Green v. Anderson

Issue

The U.S. District Court in Sacramento issued a preliminary injunction stating that effective December 22, 1992, counties must stop applying the Relocation Family Grant (RFG) rule.

All AFDC applications made on or after December 1, 1992, were to be evaluated for the Relocation Family Grant (RFG) rule. However, the effect of this ruling is that the California computed grant is paid to new applicants, regardless of their length of time in California.

History

On December 22, 1992, the U.S. District Court in Sacramento issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which prohibits the state and the counties from continuing to apply the RFG rule. The TRO requires counties to IMMEDIATELY:

Cease applying the Relocation Family grant payment policy.
Identify those AUs negatively affected by this regulation.

On January 28, 1993, the same court issued a preliminary injunction, upholding the TRO.

Retroactivity

At this time there is no retroactivity. Those cases affected by the RFG were paid the California computed grant as of December 22, 1992.

Duration

It is the intention of the State Department of Social Services (SDSS) to continue litigating this case. However, the injunction will continue until a final order is issued.

Implementation

Agency Memo #92-179, issued December 30, 1992, instructed EWs to:

Stop applying the RFG.
Restore any affected applicants effective December 22, 1992.
Enter a “Special Characteristics” code of 'L' in the [C] field on all potential RFG cases.

EWs must continue to pay all eligible clients using the California computed grant. It is no longer required to code new applicant cases for potential RFG determination. If a case was flagged as a result of the TRO, this must stay in the case record.

Forms

EWs must continue to secure the “Supplemental Statement of Facts - Cash Aid, Relocation Family Grant (RFG)” (BC JA 2 SUP) if they are using the JA 2, dated 4/90 or prior, or the CA 8, dated 2/84 or prior.

The BC JA 2 SUP is not required if the EW is using the:

“Statement of Facts Cash Aid and CalFresh” (BC JA 2) dated 11/92.
“Statement of Facts to Add Additional Persons” (BC CA 8) dated 11/92.

Note: The “BC” designation for Budget Change” was used to identify these forms as part of the changes mandated by the passage of the state budget in 1992. It is anticipated that this designation may be dropped in the near future.