that the Monmouth County Welfare Board had sufficient means of identifying the children without the social security numbers; that the PAM did not state the reasons for the regulation, nor were the employees of the Monmouth County Welfare Board able to explain the reasons; and that the regulation violated the constitutional right of privacy of her children. A decision was issued on June 18, 1976 which upheld the regulation requiring the social security numbers of her children. The decision determined that Epps was ineligible for AFDC benefits but that her children should continue to receive such assistance. Furthermore, as a result of the aforementioned decision, Epps cannot obtain Medicaid. It is urged that Medicaid benefits are needed because she has a physical problem which must be treated on a regular basis. The nature of her physical condition is such that regular treatment is required for her survival.
Epps is employed by Monmouth County and has a gross bi-monthly income of $229. Thus, under the above notification it appears that AFDC benefits to Epps are being terminated because of her failure to obtain social security numbers for her children, and that AFDC benefits to her children are being terminated because of her employment.
On July 16 and 20, 1976, Epps requested another fair hearing with respect to July 13, 1976 notification, which has not yet been held. It should be noted that she does not intend to challenge the requirement of social security numbers for her children at the next hearing.
The Verified Complaint, as amended, alleges that 45 C.F.R. § 232.10 imposes an additional eligibility requirement for AFDC assistance because the federal regulation is inconsistent with 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(25); that § 210, Appendix D, PAM, as amended by the Circular Letter No. 75-8-12, also imposes an additional eligibility requirement for AFDC assistance and violates the Supremacy Clause of the federal Constitution, because the state regulation is inconsistent with 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(25); that 45 C.F.R. § 232.10 and § 210, Appendix D, PAM, as promulgated and enforced, violate plaintiffs' constitutional right to privacy as guaranteed by the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Amendments to the federal Constitution; that 45 C.F.R. § 232.10 and § 210, Appendix D, PAM, violate Section 7(a)(1) of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a note; that 45...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State, Dept. of Human Services, Division of Public Welfare v. Hudson County, Dept. of Health and Social Services
...may not be varied by them"). A state may not implement the plan until it is approved by the Department of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW), Chambers v. Klein, 419 F.Supp. 569, 574-575 (D.N.J.1976), aff'd mem. 564 F.2d 89 (3 Cir. 1977); State v. Clark, supra, 58 N.J. at 89, 275 A.2d 137; Bu......
-
Ingerman v. Delaware River Port Authority
...the application form lacks this necessary criterion, the DRPA is in violation of Section 7(b). This case is easily distinguishable from Chambers v. Klein. See generally 419 F.Supp. 569 (D.N.J.1976). In that case, the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program ("AFDC"), see 42 U......
-
In re Rausch
...the legislative classification here is supported by a rational basis, Ferm's equal protection challenge fails. See Chambers v. Klein, 419 F.Supp. 569, 583-84 (D.N.J.1976) (SSNs only required for children whose parents received federal aid, and not from other children whose parents did not r......
-
SSI Medical Services, Inc. v. State, Dept. of Human Services, Div. of Medical Assistance and Health Services
...because he is charged with administering it. Merin v. Maglaki, 126 N.J. 430, 436-37, 599 A.2d 1256 (1992). See also Chambers v. Klein, 419 F.Supp. 569, 578 (D.N.J.1976), aff'd, 564 F.2d 89 (3rd Cir.1977). This is particularly so because the Acting Director's construction of the law is longs......