Opinion ID: 547555
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Validity of WAC 388-24-050(3)

Text: 9 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 601-615, is a jointly funded federal-state program. To qualify for AFDC, children must have resources below a set minimum level, be deprived of parental support because of the absence or incapacity of a parent and live in the home of a caretaker relative--the other parent, a stepparent, a sibling or a close relative. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 606(a)(1) (Supp. V). 10 Washington awards AFDC benefits under a flat grant system. Under this system, the grant is calculated based on the size of the family (assistance unit) and not on the actual cost of food and shelter. A state is not required to participate in the AFDC program, but once it chooses to do so, the Supremacy Clause requires the state to conform to the Social Security Act and the federal regulations implementing it. McCoog v. Hegstrom, 690 F.2d 1280, 1284 (9th Cir.1982). 11 In determining the eligibility of a child for AFDC, the state is required to consider the resources available to the child, including those of an adult who is legally responsible for the child. 45 CFR Sec. 233.20(a)(3)(ii)(D); McCoog, 690 F.2d at 1284. However, the regulations limit the other resources a state may consider when determining the child's need. 45 CFR Sec. 233.90(a)(1) states that 12 [T]he inclusion in the family, or the presence in the home, of a substitute parent or man-in-the-house or any individual other than one described in this paragraph is not an acceptable basis for a finding of ineligibility or for assuming the availability of income by the state ... 13 As part of the regulations prohibiting the state from assuming a non-legally responsible adult is contributing toward the child's care, 45 CFR Sec. 233.20(a)(2)(viii) provides that the grant amount will not be prorated or otherwise reduced solely because of the presence in the household of a non-legally responsible individual. 14 DSHS concedes that states may not attribute income of a non-legally responsible relative to a needy child. However, DSHS argues that its regulation, which reduces benefits to nonsiblings residing with caretaker relatives who are not legally responsible for them, does not impute income because it simply redefines assistance unit, as it is empowered to do by the regulations. 15 The district court invalidated the regulation based on our opinion in McCoog. McCoog involved Oregon regulations that reduced the shelter component of the AFDC grant when children receiving benefits lived with non-legally responsible relatives who were not receiving benefits. We invalidated this non-needy relative rule. We found that the regulation improperly assumed that additional income was available to the child because the caretaker relative would bear most of the housing costs. Without proof of actual contribution by the relative, we held that a state may not presume that a non-legally responsible adult is bearing part of the child's expenses. McCoog, 690 F.2d at 1286. We stated that it is improper for the state to assume that income and resources will be pooled to take advantage of the economies of scale. Id. at 1287 (citing Gurley v. Wohlgemuth, 421 F.Supp. 1337, 1346-47 (E.D.Pa.1976) (court invalidated Pennsylvania regulation that redefined assistance unit to include non-legally responsible adults because regulation presumed income)). 2 16 The Washington regulation fits the same mold as the regulations invalidated in McCoog and Gurley. Despite DSHS's efforts to identify the regulation as merely a redefinition of terms, the effect of the regulation is to presume that the non-legally responsible relative with whom the child lives is contributing to the support of the child without proof of any actual contribution. DSHS's regulation necessarily involves attributing income of the non-legally responsible adult because the plan reduces the grant to the child based on the fact that the child is living with, and thus sharing expenses with, the caretaker relative. As in Gurley, the redefinition of the assistance unit implicitly assumes that the caretaker relative will be paying for some of the expenses of the home. As we recognized in McCoog, AFDC regulations prohibit this imputation of income. 3 McCoog, 690 F.2d at 1287. The regulation violates 45 CFR Sec. 233.20(a)(2)(viii), which prohibits a reduction in benefits solely because of the presence in the house of a non-legally responsible adult, and 45 CFR Sec. 233.90(a)(1) and Sec. 233.20(a)(3)(ii)(D), which mandate against presuming a non-legally responsible person is contributing to the needy child's expenses. Therefore, WAC 388-24-050(3) is invalid. 4