Sanchez

Plaintiffs-Appellants in this class action (“Appellants”), San Diego County welfax-e recipients, appeal from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, County of San Diego and various county officials (collectively, “San Diego County” or the “County”). Appellants coxxtend that the district court erred in concluding that the County’s welfare eligibility program (“Project 100%”), which requires all welfare applicants to consent to a warrantless home visit as a condition of eligibility, does not violate them lights under the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, or California welfare regulations prohibiting mass and indiscriminate home visits. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We hold that San Diego County’s Project 100% does not violate the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, or California welfare regulations. We therefore affirm the district court.

BACKGROUND

In 1997, the San Diego County District Attorney (“D.A.”) initiated a program whereby all San Diego County residents who submit welfare applications under Califorxxia’s welfare program (“Cal-WORKS”), and ax-e not suspected of fraud or…

dissenting:

I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that Wyman v. James, 400 U.S. 309 , 91 S.Ct. 381 , 27 L.Ed.2d 408 (1971), *932 “directly controls” our resolution of this case. See Maj. Op. at 921. Unlike the case before us, Wyman involved a primarily rehabilitative home visit by a social assistance caseworker “whose primary objective [was], or should [have been], the welfare, not the prosecution, of the aid recipient for whom the worker [had] profound responsibility.” 400 U.S. at 323-24 , 91 S.Ct. 381 . That is a far cry from the program carried out by the County of San Diego, whose Project 100% home visits entail a law enforcement agent — trained not to give advice to welfare applicants— walking through the applicant’s home in search of physical evidence of ineligibility that could lead to criminal prosecution either for welfare fraud or other crimes unrelated to the welfare application. In light of the significant differences in scope and implementation between the home visits at issue in Wyman and those challenged here, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the home visits do not rise to the level of a Fourth Amendment search.

Nor do I agree with the…

BACKGROUND

In 1997, the San Diego County District Attorney (“D.A.”) initiated a program whereby all San Diego County residents who submit welfare applications under California’s welfare program (“CalWORKS”), and are not suspected of fraud or ineligibility, are automatically enrolled in Project 100%. The parties are essentially in agreement as to the structure and operation of Project 100%. Under Project 100%, all applicants receive a home visit from an investigator employed by the D.A.’s office. The visit includes a “walk through” to gather eligibility information that is then turned over to eligibility technicians who compare that information with information supplied by the applicant. Specifically, the investigator views items confirming that: (1) the applicant has the amount of assets claimed; (2) the applicant has an eligible dependent SANCHEZ v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO 11503 child; (3) the applicant lives in California; and (4) an “absent” parent does not live in the residence.

When applicants submit an application for welfare benefits, they are informed that they will be subject to a mandatory home visit in order to verify their eligibility. Applicants are…