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Full-Text Articles in Law

Keffeler V. Department Of Social And Health Services: How The Supreme Court Of Washington Mistook Caring For Children As Robbing Them Blind, Tobias J. Kammer Jul 2002

Keffeler V. Department Of Social And Health Services: How The Supreme Court Of Washington Mistook Caring For Children As Robbing Them Blind, Tobias J. Kammer

Washington Law Review

Social Security benefits aid in the basic care of beneficiaries. Washington's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) used benefits toward this end until Keffeler v. Department of Social and Health Services. In Keffeler, the Supreme Court of Washington ruled that DSHS, even when acting as representative payee, could not use a foster child's Social Security benefits to pay for his or her current maintenance. The court held that DSHS's use of Social Security benefits to pay for the current maintenance of foster children violated 42 U.S.C. § 407 of the Social Security Act, which protects Social Security …


The New Contract: Welfare Reform, Devolution, And Due Process, Christine N. Cimini Jan 2002

The New Contract: Welfare Reform, Devolution, And Due Process, Christine N. Cimini

Articles

This Article analyzes the due process implications of the change in welfare administration from a federal statutory entitlement model to the devolved contractual model and posits that, despite the changes, due process protections still exist. These protections arise from the private law of contracts on two different levels. The first level is the macro, or implied, contract, that I refer to as the social contract between the government and the populace. The existence of this social contract is evidenced in numerous sources including: political theories that explore the use of governmental authority; foundational democratic legal sources, such as the Declaration …


Welfare Entitlements In The Era Of Devolution, Christine N. Cimini Jan 2002

Welfare Entitlements In The Era Of Devolution, Christine N. Cimini

Articles

In 1996, the Republican Congress and Democratic President enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), ushering in a new era of public benefits. This 1996 act’s fundamental change to the administration and substance of public benefits called into question the applicability of a substantial body of procedural due process doctrine. As a result, unanswered questions remain regarding the applicability of established due process doctrine in the welfare reform context. This Article analyzes whether public law entitlements exist in the context of PRWORA’s first order devolution from the federal to state governments as well as some states’ second …