Doston v. Duffy

• Decision Date: 23 November 1988
• Docket Number: No. 85C2356.,85C2356.
• Citation: 732 F. Supp. 857
• Parties: Geraldine DOSTON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Edward T. DUFFY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

732 F. Supp. 857

Geraldine DOSTON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Edward T. DUFFY, et al., Defendants.

No. 85C2356.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, E.D.

November 23, 1988.

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Heidi Noun, Diane Redleaf, Sherry Faulkner, William Janulis, John M. Bouman, Steven F. Fabry, Steven Coursey, Legal Assistance Foundation, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiffs.

James C. O'Connell, Steven Hogroian, Randall J. Gudmundson, Barbara L. Yong, and Katherine M. Marshall, Chicago, Ill., for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER

HART, District Judge.

I. NATURE OF CASE

The four original plaintiffs filed a complaint against the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid ("IDPA") and the Chief of the Bureau of Child Support Enforcement ("BCSE") of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, on behalf of a class, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The complaint, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(a)(3), alleges that the policies and practices of IDPA for terminating Aid to Families with Dependent Children ("AFDC") benefits of recipients who fail to cooperate with BCSE in establishing paternity and obtaining child support violate federal law and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The named plaintiffs are AFDC recipients who were terminated from the AFDC program because of noncooperation. Their benefits were restored pursuant to a temporary restraining order entered on April 9, 1985.

Plaintiffs joined three additional named plaintiffs and moved for an extension of the temporary restraining order which was granted on April 19, 1985.

Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction was referred to a magistrate for hearing and a report. On June 27, 1985, the magistrate filed a comprehensive report and recommendation which is incorporated herein by reference. The magistrate recommended that the court grant a preliminary injunction. On August 1, 1985, the court adopted the recommendations and issued a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs.

Thereafter, five additional named plaintiffs were joined. Defendants agreed to restore AFDC benefits to these additional plaintiffs as well as to other putative class members identified pending resolution of the case. This agreement has been extended since the granting of plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.

Plaintiffs moved for class certification. The magistrate recommended that a class be certified. Defendants did not object to the magistrate's recommendation. This motion was granted on June 2, 1986. The plaintiff class is defined as:

All applicants for and recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children ("AFDC") benefits from the Illinois Department of Public Aid whose benefits, on or after March 22, 1980, have been, are being, or will be denied or terminated by IDPA on the ground that they allegedly failed to cooperate with Illinois in establishing paternity or obtaining child support under the State's child support enforcement program. 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.

A trial was held focusing on the issues of defendants' policies regarding noncooperation determinations and the sufficiency and adequacy of defendants' notices to plaintiffs regarding the noncooperation determinations and terminations of plaintiffs' AFDC benefits. The specific policies challenged were defendants' policies regarding: (1) determining whether or not a client provided all the information known or reasonably obtainable about the absent parent; (2) accepting as sufficient for cooperation client's attestation as to the completeness and accuracy of the information provided concerning the absent parent; and (3) determining whether or not a client had a valid reason for failing to attend an appointment at which a client was to provide information about the absent parent. Plaintiffs also challenge the sufficiency and adequacy of the notice defendants currently send regarding noncooperation determinations, Form DPA 157NC.

The evidence demonstrated that defendants' policies regarding sufficiency of notice, accepting attestations, and making determinations as to whether or not the client provided all the information known or reasonably obtainable about the absent parent violate both federal regulations and the due process clause. Defendants current valid reason (for failing to appear) policy violates neither federal regulations nor the due process clause. The evidence demonstrated that defendants DPA 157NC notices do not meet the due process standard and must be changed to provide clients with comprehensible explanations of: (1) the reason benefits are being terminated and (2) appeal rights and procedures.

