Smith v. Los Angeles County Bd. of Sup'Rs

128 Cal.Rptr.2d 700

104 Cal.App.4th 1104

Debra SMITH et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. B150973.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4.

December 26, 2002.

Review Denied April 23, 2003.^*

Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Yolanda Arias, Silvia Argueta; Western Center on Law & Poverty, Robert D. Newman, Richard A. Rothschild; San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., Kate Meiss, Dora Lopez; ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Dan Tokaji and Mark Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Lloyd W. Pellman, County Counsel, Leela A. Kapur, Assistant County Counsel, Anita D. Lee and Nina J. Webster, Principal Deputies County Counsel for Defendants and Respondents.

EPSTEIN, Acting P.J.

Plaintiffs challenge a pilot program in Los Angeles County that makes a home visit a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs benefits. They contend the County has created an unauthorized condition; the pilot project violates the requirements for early fraud prevention and detection programs; the home searches conducted pursuant to the program violate state and federal constitutional requirements for welfare-related home searches or administrative searches; the policy imposes unconstitutional conditions on the receipt of welfare benefits; and it violates the right to privacy guaranteed by article I, section 1 of the California Constitution.

We find neither a constitutional violation nor a conflict between the home visit pilot program and the CalWORKs statutory and regulatory scheme. We affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY

"In 1996, the federal government enacted what is known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) section 602 et seq., which authorized funding to states for welfare-to-work programs. PRWORA replaced two federally funded welfare programs, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which provided monetary assistance to eligible families, and Job Opportunity and Basic Skills (JOBS), which provided employment assistance to adults in families that were receiving AFDC benefits. In California, the JOBS program was known as GAIN. [¶] In 1997, the California Legislature implemented PRWORA by amending [Welfare and Institutions Code¹] section 11200 et seq. and replacing California's AFDC and GAIN programs with the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKS). CalWORKS consists of two welfare services: (1) cash aid to parents and children and (2) the welfare-to-work program, which seeks to end families' dependence on welfare. [¶] The CalWORKS program took effect on January 1, 1998." (Giles v. Horn (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 206, 212-213, 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 735.)

The CalWORKs program is administered by the counties under the supervision of the State Department of Social Services (DSS). (§§ 10550, 10600.) Section 11050 provides that the state is responsible "for maintaining uniformity in the public social service programs...." DSS adopted regulations and standards to implement the program. These appear in the manual of policies and procedures (MPP); they are not included in the California Code of Regulations. (§ 10554.) Section 40-101 of the MPP sets out the general policies and principles.

Section 11055 of the statute provides: "The county shall promptly investigate all applications for public assistance as prescribed by the regulations of the department." MPP section 40-101.17 provides: "Applications for public assistance are to be reviewed promptly in accord with regulations prescribed by the State Department of Social Services ...." Section 11209 provides that the rules and regulations are binding on the county welfare departments. Under the MPP, each county is obligated to establish special investigative units (SIUs) for the purpose of investigating suspected welfare fraud, particularly during intake. (MPP §§ 20-007.1; 20-007.31.) The SIU is to be a separate organization "independent of organizations performing eligibility and benefit determination functions." (MPP § 20-007.21.)

The MPP provides that the SIU is to "[c]onduct all investigations in compliance with due process of law and so as not to infringe upon the constitutional rights of applicants/recipients. Home visits for the purposes of investigation may be made during reasonable hours of normal family activity. Mass or indiscriminate home visits are prohibited.... Search of premises or removal of physical items of evidence of fraud is prohibited without a valid legal process or the permission of the applicant or recipient upon full appraisal of the applicant's or recipient's rights." (MPP § 20-007.33.)

Section 40-161 of the MPP also addresses home visits: "A home visit prior to approval of aid ... is required when living arrangements or other factors affecting eligibility, or apparent eligibility in cases of immediate need or diversion, cannot be satisfactorily determined without such a visit."

In February 1999, following a television broadcast about welfare fraud in Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors instructed the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) to report on the feasibility of implementing a home call visitation program. The program was for the dual purposes of eliminating welfare fraud and identifying additional services that can help with family needs. After DPSS reported that such a project was feasible, in April 1999, the Board of Supervisors voted to implement a program of home visits on a pilot basis. The minutes of the meeting show that the supervisors intended that a successful program in San Diego County be used as the model.

The 1998-1999 Los Angeles County Grand Jury issued a report on welfare fraud. It examined Project 100 in San Diego County, which employed field calls to the residence of every applicant as a method to verify eligibility. Based on that examination, the grand jury recommended that the Board of Supervisors direct DPSS "to implement a pilot project in one District office, based on San Diego's Project 100 in order to step up identification of applicants providing false information and deny aid before benefits are issued. After a six-month trial, report back to the Board of Supervisors with the results of the pilot project."

On September 15, 1999, DPSS implemented its home call visitation program in four district offices covering the five supervisorial districts. The program was developed jointly by the District Attorney's Office and DPSS, and was approved by County Counsel and the Chief Administrative Office. The program called for home visits to all potentially eligible CalWORKs applicants. The purpose of the home visits was "to complete the eligibility determination process by verifying information provided by all new applicants prior to granting CalWORKs benefits, as well as to assess and discuss the family's need for supportive services, child care, training/education services, literacy training needs, and expedite the family's access to these services as appropriate."

The background section of the pilot program noted that both the television program and the grand jury report had generated interest in a home call visitation program. Detailed home visit guidelines were to be developed. The initial program provides: "As part of the home visit, the [eligibility worker] will request the applicant to accompany him/her on a non-intrusive walk-through of the home to verify information obtained during the initial intake interview, see if the child(ren) are living in a safe and healthy environment, and assess service needs that may be addressed by program resources. The [eligibility worker] will not open drawers or closets." (Italics added.) Shirley Christensen, the Director of the Welfare Fraud Prevention and Investigation Section of the DPSS, provided a declaration in support of the county. She explained that where an early fraud investigation concludes an applicant has submitted a fraudulent application for CalWORKs benefits, the application is denied but the applicant is not referred for prosecution.

If the eligibility worker is unable to conduct a home visit after two attempts, failure by the applicant to contact the worker within two work days of the second missed visit "will result in the denial of cash aid." "A third missed appointment will result in the denial of cash aid." Applicants were to be notified of the home visit program by posters in district lobbies and through notices given and discussed at the initial intake interview. "Each applicant will be asked to sign a notice acknowledging that a home visit, which includes a walk-through of the home, will be made. Failure to consent to the home visit will result in the denial of aid."

Applicants were told that the home visit would be made within 10 days of his or her return visit to the district office, and that "every effort will be made to conduct the home call so as not to interfere with his/her employment/training/education activities." Exceptions to the mandatory home visits were made for applicants residing in domestic violence shelters or substance abuse treatment facilities, the homeless, applicants working and away from the home Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and applicants living with a nonrelative who refused to allow the home visit.

Eligibility workers conducting the home visits were given two weeks of training, including training by persons involved in the San Diego program. The training included instruction on what to look for in identifying potential fraud, "just looking for the obvious things that are just right out in front of you."

DPSS prepared a report on the home call visitation pilot program in August 2000, covering the period between September 15, 1999 through March 2000. During that period, 7,278 home visits were made to 4,813...