ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Poor Win One in Welfare Ruling

Advocates for the poor won a victory last week when a court approved a settlement in a lawsuit challenging Orange County’s automatic criminal investigations of some welfare applicants. The lawsuit asserted that the investigations--which went beyond those done in other counties--intimidated some applicants who would otherwise be eligible for assistance. Now, only those people suspected of attempting welfare fraud will be referred to district attorney’s investigators.

The Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the Western Center for Law and Poverty in Los Angeles sued on behalf of a couple that withdrew a welfare application because the husband had not paid a $170 traffic warrant. The couple was put in a Catch-22. Obviously, had they been able to pay the warrant, they might not have been applying for aid in the first place. Eventually, a charity paid the warrant, and the couple began receiving welfare payments.

But, as the lawsuit contended, there is no way to know how many other people had similar problems and so never felt safe in applying. There also is no way of knowing how many people--such as illegal aliens fearing deportation--withdrew their applications because they were intimidated by the prospect of a criminal investigation. But the county estimated that in 1988, nearly 4,000 people who applied for General Relief were investigated, and 70% of them withdrew their applications, saving the county an estimated $768,000.

Of course, anyone suspected of welfare fraud should be thoroughly investigated by the county. In fact, under the settlement, suspicious applications will continue to be referred to the district attorney’s investigators. A county Social Services Agency administrator, commenting on the settlement, said the new rules will leave the screening process “as strong and effective as it has ever been.”

If so, it can be asked why the more comprehensive investigations were ever needed in the first place.