Haskins v. Stanton

Decision Date14 November 1985
Docket NumberCiv. No. H 80-392.
Citation621 F. Supp. 622
PartiesFrancis N. HASKINS, Daniel E. Noble, and Irma Rodriguez, on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated, v. Wayne A. STANTON, in his official capacity as Administrator of the Indiana Department of Public Welfare; John Seffrin, Ph.D., in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Public Welfare; Arvella Stanton, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Public Welfare; Marion Hilger, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Public Welfare; Robert Watson, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Public Welfare; James Burnett, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Public Welfare; Allen E. Greene, in his official capacity as the Director of the State Food Stamp Division; John D. Kelley, in his official capacity as Director of the Lake County Department of Public Welfare; Francisco Gonzalez, in his official capacity as a member of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare; Oliver Dixon, in his official capacity as a member of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare; Dozier Allen, in his official capacity as a member of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare; John Bowman, in his official capacity as a member of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare; and Dolores B. Decker, in her official capacity as a member of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ivan E. Bodensteiner, Myrna Hart, Project Justice & Equality, Valparaiso University School of Law, Valparaiso, Ind., Judith M. Haller, Legal Services Program of Greater Gary, Inc., Gary, Ind., for plaintiffs.

Gary L. Shaw, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, Ind., Dora A. Arechiga, County Representative, Lake County DPW, Gary, Ind., for defendant.

MOODY, District Judge.

ORDER

This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate filed with this Court on September 25, 1985 following a hearing on the plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction which the Magistrate conducted on March 28 and 29, 1985. The parties were granted until October 21, 1985 to file written objections to the Report and Recommendation and the plaintiffs have filed such objections.

The Report and Recommendation, as well as the findings contained therein, were prepared pursuant to the provision of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(3) and Local Rule M-3. The findings and recommendations were filed with this Court and mailed to the parties. Under § 636(b)(1)(C) the district court is required to conduct a de novo determination where objections to the Magistrate's report have been filed by the parties. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). Makich v. Allen, 603 F.2d 1247, 1252 (7th Cir.1972). The Court has made an independent review of the file and the proposed findings and recommendations of the Magistrate. For reasons discussed below, the Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED.

I.

The plaintiffs in this case are four classes of persons including:

Class A: All current and future food stamp applicants who qualify for expedited service;
Class B: All current and future food stamp applicants who qualify for regular service;
Class C: All eligible current and future food stamp recipients who apply for recertification;
Class D: All current and future food stamp applicants and recipients who are Hispanic and belong to households which contain no adults fluent in English as a second language.

These plaintiffs allege that the Administrator of the Indiana Department of Welfare, the members of the State Board of Public Welfare, the Director of the State Food Stamp Division, the Director of the Lake County Department of Public Welfare, and the members of the Lake County Board of Public Welfare are violating the Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2011-2025. The alleged violations include administrative mismanagement as well as six substantive violations of the Food Stamp Act. The six substantive claims are:

(1) Failure to effectively supervise and monitor the performance of Lake County in the taking and processing of food stamp applications and in handling recertifications for food stamp benefits. Complaint, ¶¶ 38 and 39
(2) Failure to accept and encourage the filing of an application on the same day a household initially contacts the Lake County Food Stamp Office. Complaint, ¶¶ 40, 41 and 42
(3) Failure to identify and provide eligible households, that complete the initial application process, an opportunity to participate in the food stamp program in violation of the applicable federal time limits. Complaint, ¶¶ 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47
(4) Failure to process applications for recertification in a timely fashion and thus have failed to provide eligible households with uninterrupted food stamp benefits. Complaint, ¶¶ 48 and 49
(5) Failure to enforce federal and state regulations under the Food Stamp Act toward some persons in Lake County, Indiana, while enforcing those same regulations toward other eligible applicants in Lake County and elsewhere in the state in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Complaint, ¶¶ 50 and 51
(6) Failure to provide bilingual personnel and printed material to low income households who speak a language other than English.
II.

Congress enacted the Food Stamp Program "to promote the general welfare, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's population by raising levels of nutrition among low-income households." 7 U.S.C. §§ 2011 et seq. The program provides eligible households with food stamp coupons which the recipient households may use to purchase food at grocery stores certified by the United States Department of Agriculture. 7 U.S.C. § 2016. See also, 7 U.S.C. § 2012(g). The U.S.D.A. pays 100% of the program's benefits and at least 50% of the administrative costs of the program. 7 U.S.C. § 2013(a); 7 C.F.R. §§ 2771 et seq. The Indiana State Department of Public Welfare supervises the Food Stamp Program in Indiana and pays any administrative expense that the U.S. D.A. does not cover. In Lake County, the Lake County Department of Public Welfare administers the Food Stamp Program locally with funds provided by the Indiana D.P.W. and the U.S.D.A.

