Memorandum re: HEW Cuts Off Funds for Welfare Program in Alabama
Press Release
January 13, 1967

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Press Releases, Volume 4. Memorandum re: HEW Cuts Off Funds for Welfare Program in Alabama, 1967. e3287c75-b792-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/59a1b25e-ebcb-4d69-96c0-2e09ca771711/memorandum-re-hew-cuts-off-funds-for-welfare-program-in-alabama. Accessed April 29, 2025.
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President Hon. Francis E. Rivers /\ PRESS RELEASE Director Gaunsed egal efense und Jack Greenberg Director, Public Relations NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. Jesse DeVore, Jr. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 1967 MEiiORANDUM TO: Working Press FROM: Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) RE: HEW cuts off funds for welfare program in Alabama We are happy to learn that HEW has cut off welfare funds from the state of Alabama, However, this action, which was too long in coming, says nothing about equally serious violations which the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.** has attacked in courts, and in peti- tions filed with Secretary Gardner, concerning offenses in Georgia, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The pending LDF proceedings are: 1) A complaint and petition for hearing filed with Secretary Gardner asking for a review of the Georgia and Arkansas “substitute parent" policies which deny aid to thousands of needy children who are without support. Under their "substitute parent" policies, Arkansas and Georgia deny welfare assistance to families with dependent children on the assertion that the families now include a so-called "substitute father. The term “substitute father" is based on a vague social or sexual relationship that a needy mother whose husband is dead, divorced or has deserted develops with an unrelated man. In Georgia and Arkansas, the “substitute father" is not required by law to supply support; the regulations call for no evidence to show that he has voluntarily assumed support of the children. He does not have any responsibility for the welfare, guardianship, or education of the children. He may not be living in the same home. Nevertheless, he is defined as a "parent," and the children are declared ineligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on the ground that they are not "deprived of parental support." 2) We have filed with Secretary Gardner a complaint on the behalf of an individual welfare recipient in Mississippi alleging that she has had her funds reduced because she has sent her children to an inte- grated school, The case involves a mother who resides in Cleveland, Miss. with her six children, all under 21 years of age, She has been receiving AIDC assistance for about eight years in amounts varying from $52 to $77 per month, Last year she registered two of her children in formerly all white schools in Cleveland, Miss, Shortly afterward she was visited by her social worker who demanded to know why her children were involved in school desegregation and asked who would pay for their expenses at the white school. When she received the next welfare check after her visit from the social worker, it had been reduced to $34,00. Enclosed with the last welfare check was a notice that all AFDC checks would be further re- duced in the future, (more) S25 -2- January 13, 1967 3) We have filed an extensive report outlining many abuses in administration of welfare funds throughout Mississippi. 4) We have also filed a suit in Federal Court in Georgia attacking that state's law that bars children from receiving welfare if their mothers have full-time employment regardless of the income they receive. Under the policy, a mother with "full-time" employment cannot get her income supplemented even though it is below the minimum levels as determined by the State Department, A mother with "part-time" employ- ment, however, can have her income supplemented even though she earns as much or more than the full-time worker, Under the “employable mother" rule, the state welfare agency in Georgia suspends aid to unemployed mothers because in the opinion of the agency the unemployed mother is suitable for employment which is readily available. We contend that this suspension of aid is done for the purpose of driving Negro labor into the cheapest paying field jobs available during the cotton picking seasons. The same field job is not held as "suitable" for a white unemployed mother receiving aid. We feel that such manipulation of AFDC assistance is clearly in- consistent with the purpose of the program, The Secretary has taken no action on these complaints although the first was filed in February of 1966. We find it very hard to understand the delays in initiating inves- tigations and in reviewing practices in the administration of welfare, To deny an individual benefits to which he is entitled by federal law and regulations not only promotes resentment and despair, but it may also threaten life, health, and stability, A citizen has a right to expect from his government a prompt investigation of a complaint, an early reply concerning the disposition of it, and a report of any clarification of policy and corrective action which has resulted from its <30- * The LDF is a separate, independent organization from the NAACP, The names are similar because the LDF was established as a different orgeni zation by the NAACP and through the years has gained complete autonomy