Opinion ID: 608080
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Determination of Financial Need

Text: 9 In addition to meeting other eligibility requirements, families receiving AFDC must be financially needy. The main statutory provision covering need is 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(7), which provides guidelines to state agencies for assessing the resources available to a family unit. In the paragraph which follows, 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(8), Congress sets forth criteria for certain income that may be disregarded in the determination of need. The family filing rule, 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(38), establishes the individuals whose resources must be considered in determining need in accordance with 42 U.S.C. §§ 602(a)(7) and (8). 10 Financial eligibility is determined by comparing a family unit's countable income (i.e., income remaining after disregards allowed by law) to the standard of need adopted by the State. The standard of need is the amount deemed necessary by the State to maintain a hypothetical family at a subsistence level. Shea v. Vialpando, 416 U.S. 251, 253, 94 S.Ct. 1746, 1750, 40 L.Ed.2d 120 (1974). States assign a standard according to the size of the unit applying for AFDC. In 1990 in Maine the standard of need for a family of four was $819.00. An AFDC payment in Maine is calculated by subtracting a family unit's countable income, other than unemployment compensation received by a principal earner, from the standard of need established for the relevant family size. States are not, however, required to provide families with the full standard of need. In Maine, the maximum AFDC payment is a fixed percentage (69.4%) of the standard of need. Maine permits families to fill the gap between the need standard and the maximum payment standard without penalty. In other words, families with countable income below the need standard, but above the level of payment paid by the State, may still receive the maximum payment from the State. This gap has practical ramifications in the instant case because of the operation of the stepparent deeming rule, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(31). In the case of the plaintiff class, prior to the unemployment of the principal earner the family filing unit did not include either the principal earner or the half-siblings who were not then dependent children for the purposes of the statute. See 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(38). A portion of the stepparent's income was, however, deemed available to the unit, pursuant to the stepparent deeming rule. For many in the plaintiff class, the income deemed available fell within the gap permitted by the State, so that when the principal earners were employed, the AFDC benefit to the unit eligible under § 606(a) either was not affected or was only marginally affected by the deemed income.