Goodwine v. DORCHESTER DSS, 2974.

• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM
• Citation: 336 S.C. 413,519 S.E.2d 116
• Parties: Shirley GOODWINE, Appellant, v. DORCHESTER DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Respondents.
• Docket Number: No. 2974.,2974.
• Decision Date: 12 April 1999

336 S.C. 413
519 S.E.2d 116

Shirley GOODWINE, Appellant,
v.
DORCHESTER DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Respondents

No. 2974.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted March 9, 1999.

Decided April 12, 1999.

Refiled June 9, 1999.

Rehearing Denied June 9, 1999.

336 S.C. 415

Susan K. Dunn, of Charleston, for appellant

Assistant General Counsel Virginia E. Williamson, of South Carolina Department of Social Services, of Columbia, for respondent.

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR REHEARING

PER CURIAM:

After careful consideration of the Petition for Rehearing, the Court is unable to discover any material fact or principle'

336 S.C. 416

of law that has been either overlooked or disregarded and, hence, there is no basis for granting a rehearing. It is, therefore, ordered that the Petition for Rehearing be denied. However, Opinion Number 2974, filed April 12, 1999, is withdrawn and the attached opinion is substituted

HEARN, Judge:

Shirley Goodwine appeals from a circuit court order affirming the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) Fair Hearing Committee's determination that Goodwine must repay Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits she received as the result of agency error. We affirm.¹

Facts and Procedure

In 1981, Goodwine's sister gave birth to a child, but was unable to care for her due to emotional problems. Goodwine offered to take her niece into her home rather than see the child placed in foster care. While her niece was in her home, Goodwine qualified for and began receiving AFDC benefits for the child.

In 1985, Goodwine's sister decided she was able to provide a stable home for her daughter, and the child left Goodwine's home to live with her mother. Goodwine notified DSS² of the change in the child's residence and inquired how this change would affect the AFDC benefits. Goodwine's DSS caseworker informed her that it would be more troublesome than beneficial to reflect the child's changed residence on the AFDC paperwork, apparently because DSS was not convinced the change would be permanent. Accordingly, Goodwine followed her DSS caseworker's advice and continued to receive the

336 S.C. 417

AFDC benefits, spending the money on the child. Eventually, the AFDC benefits terminated.³

Some years later, DSS undertook to recoup the AFDC funds paid to Goodwine during the period when her niece was not living in her home. Goodwine requested a review of the recoupment, and an evidentiary hearing was held before the Fair Hearing Committee on May 5, 1995.⁴ The Committee's decision, issued on August 4, 1995, held that Goodwine must repay the funds. Goodwine sought judicial review of this decision, and a hearing was held on April 10, 1997, in the circuit court of Dorchester County. By order dated July 15, 1997, the circuit court reversed the Committee's decision and ordered DSS to return all the recouped funds to Goodwine. After DSS filed a motion to alter or amend, the court vacated its original order and found that DSS had correctly recouped the funds from Goodwine. It is from this amended order that Goodwine appeals.

Analysis

I.

DSS argues that this appeal is not properly before this court because the Dorchester County Court of Common Pleas lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the Committee's decision. We disagree.

The record reflects that Goodwine's initial request for a hearing before the Fair Hearing Committee was taken pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-310 et seq. (1976 & Supp.1998). Thereafter, Goodwine's appeal to the circuit court was properly made pursuant to Code section 1-23-380 (Supp.1998) and 27

336 S.C. 418

S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 114-410 (1976) (hereinafter "DSS Regulation"). Code section 1-23-380 provides for judicial review upon the exhaustion of administrative remedies, and DSS Regulation 114-110(M) states that upon a final decision rendered by a Fair Hearing Committee, a claimant has duly exhausted all administrative remedies. Thus, the circuit court properly had subject matter jurisdiction over Goodwine's appeal

DSS argues that Goodwine's case was actually contested under Code section 43-5-150 (Supp.1998), and consequently, that statute provides for appeal to the Administrative Law Judges Division (ALJ), not to the circuit court. We find this argument unavailing. There is simply no support in the record that Goodwine's case was heard pursuant to that Code section, while the record does support that Goodwine's initial appeal to the Fair Hearing Committee was made pursuant to section 1-23-380. Thus, we find no error in Goodwine's initial appeal to the circuit court as authorized by Code section 1-23-380 and DSS regulation 114-110(M).

II.

Goodwine alleges that the doctrine of equitable estoppel applies to avoid the recoupment. She bases this argument upon her reliance on the DSS caseworker's assertion that leaving the AFDC benefits unchanged was appropriate. This argument is without merit.

The State may be subject to the estoppel doctrine in certain cases. See, e.g., Townes Assocs., Ltd. v. City of Greenville, 266 S.C. 81, 87, 221 S.E.2d 773, 776 (1976) (holding City was estopped to deny a contract when the officer executing the contract was a proper person to enter into such a contract). However, that doctrine will not be applied to deprive the State of the due exercise of its police power or to thwart its application of...