The U.S.D.A. has promulgated regulations to govern the operation of the Food Stamp Program, including standards for the timely processing of applications and reapplications for food stamps. 7 C.F.R. §§ 272.2(a)(2), 273.10(g)(1) and (2). These timeliness regulations require a State agency to provide eligible households with an authorization and the opportunity to obtain their food stamp allotments within 30 days after they initially file a properly completed application for food stamp benefits. 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.2(g)(1) and (2). If the household causes a delay in determining food stamp eligibility, the State agency may take an additional 30 days to determine eligibility. 7 C.F.R. § 273.2(h).

Some households, because of their urgent needs, are eligible for expedited services entitling them to receive their benefits within five days of their initial application. 7 C.F.R. § 273.2(i). The State agency is required to design its application procedures to identify applications that are eligible for such expedited service. 7 C.F.R. § 272.2(i)(2)(i) and (II). Households with zero net income and destitute households qualify for such expedited service. 7 C.F.R. 2(i)(1)(i) and (II). Eligible households, whether entitled to expedited or normal processing, must apply periodically for recertification. 7 C.F.R. § 273.10(f).

The regulations also give households the right to file a food stamp application on the same day they first contact the food stamp office during office hours and require the state agency to document the date the application was first filed by recording the date on the application. 7 C.F.R. § 273.2(c). The State agency must also provide bilingual program information and certification materials, and staff or interpreters if the estimated number of low-income households (single language minority) in a project area or area served by a certification office reaches a specified level. 7 C.F.R. § 272.4(b)(2) and (3). In some geographic regions the State agency must provide both bilingual program information and bilingual staff or interpreters. 7 C.F.R. § 272.4(b)(3). In other regions the number of low-income single language minority households is small enough that bilingual program materials alone are sufficient or that no bilingual information at all is required. 7 C.F.R. § 272.4(b)(2). The State agency is charged with the responsibility of developing estimates of the number of low-income single-language minority households and ensuring that certification offices provide the requisite bilingual service. 7 C.F.R. § 272.4(b)(5) and (6). The regulations also charge the State with responsibility for proper administration of the Food Stamp Program and require the State to have a system for monitoring and improving its administration of the program. 7 C.F.R. § 275.1(a).

The regulations also provide methods by which to identify and correct deficiencies in the State's administration of the Food Stamp Program. 7 C.F.R. § 275.2. The State must establish a continuing performance reporting system to monitor program administration and operation. The reporting system must include the collection, analysis, and evaluation of data as well as planning, implementing, and monitoring of corrective action and reporting to the Food and Nutrition Service on program performance. 7 C.F.R. § 275.2(a). Corrective action planning is the process by which State agencies, with FNS approval, determine appropriate action to reduce or eliminate deficiencies in program operations. 7 C.F.R. § 275.16(a). The State agency is required to establish a system for monitoring and evaluating corrective action and to ensure that the...

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4 cases
  • Griffin v. Coler, 85-2413.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois
    • June 3, 1986
    ...This conclusion by the Tyler court is contrary to the ruling in a Northern District of Indiana decision by Judge Moody. Haskins v. Stanton, 621 F.Supp. 622 (N.D.Ind.1985), on appeal. In Haskins, the court found that a private right of action does exist to enforce the provisions of the Food ......
  • Booth v. McManaman
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii
    • November 16, 2011
    ...to bring the Virginia Food Stamp Program into compliance with the Food Stamp Act's timely processing requirements); Haskins v. Stanton, 621 F.Supp. 622, 630 (D.Ind.1985), aff'd, 794 F.2d 1273 (7th Cir.1986) (issuing preliminary injunction requiring officers of state and county agencies admi......
  • Robertson v. Jackson, Civ. A. No. 3:91CV00197.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
    • June 5, 1991
    ...capacity from failing to bring the Virginia Food Stamp Program forthwith into compliance with the Food Stamp Act. See Haskins v. Stanton, 621 F.Supp. 622 (D.Ind.1985), aff'd, 794 F.2d 1273 (7th Cir.1986); Harley v. Lyng, 653 F.Supp. 266 (E.D.Pa.1986); Hess v. Hughes, 500 F.Supp. 1054 (D.Md.......
  • Haskins v. Stanton
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
    • July 9, 1986
    ...redress violations of the Act that prevent applicants from obtaining a timely decision on their initial food stamp application. 621 F.Supp. 622, 627-28 (1985). We therefore do not find that the trial judge abused his discretion in ruling that plaintiffs did not have an adequate remedy at Th......

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