The AFDC program is a federal-state cooperative effort administered by the state under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act (the "Act"). 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq. The Act requires states participating in the program to comply with the provisions promulgated thereunder. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(27). The overall purpose of the AFDC program is to "encourage the care of dependent children in their own homes or in the homes of relatives." 42 U.S.C. § 601. Each participating state must maintain a child support enforcement program which complies with Part D of Title IV of the Act. The purposes of Part D of Title IV include "enforcing the support obligations owed by absent parents to their children and the spouse (or former spouse) with whom such children are living, locating absent parents, establishing paternity and obtaining child and spousal support." 42 U.S.C. § 651. Caretaker relatives are required to assign their rights to child support and to cooperate in establishing the paternity of the child. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(26).

Federal administrative regulations have been enacted that require a caretaker relative to perform acts of cooperation. Cooperation is defined in federal regulations as including the following acts when applicable:

(1) Appearing at an office of the State or local agency or the child support agency as necessary to provide verbal or written information, or documentary evidence, known to, possessed by, or reasonably obtainable by the applicant or recipient;

(2) Appearing as a witness at judicial or other hearings or proceedings;

(3) Providing information, or attesting to the lack of information, under penalty of perjury; and

(4) Paying to the child support agency any child support payments received from the absent parent after an assignment under § 232.11 has been made.

45 C.F.R. § 232.12(b)(1-4).

Refusal to cooperate on the part of an individual caretaker can result in AFDC ineligibility. 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(26)(B). Federal regulations allow the state to:

Impose conditions upon applicants for and recipients of public assistance which, if not satisfied, result in the denial or termination of public assistance, if such conditions assist the State in the efficient administration of its public assistance programs, or further any independent State welfare policy, and are not inconsistent with the provisions and purposes of the Social Security Act.

45 C.F.R. § 233.10(a)(1)(ii)(B).

The legislative history of the IV-D Program shows that Congress chose to condition AFDC benefits on cooperation in paternity and child enforcement proceedings as implementation of its determination that "a mechanism should be provided to ascertain the child's paternity whenever it seems that this would both be possible and in the child's best interest." S.Rep. No. 1356, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 39916, reprinted in 1974 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 8133, 8155. See 43 Fed.Reg. 45742 (1978). Included among the potential benefits a child may derive from having paternity established are the right to inheritance, the possibility of social security, veterans or other government benefits, and the possibility of child support payments if collected.

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare has interpreted the legislative history of a good cause exception to the cooperation requirement (45 C.F.R. §§ 232.40 through 232.49) as showing that Congress intended that the support enforcement process not cause harm to the same children it was attempting to help through establishing paternity and securing support. 43 Fed.Reg. 45747 (1978).

Congress enacted the child support provisions of Title IV-A and Title IV-D in large part to assist AFDC clients in becoming self-sufficient. See S.Rep. No. 1356, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 39916, reprinted in 1974 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 8133, 8146. Congress viewed the child's welfare as the primary concern in child support enforcement. Id. at 8155. At the same time, Congress recognized that AFDC clients often lack information and resources on their own to locate absent parents and enforce child support orders. Id. at 8146-47. Therefore, while Congress expected AFDC clients to take the first step of identifying the absent parent for the state agency, it expected states then to locate absent parents and seek paternity and child support orders. To assist states in fulfilling these duties, Congress enacted a host of tools in Title IV-D to aid states in child support collection, including, inter alia, funding for creation of a parent locator service. Id. at 8134, 8149-58; 42 U.S.C. §§ 653, 659.

Title IV-D of the Social Security Act requires that each participating state maintain a single and separate organizational unit to administer the child support program. 42 U.S.C. § 654(3). Such a unit is commonly called a IV-D unit. BCSE is the IV-D unit in Illinois. The IV-D unit is required to remain separate from the IV-A unit, which unit administers the AFDC program.

On July 11, 1986, IDPA published a Proposed Rule in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 127, ¶ 1005 et seq. (1985), with respect to the "cooperation policy" under the child support enforcement program. The Rule was amended and adopted effective November 14,...