Davidson v. Sherman, 92-63

• Decision Date: 18 March 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-63,92-63
• Citation: 848 P.2d 1341
• Parties: Shirley DAVIDSON; Kimberly Paull; and Melissa Baxter, a minor, by and through her next friend, Gloria Shore, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellants (Plaintiffs), v. Gary SHERMAN, and/or his successor, in his official capacity as Director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, and/or its successor, Appellee (Defendant).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 1341

848 P.2d 1341

Shirley DAVIDSON; Kimberly Paull; and Melissa Baxter, a minor, by and through her next friend, Gloria Shore, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellants (Plaintiffs), v. Gary SHERMAN, and/or his successor, in his official capacity as Director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, and/or its successor, Appellee (Defendant).

No. 92-63.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

March 18, 1993.

J. Duane Myres (argued), and H.B. Harden, Jr., Casper, for appellants.

Joseph B. Meyer, Atty. Gen., Michael L. Hubbard, Barbara L. Boyer (argued), Sr. Asst. Attys. Gen., and D. Stephen Melchior, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before MACY, C.J., THOMAS, CARDINE and GOLDEN, JJ., and URBIGKIT, J. (Retired).

CARDINE, Justice.

Shirley Davidson, Kimberly Paull, and Melissa Baxter, appellants, filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that the Wyoming Department of Family Services, as administrator of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program, must set the standard of need at a level commensurate with actual need. Appellants also, for themselves and others similarly situated, sought to recover the amount of child support payments wrongfully retained by the State when it employed the incorrect standard of need. The district court, citing its lack of authority because of separation of powers, refused to correct the standard of need and entered summary judgment in favor of the State.

We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Appellants state the issues as follows:

I. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by granting Appellee/Defendant's (hereinafter Defendant) Motion for Summary Judgment that dismissed Appellant/Plaintiff (hereinafter Plaintiff), Shirley Davidson's, individual claim when the Court's Decision Letter stated "The Plaintiffs ask for a finding of amounts due for the named Plaintiffs, however, the Court finds that the amount due, if any, turns upon question of fact and Summary Judgment is denied."

II. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by failing to grant Plaintiff, Shirley Davidson's, individual claim for $1000 in underpaid AFDC grant payments from October, 1984 through January, 1987 pursuant to stipulated agreement of the parties.

III. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by failing to declare the stipulated remaining issue in Plaintiff, Shirley Davidson's, individual claim. The sole issue for the court's determination is whether federal and state laws 42 U.S.C.A. § 657, 45 CFR § 302.51, W.S. § 20-6-106(n) and W.S. § 20-6-215(b) require Defendant to account for all child support collected and held in trust as current month's child support first and only after payment of current child support obligations can Defendant treat the child support collected as against the back child support obligation and/or Judgment. If the money collected from John's father is to be credited against current child support obligation first then Defendant has stipulated that they owe Plaintiff, Shirley Davidson, child IV. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by finding that the Court has no legal right or authority to correct the Standard of Need (hereinafter SON) from August 4, 1986 to October 1, 1990 to the correct and accurate SON amount of $654 for an AFDC family size three.

support benefits and $50 child support disregard benefits in the amount of $3,069.20.

V. Whether the trial court committed reversible error in failing to find that Plaintiffs' rights were violated by Defendant's confiscating and using the children's child support trust funds without accurate accounting in accordance with Federal and State laws is a violation of the State and Federal Laws Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States and the Wyoming Constitution Article 1, § 6.

VI. Whether the trial court committed reversible error in finding that Plaintiffs had failed to timely certify the alleged Class action claim when all evidence is that the parties hereto agreed not to certify the class until after the SON issue was resolved. Clearly, it is premature for the Court to limit this action to the three named-Plaintiffs when Defendant has already stipulated in two other filed cases that they are members of the class that is yet to be certified, if the certification step even becomes necessary.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing the trial court's grant of summary judgment, we examine the case in the same manner as the trial court. Moncrief v. Harvey, 816 P.2d 97, 102 (Wyo.1991). Our task requires that we make a dual finding that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and that the prevailing party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. When considering questions of law, we accord no special deference to the district court's determination. Id.; Matter of North Laramie Land Co., 605 P.2d 367, 373 (Wyo.1980).

