Griffin v. Coler

Decision Date03 June 1986
Docket NumberNo. 85-2413.,85-2413.
Citation667 F. Supp. 1233
CourtU.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois
PartiesJacquelyn GRIFFIN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Gregory L. COLER, Director, Illinois Department of Public Aid, Defendant-Third-Party Plaintiff, v. John R. BLOCK, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, et al., Third-Party Defendants.

Diane Sauer, Valerie McWilliams, Champaign, Ill., for plaintiffs.

Laruel Black Rector, Owen M. Field, Asst. Attys. Gen., Welfare Litigation Div., Chicago, Ill., for defendants.

ORDER ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BAKER, Chief Judge.

The plaintiffs are food stamp recipients. They seek declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief pursuant to an implied right of action to enforce the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, specifically, 7 U.S.C. § 2017(d), and implementing regulations, 7 C.F.R. § 271 et seq. The plaintiffs also allege due process violations and seek relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Jurisdiction is granted to the court under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 1343(a)(3).

The plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and motion for class certification are before the court. In addition, the defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment is pending. These motions were submitted after a hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction in which the court consolidated preliminary injunction issues with the trial on the merits. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a). Two additional motions involving the third-party complaint are pending but have not been argued and will not be ruled upon in this order.

STATUTORY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

The food stamp program is a joint federal and state undertaking operated pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, 7 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq., and implementing regulations 7 C.F.R. § 271 et seq. The overall food stamp program is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture ("FNS"). Each state which participates in the program must develop a plan for submission and approval by FNS. 7 U.S.C. § 2020. Each state's plan is implemented and administered by an appropriate state agency. The federal government, through the USDA, finances one hundred percent of food stamp benefits and fifty percent of the administrative costs associated with participating states' programs. The remaining fifty percent of administrative expenses is the individual state's responsibility. 7 U.S.C. §§ 2013, 2025, and 2027. Illinois' food stamp program is administered by the defendant as director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, a State agency (Public Aid).

Eligibility for participation in the food stamp program and benefit amounts are based upon need which is determined according to household size and income and resource standards established by the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture. 7 U.S.C. § 2014(b). State agencies implementing the food stamp program must administer the program in accordance with the standards established by the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture. 7 U.S.C. § 2020(d).

The plaintiffs bring this action to enjoin the defendants from using a procedure for determination of benefit amounts which deprives them of needed food stamp benefits. They seek to represent a class of all persons in Illinois who are similarly situated. The plaintiffs challenge the defendant's policy of benefit determination which budgets as a recipient's income, the value of welfare overpayments which have been withheld from the plaintiffs.1 In particular, the defendant's policy requires that funds being withheld from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) be counted as income.2 The benefit amounts at issue have been withheld because of previous overpayments of either SSI or AFDC benefits. As a result of this "budgeting" of withheld benefits, the plaintiffs are denied the quantity of food stamps which is appropriate for the actual amount of income received by each of them. The defendant's policy applies to all overpayments caused by any client error, regardless of whether that error was intentional or unintentional. The plaintiffs contend that since this policy does not distinguish between intentional and unintentional errors, it violates the Food Stamp Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2017(d), the implementing regulations, 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.9(b)(5)(i) and 273.11(j), and thus is invalid under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Additionally, the plaintiffs characterize the defendant's policy to count withheld benefits for food stamp purposes as an "adverse action" taken against them. Federal regulations require the defendant to notify individuals affected by an adverse action and to provide them with an opportunity for a fair hearing on the decision. 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.13 and 273.15. Failure to notify affected individuals of an adverse action violates the Food Stamp Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2020(e)(10) and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

FINDINGS OF FACT

At trial the plaintiffs presented testimony concerning the experience of two of the named plaintiffs, Jacquelyn Griffin and Ida Harris. Jacquelyn Griffin testified that the defendant's policy was applied to her at the time this action was filed, and as a result, she was receiving fewer food stamps than her family's actual income would have entitled her to receive. Public Aid had determined that her previous AFDC overpayment was caused by client error and would be included in computing her income for food stamp entitlement. Jacquelyn Griffin testified that she did receive notice that the recouped money was being counted as income but that no notice was sent informing her of the reason for this adverse action or of her right to appeal Public Aid's ruling.

Jacquelyn Griffin applied for AFDC in December of 1984. Her husband was told to apply for unemployment benefits as a prerequisite to receiving AFDC. When her husband received notice from the unemployment office indicating that he would receive such benefits and specifying the amount of benefits and the length of time the benefits would be provided, plaintiff Griffin took the notice to her intake caseworker at Public Aid, Wanda Bankhead. Griffin testified that she thought the unemployment office would notify Public Aid each month of the amount of benefits received by her. Griffin testified that she did not realize she also had to report the income on the monthly report forms she submitted to Public Aid each month. Based on her monthly report forms, in which she did not mention the unemployment benefits, AFDC and food stamp overpayments occurred.

Cathy Willis testified that she was Griffin's caseworker at Public Aid. She determined that the food stamp overpayment, which arose from the same set of facts as the AFDC overpayment, was the result of unintentional client error. Cathy Willis' determination, however, applied only to the food stamp overpayment, not the AFDC overpayment. No determination of intentional or unintentional client conduct was made regarding the AFDC overpayment. The only determination made was that the overpayment resulted from client error and therefore the defendant's budgeting policy applied.

Ida Harris testified as well. She said that the defendant's budgeting policy applied to her at the time this action was filed and thus she received fewer food stamps than her actual income would have required. Public Aid determined that a previous SSI overpayment was caused by client error and thus the food stamp budgeting policy applied. No determination was made whether the client error was intentional or unintentional. No notice was sent to Ida Harris informing her of the adverse decision or of her right to appeal it.

Harris testified that she failed to inform Social Security of the income of a member of her household, a man with whom she was living. Social Security took the position that, since Mrs. Harris held herself out to be married to the man, the man was responsible for Harris' support.3 When the man's income was taken into account, Social Security claimed that an overpayment of $877.91 existed and began recovery of the overpayment by reducing Mrs. Harris' SSI check. Ms. Harris testified that she was on SSI because she was a "slow learner" and did not have much education. She testified that she did not know she was required to report the man's income.

Ellen Kordik, an advocate with the Welfare Rights Clinic at the University of Illinois College of Law, testified that in her opinion the food stamp amounts were wrongfully withheld from the plaintiffs. Ms. Kordik testified that the Public Aid does not notify food stamp recipients that its policy with regard to "non-compliance amounts" has been applied to them. Ms. Kordik further testified that, as a result of defendants' policy, plaintiff Griffin received $11.00 fewer food stamps than the budgeting of her actual family income would require for November, 1985, and would receive $50.00 fewer food stamps in January, 1986. Kordik also testified that the plaintiff Ida Harris received $11.00 a month fewer food stamps than she would have received if her recouped SSI benefits were not counted as income.

Plaintiff Norma Purgerson did not testify, but the defendant has admitted all of Purgerson's factual allegations with the exception of the allegation that Public Aid failed to provide her with an opportunity for a hearing. As a result of having the defendant's policy applied to her in December, 1985, Purgerson received fewer food stamps than a budgeting of her actual income would have required.

Purgerson's overpayment was caused by her continued receipt of AFDC benefits pending the outcome of an appeal. Since Purgerson lost that appeal, all benefits paid pending the appeal were considered to be overpayments. The issue in Purgerson's appeal was whether her husband was still incapacitated, thereby creating the family's continuing...

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