Taylor

Judgment was entered against Contra Costa County, its board of supervisors and the director of its social service department (the County) which prevented the County from reducing general assistance benefits to recipients living with family members who are not responsible for their support. We hold that Welfare and Institutions Code section 17000.5 authorizes reduced benefits if the recipient shares housing with relatives by birth, marriage or adoption, even if none of those relatives is responsible for the recipient’s support. We therefore reverse.

I. Background

A. The Statutory Scheme

County general assistance mandated by Welfare and Institutions Code section 17000 et seq. “ ‘is a program of last resort for indigent and disabled persons unable to qualify for other kinds of public benefits.’ ” (Whitfield v. Board of Supervisors (1991) 227 Cal.App.3d 451, 456 [ 277 Cal.Rptr. 815 ].) Section 17001 requires counties to “adopt standards of aid and care for the indigent and dependent poor.” In 1991, the Legislature enacted section 17000.5, which “overrule[d] previous judicial authority which required the standard of aid to be based upon a specific factual study of actual…