BACKGROUND

The Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program is one of three major categorical public assistance programs established by the Social Security Act of 1935. King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 313, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 2131, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968). 42 U.S.C. § 601 outlines the program's goals:

For the purpose of encouraging the care of dependent children in their own homes or in the homes of relatives by enabling each State to furnish financial assistance and rehabilitation and other services, as far as practicable under the conditions in such State, to needy dependent children and the parents or relatives with whom they are living to help maintain and strengthen family life and to help such parents or relatives to attain or retain capability for the maximum self-support and personal independence consistent with the maintenance of continuing parental care and protection, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year a sum sufficient to carry out the purposes of this part.

The AFDC program is based on a scheme of cooperative federalism under which the states provide monthly or bimonthly cash grants for basic maintenance to needy families with dependent children and the federal government reimburses fifty to eighty percent of the states' program costs. King, 392 U.S. at 316, 88 S.Ct. at 2133; Adele M. Blong & Timothy J. Casey, AFDC Program Rules for Advocates: An Overview, 23 Clearinghouse Rev. 802 (Nov. 1989). States freely elect whether to participate in the federally funded program, but once a state decides to participate, it must comply with the federal laws governing the program. King, 392 U.S. at 316-17, 88 S.Ct. at 2133; Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 408, 90 S.Ct. 1207, 1216, 25 L.Ed.2d 442 (1970). Federal law requires a state to designate a single state agency to administer the AFDC benefits program or to supervise agencies of local government, usually county agencies, who administer the program. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(3), 45 C.F.R. §§ 205.100, 205.101.

Two basic factors enter into the determination of what AFDC benefits will be paid to a family. First, a standard of need must be established to provide a yardstick for measuring who is eligible for public assistance. Rosado, 397 U.S. at 408, 90 S.Ct. at 1216. Second, it must be decided what level of benefits will be paid to families in need of assistance. Id. Congress has granted the states a great deal of discretion in making both of these determinations. Id. Thus, diversity exists among the states both in their standards of need and their levels of benefits actually paid. Id.

The standard of need and the benefit level are separate considerations. The level of benefits aspect of the program is subject to different limitations than is the state's determination of the standard of need. State of Minn. by Humphrey v. Heckler, 739 F.2d 370, 374 (8th Cir.1984). The standard of need is intended to reflect the actual cost of a subsistence level of existence; accordingly, the states' discretion in establishing this standard stems from the recognition of the variations among the states in what qualifies as an item of need, as well as the valuation of those items. Id. A state may not obscure the standard of need by arbitrarily establishing a standard of need that does not reflect actual need. Rosado, 397 U.S. at 413, 90 S.Ct. at 1218.

The states' discretion in setting their level of benefits, however, is much broader; it is intended to allow states to factor in budgetary and policy concerns. Rosado, 397 U.S. at 413, 90 S.Ct. at 1218; Heckler, 739 F.2d at 374. Therefore, while a state must set its standard of need at a level reflecting actual need, it may, to accommodate budgetary realities and policy considerations, reduce accordingly the level of benefits actually paid. Rosado, 397 U.S. at 413, 90 S.Ct. at 1218.

In concluding that 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(23) requires states to set their standards of need at levels reflecting actual need, the United States Supreme Court ascribed the following purpose to that provision:

It has the effect of requiring the States to recognize and accept the responsibility for those additional individuals whose income falls short of the standard of need as computed in light of economic realities and to place them among those eligible for the care and training provisions. Secondly, while it 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 consequence of such a cutback and bringing to light the true extent to which actual assistance falls short of the minimum acceptable. Lastly, by imposing on those States that desire to maintain "maximums" the requirement of an appropriate adjustment, Congress has introduced an incentive to abandon a flat "maximum" system, thereby encouraging those States desirous of containing their welfare budget to shift to a percentage system that will more equitably apportion those funds in fact allocated for welfare and also more accurately reflect the...