Doe v. Doar Settled

November 1, 2007

Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate)| Louise M. Tarantino

In previous editions of the Disability Law News, we have reported the progress of Doe v. Doar, the class action lawsuit challenging the New York State regulation that did away with SSI invisibility in public assistance households.  On September 13, 2007, after over three years of litigation, Doe v. Doar concluded when Monroe County Supreme Court Justice David Egan signed a judgment declaring that 18 NYCRR 352.2(b) is invalid because it violates Social Services Law §§131-a; 131-c and 209.  The decision will affect tens of thousands of low income families with disabled household members who were underpaid public assistance benefits and who will now collectively receive retroactive awards totaling tens of millions of dollars.  For more information on the settlement, see the October 2007 edition of the Legal Services Journal, available at www.empirejustice.org.

Some aspects of the settlement will affect SSI claimants and beneficiaries.  A person in a Family Assistance household who becomes eligible for SSI has his/her retroactive SSI benefits adjusted downward based on information that the local social services district provides to the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The local district sends the SSA a form that reports the difference in the Family Assistance benefits payable to the household with and without the SSI recipient in the budget for each month that the person received retroactive SSI benefits.  The award is reduced by this differential. Because many districts (not New York City), reported the prorated differential that resulted from Doe budgeting, these families received an underpayment of SSI benefits.  OTDA has agreed to correct this  underpayment in all Doe households where the household is currently eligible for public assistance.  The Empire Justice Center is exploring whether there is a remedy available through the SSA for families that are not eligible for the OTDA retroactive benefit. If you have a client in such a situation, please contact Susan Antos at the Empire Justice Center.