Wehunt v. Ledbetter, 87-8345
| Decision Date | 27 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-8345,87-8345 |
| Citation | 875 F.2d 1558 |
| Parties | Joy D. WEHUNT, Plaintiff, v. James G. LEDBETTER, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources and Louis Sullivan, Defendants-Appellees. Gwendolyn Brown, Intervenor-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Kay A. Giese, Athens, Ga., John Riemer, Gainesville, Ga., Phyllis J. Holmen, Atlanta, Ga., Nancy R. Lindbloom, Georgia Legal Services, Athens, Ga., for Gwendolyn Brown.
Paula Roberts, Center for Law & Social Policy, Washington, D.C., for amicus Center for Law & Social Policy.
Mary Foil Russell, State of Ga. Law Dept., Atlanta, Ga., for defendants-appellees.
Robert E. Keith, Office of Gen. Counsel, HHS, Washington, D.C., for Bowen.
Susan Hoffman, Hogan & Hartson, Washington, D.C., for amicus Center for Law & Social Policy.
Nancy Ebb, Children's Defense Fund, Washington, D.C., for amicus Children's Defense Fund.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Before FAY and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and GUIN *, District Judge.
Presently before the court is a challenge to the program established under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 42 U.S.C. Secs. 651 et seq. (1982 & Supp. III 1985), by recipients of its benefits. The challenge seeks to require the State of Georgia and the Department of Health & Human Services to administer and enforce the provisions of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 651 et seq. (hereinafter The Act). In separate orders, the district court dismissed the plaintiffs' various claims. For the reasons which follow, we affirm the district court.
The AFDC program, also known as Title IV-A of The Act, is a federal-state welfare program for poor families deprived of support of one parent due to that parent's absence, death, or incapacity. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq. States administer program benefits in accordance with federal requirements, and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for program oversight, 1 withholds or reduces federal matching funds if a state fails to comply with those requirements. 2 In 1975 Congress amended The Act to require a state operating an AFDC program to establish a separate child support enforcement unit to serve both AFDC and non-AFDC families. 3 Pub.L. 93-647, Sec. 101(d)(5)(c) et seq., 88 Stat. 2351 (1975) (codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 602(27)). The law made provision to locate absent parents, establish paternity and support obligations on behalf of children in need of those services, and enforce child support obligations assigned to the enforcement unit. 4 In 1984 Congress passed the Child Support Enforcement Amendments, Pub.L. 98-378, 98 Stat. 1305, by which states were to implement the child support enforcement mechanisms specifically enumerated in the statute to "increase the effectiveness" of the programs administered by the states. The states are required to create a system of wage withholding which can automatically recover child support and arrearages. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 666(a)(1), (8) and Sec. 666(b). Procedures by which the state child support enforcement agency and the state shall provide for enforcing a support order follow: require the parent to post security or a bond; 5 impose liens on real or personal property; 6 withhold the amount of an arrearage from tax returns; 7 and, report significant arrearages to credit reporting agencies. 8
The AFDC program is a contractual arrangement by which the federal government and the states work together. The program is funded by both, with the federal government making payments to the states by set formula. 9 The Secretary is empowered to evaluate the implementation of state programs and conduct audits of the plans to assure conformity with the requirements. 10 If the evaluation and audit show nonconformity, the Secretary must reduce or suspend payment to the noncomplying state until such time as the state program is found to be in substantial compliance. 11 As a condition for receiving AFDC benefits, an applicant must assign to the state any support rights the family has and must cooperate with the state agency's efforts to establish paternity and collect support unless such cooperation is against the best interests of the child. 12 Except for the first fifty dollars of child support collected each month, which is paid to the family and does not affect the family's AFDC eligibility or decrease any amount otherwise payable as assistance to such family, the state retains support collections to help offset welfare expenditures on the family's behalf. 13 If a support collection exceeds the family's AFDC grant, "the State will determine if such collection, when treated as if it were income, makes the family ineligible for an assistance payment." In such event the family receives the full amount of the support payment. 14
Congress again amended The Social Security Act in 1988 to replace the AFDC program with a comprehensive program of mandatory child support and work training. Pub.L. 100-485, 102 Stat. 2345 (1988). The revisions are designed to emphasize parental responsibility and strengthen the child support enforcement system. States are required to establish guidelines which must be used in setting child support awards. 15 Additionally, they are required to provide mechanisms to facilitate the periodic updating of child support awards, and to institute a system of immediate wage withholding for all new or revised child support cases. The bill provides for the establishment of a commission on interstate enforcement, the establishment of an automated tracking and monitoring system, and the use of parents' social security numbers for identification purposes at birth, among other things. Under II. General Discussion of the Bill, the Senate Report states:
We need now to fashion a firm and effective welfare structure, one that addresses the needs of all areas of the country.
