Hartley v. Lightbourne Results in Quick Resolution Stops Illegal Debt Collection on Adult on Welfare Debt Owed by Parents
Prompted by a lawsuit filed eight weeks ago in Alameda County Superior Court, the California Department of Social Services (DSS) issued new guidance to halt the illegal collection of old welfare debt from adults whose parents/guardians incurred the debt. In the lawsuit filed by Western Center in collaboration with the Public Interest Law Project, the claimants are two children who are being held responsible for the debt incurred for overpayments of basic needs grants paid to their parents while they sought assistance through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) cash benefits.
The new guidance does not resolve all of the issues raised by the lawsuit. While DSS will stop seeking recoupment of aid against an adult who formerly was a minor in a household with an overpayment, they have not established that they will send notice as to the change in policy to individuals whose wages or taxes may be intercepted in the future or currently intercepted. Without this notice, people currently impacted by this illegal policy, some whose debt has been sent to a collection agency or may be impacting their credit reports, will not know that they are not required to pay the amount or be informed about how to go about clearing their creditreport. Additionally, DSS has indicated that they still want to pursue collection of overpayments assessed when a minor leaves one home that receives CalWORKs benefits and moves in with another relative, such as a grandparent, and is still receiving aid.
About Benefit Overpayments: Though it is not very common, erroneous overpayments do occur in public benefits programs. When they do, adult members of the household are responsible for repaying the amount of the benefits, but sometimes the state is unable to collect the overpaid benefits from responsible parties due to death, permanent disability, imprisonment or indigence. In these cases, the state of California seeks repayment from the children of these responsible parties, a practice that Western Center challenges in Hartley v. Lightbourne.
About the Petitioner: Jamie Hartley, 19, of Riverside County was having her wages and income tax refund garnished to pay back DSS after her mother was mistakenly given too much CalWORKs money while Jaime still lived in the home. Now, she is working and attending school and the money being garnished was money she had budgeted to buy college textbooks and pay living expenses. “I have no idea how I can get through school while paying my mother’s debts,” she said.
For more information about this lawsuit or the new state regulation, contact:
Antionette Dozier
WESTERN CENTER ON LAW AND POVERTY
3701 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 208
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2826
(213) 235-2629