CCWRO Litigation

1. Velma M. v. Lightbourne

CCWRO is participating with CRLA, NLS, LAFLA and WCLP. The petitioners are domestic abuse victims who also have MFG children who are not receiving CalWORKs, have requested that the MFG rule be waived because of the domestic abuse but the requests were denied. The basis of the lawsuit is that Welf. and Inst. Code § 11495.15 provides that “[a] county may waive a [CalWORKs] program requirement for a recipient who has been identified as a past or present victim of abuse when it has been determined that good cause exists pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 11320.3. ..” In promulgating the regulations, DSS limits waivers to CalWORKs recipients who are subject to the welfare-to-work program. ACL 14-59, pp. 5-6.

Status: The Settlement Agreement has been approved by the court. There was no provision for attorneys fees.

2. Cottrell v. Lightbourne

This is a 1094.5 case filed in Sacramento County on April 13th challenging CDSS’ decision that there is no jurisdiction for an administrative hearing to challenge six separate IHSS notices of action. All of the notices pertained to IHSS service hours including protective supervision. Although Sonoma County indicated that the petitioner has severe disabilities, all but one notice failed to authorize protective supervision. The ALJ found that the notices were adequate. The 1094.5 challenges the adequacy of the notices of action by focusing on each service area and the failure to explain why protective supervision was not authorized. This is a test case for the larger IHSS notice of action lawsuit.

Status: We received the administrative record. We are discussing settlement with the DAG to have the case remanded for a new hearing.

3. Avoledo v. Kent

This is a 1085 writ of mandate challenging the Department of Health Care Services refusal to respond to Kevin’s November and December2015 PRA requests. Two individual clients and CCWRO are the petitioners. Kevin has been submitting PRA to DHCS for several years. After hiring Mika, she began to work on it and it was filed on March 10, 2016.

Status: We have been in settlement discussions and exchanging drafts of settlement agreements.