Jennings

Santa Clara County general assistance recipients Donald Jennings and David Evans, and the Welfare Recipients League (appellants) instituted a class action against the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the Director of its Social Services Department (county) for retroactive general assistance (GA) benefits. They sought injunctive, declaratory and mandamus relief from county welfare regulations and policies which provide for termination of GA benefits for a fixed duration for recipients who fail to comply with various aspects of the county’s “work-for-relief ” program. The trial court denied all appellants’ claims and entered judgment for the county.

Appellants’ many contentions may be distilled to two basic challenges: (1) ¿he imposition of fixed durations of suspension of benefits violates both the statutory scheme for providing GA benefits and the federal and state Constitutions and, (2) the method by which benefits are terminated violates procedural due process. We reverse, concluding that the regulations under which the sanctions were imposed violate the statutory scheme for providing GA benefits, and that the pretermination hearing method utilized by the…