Westcott v. Califano

• Decision Date: 20 April 1978
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 77-222-F.
• Citation: 460 F. Supp. 737
• Parties: William and Cindy WESTCOTT, Individually and on Behalf of their unborn child and on Behalf of all others similarly situated v. Joseph CALIFANO, Sec. HEW and Alexander Sharp, Commonwealth of Mass. Department of Public Welfare.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

460 F. Supp. 737

William and Cindy WESTCOTT, Individually and on Behalf of their unborn child and on Behalf of all others similarly situated v. Joseph CALIFANO, Sec. HEW and Alexander Sharp, Commonwealth of Mass. Department of Public Welfare.

Civ. A. No. 77-222-F.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

April 20, 1978.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mary R. Mannix and Henry A. Freedman, NLSP Center on Social Welfare Policy & Law Inc., New York City, Kenneth P. Neiman, Western Mass Legal Services Inc., Holyoke, Mass., for plaintiff.

John Hanify, Asst. U. S. Atty., Boston, Mass., for Califano, Sec. HEW.

Paul W. Johnson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Boston, Mass., for Comm. Sharp.

OPINION

FREEDMAN, District Judge.

I. The Claims

This case is before the court on the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment and the federal defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment.¹ The plaintiffs, Cindy and William Westcott and Susan and John Westwood, challenge the constitutionality of § 407 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 607 (hereinafter § 607), a part of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, and the implementing Massachusetts welfare regulations, 6 CHSR III, Subch. A, Pt. 301, § 301.03; Pt. 303, Subpt. A, §§ 303.01 & 303.04, which together operate to make available cash assistance (called AFDC-U benefits) and derivatively, through the Medical Assistance Program, medical assistance (called Medicaid benefits) to Massachusetts two parent families with needy children when the father is unemployed. The plaintiffs claim that 42 U.S.C. § 607 is constitutionally offensive because it creates a classification which discriminates against families with children deprived of support or care due to the unemployment of their mother, solely on the basis of sex, in contravention of the plaintiffs' rights to equal protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Concurrently, the plaintiffs contend that the implementing Massachusetts regulations violate their equal protection rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution insofar as the regulations make families with children deprived of parental support or care because of the unemployment of their mother ineligible for AFDC-U and Medicaid benefits, while providing such aid to similarly situated families where the father is unemployed. The plaintiffs seek both a declaration of the unconstitutionality of § 607 and the implementing Massachusetts regulations and injunctive relief against the continued operation and enforcement of § 607 and the challenged state welfare regulations in an unconstitutional manner by the defendants, Joseph Califano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and Alexander Sharp, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare. The plaintiffs state their causes of action under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. This court has jurisdiction to hear the federal constitutional claim against the federal defendant under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a) without regard to the amount in controversy. This court also has jurisdiction to entertain the federal constitutional claim against the state defendant under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3).² Both the federal and state defendants oppose the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment. The federal defendant has made his cross-motion for summary judgment on the ground that § 607 is constitutionally permissible.

Also pending before the court is the plaintiffs' motion for certification of this case as a class action. The named plaintiffs purport to represent a class of Massachusetts two parent families with minor dependent children who would otherwise be eligible to receive AFDC-U and derivatively Medicaid benefits but for the limitation in the federal statute and Massachusetts regulations which permits federally funded AFDC-U and Medicaid benefits to be provided to families deprived of support due to the fathers' unemployment but not to families deprived of support because of the unemployment of the mothers.

For the reasons stated below, the court grants the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. The court also finds that 42 U.S.C. § 607 and the implementing Massachusetts regulations are unconstitutional. The plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment is, therefore, granted and the federal defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment denied.