The bill reported by the Committee on Finance seeks to do this. It builds upon a strong consensus, joined in by liberals and conservatives alike, that the Nation's welfare system must stress family responsibility and community obligation, enforce the principle that child support must in the first instance come from parents, and reflect the need for benefit improvement, program innovation, and organizational renewal at every level in the system.
One of the major elements in the revision of The Act is to strengthen the child support system by improving all stages of the enforcement process. It requires the Secretary "to set standards specifying time limits in which a state must respond to requests for service, including requests to locate absent parents, establish paternity, or initiate proceedings to establish and collect support." This addition eliminates the possibility of a time delay inherent in the system as it was at the time the instant suit was filed.
Gwendolyn Brown is the mother of three minor children. The oldest child, Kateia Nicole Pinkston, was born out of wedlock January 22, 1977. Except for short periods of time when she was able to obtain employment, Ms. Brown received AFDC benefits under the Georgia Title IV-A program for Kateia from 1978 through 1987. As a condition to receive AFDC, pursuant to the enacting legislation, Ms. Brown was required to cooperate with the state in establishing Kateia's paternity and securing a support order for her. 16 She was further required to assign to the state her right to support monies paid on Kateia's behalf. 17
Although the Georgia Department of Human Resources (the IV-D agency) has the responsibility of locating Kateia's father, establishing paternity for her, and obtaining a support order on her behalf, the Georgia IV-D agency has yet to do so.
In 1977, Ms. Brown was married. The two children of the marriage are Crystal Sabrina Brown, born January 4, 1979, and Jeriquces Blane Brown, born November 1, 1980. When their father deserted the family, Ms. Brown applied for and received AFDC for these two children as well as Kateia. 18
Ms. Brown was divorced from Mr. Brown in November 1982. The divorce decree ordered Mr. Brown to pay twenty dollars per week as support for each of his children. The Georgia IV-D agency has failed to collect the payments.
Joy Wehunt Lewallen, the original plaintiff in this action, brought suit to obtain IV-D agency assistance in establishing the paternity of and support for her youngest child Tiffany, born in December 1983. Although she had received intermittent AFDC payments it was not until suit was filed in May 1985 that the Georgia IV-D agency took steps to determine paternity and secure child support for Tiffany. 19
Brenda White, one of the intervenors, mother of three minor children, receives no paternal support for two of her children. Ms. White has received intermittent AFDC payments from about 1969 onward. During this period of time, although she has cooperated with the agency, as have Ms. Brown and Ms. Lewallen, the agency has taken no action to secure support for her children.
This action was brought by Lewallen on May 9, 1985, in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Lewallen asserted a claim under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources hereinafter the Commissioner seeking declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to defendant's violation of her rights under two Social Security Act programs, the AFDC, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 601, et seq. (Title IV-A), and the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity Act, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 651, et seq. (Title IV-D). The Title IV-A claims against the Commissioner were settled after he adopted a revised policy as to the definition of "child support." This definition was incorporated into a consent order agreed to by all parties and...
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