Court Won’t Raise Aid if Recipient Lives With Family

Welfare recipients who live with their families are not necessarily entitled to the same level of benefits as those who live on their own, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday in rejecting a petition by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to increase general relief payments to recipients who presently receive less than the maximum grant if they live with parents, siblings or other family members.

While a Legal Aid attorney said the county-run welfare program should not penalize families for staying together, county officials argued that the courts have long held that rent and food costs for welfare recipients may well be lower when the landlord is a family member.