The Role of the Courts in Securing Welfare Rights and ...

Welfare Law Centerdepartment was both seeking to determine whether services can be provided while it is alsoseeking to verify eligibility. It made clear that this ruling would not apply to all home visits andthat many factors would have to be taken into account. For example, in this case New York Citygave advance notice of the visit, scheduled it during regular business hours, and did not engage in asearch of closets and medicine chests. Since the Court has become more tolerant of searches since1971, it is not clear just what kinds of home visits would be considered unconstitutional today.E. Are Courts Likely to Find that Government Has an Affirmative Duty to ProvideWelfare?The federal welfare law bars the use of federal TANF funds to provide assistance tofamilies for more than 60 months (with the exception of a small number who can continue toreceive aid in hardship cases, at state option), and states now have varying time limits in theirTANF programs. (State GA programs also may include time limits.) The grim prospect of needyfamilies with children losing subsistence aid is likely to heighten interest in the question ofwhether federal or state constitutions or international law impose a legal obligation ongovernments to provide assistance to families. Note that states have traditionally excludedvarious categories of people from welfare programs, typically single adults and childless couples,but exclusion of children presents special concerns. 98 Unfortunately, in the absence of statestatutes providing for assistance, courts are unlikely to impose an affirmative obligation unlessthere is a strong state constitutional basis. For a thoughtful and extensive treatment of thisquestion, see Ramsey and Braveman’s discussion, “Let Them Starve”: Government’s ObligationTo Children in Poverty, 99 from which the following points are drawn.Does the federal constitution require the federal or state governments to provideassistance?May 1999⋅ 38 ⋅