New Mexico Human Services Dept. v. Garcia
| Decision Date | 03 March 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 12607,12607 |
| Citation | 94 N.M. 175,608 P.2d 151,1980 NMSC 25 |
| Parties | NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, Petitioner, v. Cecilia GARCIA, Respondent. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
Appellant-Respondent, Cecilia Garcia (Ms. Garcia) was denied benefits by Appellee-Petitioner, New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD), under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of HSD and we granted a petition for certiorari filed by HSD. We reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the decision of HSD.
Section 27-2-6, N.M.S.A.1978, provides for aid to families with dependent children who are eligible. Pursuant to its rule making power under Section 27-1-3(D), N.M.S.A.1978, HSD promulgated Regulation 221.722 which sets forth eligibility requirements for AFDC benefits in New Mexico as follows:
221.722 CONTINUED ABSENCE FROM THE HOME OF ONE OR BOTH PARENTS
Deprivation of parental support exists because of the continued absence from the home of one or both parents when the following factual circumstances are established:
A. the parent is out of the home; and
B. the nature of the absence either interrupts or terminates the parent's functioning as a provider of maintenance, physical care, or guidance for the child; and
C. the known or indefinite duration of the absence precludes counting on the parent's performance of his function in planning for the present support or care of the child.
One question is presented here: whether the decision by HSD is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole, and therefore whether or not the decision by HSD was arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion.
Whether the decision by HSD is supported by substantial evidence in the whole, is one of the standards for judicial review of administrative decisions by HSD as required by Section 27-3-4(F), N.M.S.A.1978. The language employed in the statute does not abrogate the substantial evidence rule as that rule has existed in New Mexico. The language does point to the fact that the substantial evidence rule must be applied to the entire record and that segments of the record may not be ignored in applying the rule. The statute does not mean that upon judicial review of the findings by HSD, the Court may reweigh the evidence and reassign the preponderance of evidence.
In order to determine whether the decision by HSD is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the decision by HSD. While this rule is applicable to decisions of administrative boards and tribunals as well as to decisions of courts, it does not permit accepting part of the evidence and totally disregarding other convincing evidence in the record considered as a whole. Because of the minor departure from the customary substantial evidence rule in reviewing administrative decisions where the record as a whole must be considered, the reviewing court may act on other convincing evidence in the record and may make its own findings based thereon. The rule for the substantial evidence test of administrative decisions is well stated in Quinlan v. Bd. of Ed. of North Bergen Tp., 73 N.J.Super. 40, 179 A.2d 161 (1962) in pertinent part as follows:
In reviewing the determination of an administrative agency our power to make independent findings of fact where necessary is beyond question. . . . But the determination of the agency carries with it the presumption of correctness, and on review of the facts we will not substitute our independent judgment for that of the board where its findings are supported by substantial evidence, i. e., such evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. . . . It is not our function to weigh the evidence, to determine the credibility of witnesses, to draw inferences and conclusions from the evidence, and to...
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