II. The Statutory and Regulatory Scheme

The Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, one of the public assistance programs established by the Social Security Act of 1935, represents a cooperative effort by the federal and state governments to provide financial assistance and social services to families with needy dependent children. 42 U.S.C. § 601. See generally Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 407-09, 90 S.Ct. 1207, 25 L.Ed.2d 442 (1970); King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 316-17, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968). A state's participation in the AFDC program is voluntary. If a state elects to make AFDC payments, however, the state must comply with the federal statutory requirements set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 602(a) and the relevant federal regulations, and the state plan must be approved by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, 42 U.S.C. § 602, in order for the state to qualify for federal reimbursement of a percentage of its expenditures. 42 U.S.C. § 603.³

Under the AFDC program, the federal government will only contribute for aid given by the states to families whose children come within the statutory definition of "dependent." Section 606(a) of Title 42 describes a "dependent" as a "needy child . . . who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent . . .." Id. A further definition of "dependent" is contained in 42 U.S.C. § 607(a): "a needy child . . . who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the unemployment (as determined in accordance with standards prescribed by the HEW Secretary) of his father . . .." Id. Section 607(b) sets forth some of the federal standards for the unemployment of the father: the father must be unemployed under the HEW Secretary's standards for at least 30 days, 42 U.S.C. § 607(b)(1)(A); the father has not refused a bona fide offer of employment or training within that period, id. § 607(b)(1)(B); and the father has a prior attachment to the work force or received or was qualified to receive unemployment compensation, id. § 607(b)(1)(C). It is thus the § 607 definition of "dependent" that creates the AFDC-unemployed fathers (AFDC-U) subprogram and, in conjunction with other provisions of the Act, permits federal funding of benefits provided by the states to families with children deprived of support because of the father's unemployment.⁴ See generally Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. 416, 97 S.Ct. 2399, 53 L.Ed.2d 448 (1977).

As is the case with respect to the AFDC program, state participation in the federal-state Medicaid program is voluntary. If a state opts to participate in the Medicaid program, and the state plan is approved by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, under 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(b), then, the state is provided federal reimbursement of a percentage of the cost of benefits expended on eligible individuals. 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396b and 1396d(b). The coverage of the Medicaid program is derived, at least in part, from the coverage of other public assistance programs including the AFDC program. Hence, families who receive AFDC-U benefits are among the individuals entitled to receive Medicaid benefits. 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10). A federal regulation further allows families who are eligible for AFDC benefits but have not applied for cash assistance to be considered eligible for Medicaid benefits if their state chooses to give them medical coverage. See 45 C.F.R. § 248.1(a)(1) & (c). The limitation of federal funding to benefits paid to families with needy children deprived of support because of the father's unemployment embodied in the AFDC program is, thus, carried over into the Medicaid program.

The State of Massachusetts has elected to make AFDC payments and provide Medicaid coverage to families with children deprived of parental support or care because of the father's unemployment, 6 CHSR III, Subch. A, Pt. 301, § 301.03; Pt. 303, Subpt. A, §§ 303.01 & 303.04; Mass.Public Assistance Policy Manual, Ch. 1, Section F, Subd. a, including unborn children, 6 CHSR III, Subch. A, Pt. 301, § 301.05. In 1976, Massachusetts was one of the 28 states with an approved plan providing AFDC-U benefits, see Answer of the federal defendant to amended complaint ¶ 10 at 2, and Massachusetts continued to participate in the AFDC-U program and to provide AFDC-U payments in 1977. See Dept. of HEW, Public Assistance Statistics, Feb. 1977, table 5, p. 8 (1977). The federal reimbursement rate established for the period from July 1, 1975 to June 30, 1977 for Massachusetts was 50% for both AFDC and medical assistance benefits. See 39 Fed.Reg. 33020 (1974).

Although a Massachusetts statute currently in effect defines a "dependent" for purposes of the AFDC program as inter alia, "a needy child who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of . . . the unemployment of a parent," Mass.Gen.Laws Ann. c. 118, § 1, and, consequently, would permit AFDC and derivatively Medicaid benefits to be provided to families with needy children deprived of support because of the mother's unemployment, the state welfare regulations implement the federal policy of limiting such aid to families with an unemployed father. 6 CHSR III, Subch. A, Pt. 301, § 301.03; Pt. 303, Subpt. A, § 303.01. Massachusetts has also elected to provide Medicaid to families who are eligible for AFDC but have not...