Public Law 78–257

That the care and

District of Columbia.

Aid to Dependent Children Act.

assistance of dependent children is hereby declared to be a special matter of public concern and a necessity in promoting the public health and welfare. To provide such care and assistance at public expense, a system of aid to dependent children is hereby established for the District of Columbia.

Sec. 2.

The terms “aid” and “assistance” wherever used in this Act

Terms construed.

shall be construed to mean money payments with respect to a dependent child or dependent children. As used in this Act, the term “dependent child” shall be construed to mean a child under the age of eighteen who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, or aunt in a place of residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as his or their own home.

Sec. 3.

Aid to dependent children shall be granted with respect to

Residence requirement.

a child who has resided in the District of Columbia for one year immediately preceding the application or who was born in the District of Columbia within one year immediately preceding the application, one or both of whose parents has resided in the District of Columbia for one year immediately preceding the birth.

Sec. 4.

The Board of Public Welfare of the District of Columbia

Administration by Board of Public Welfare.

shall administer assistance under this Act. It shall prescribe the form and print and supply the blanks for applications, reports, and affidavits, and such other forms as it may deem advisable, and shall make rules and regulations necessary for the carrying out of the provisions of this Act and shall make and render any and all reports required by the Social Security Board of the United States Government or otherwise authorized or required by law, and comply with such provisions as the Social Security Board of the United States Government may, from time to time, find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports.

Sec. 5.

The amount of assistance for any child and the manner of

Amount of assistance.

providing it shall be. determined by the Board of Public Welfare with due regard to the conditions existing in each case, and shall be sufficient when added to all other income and support available to the child, to provide such child with a reasonable subsistence compatible with, decency and health.

Sec. 6.

Application for assistance under this Act shall be made to

Application for assistance.

the Board of Public Welfare. The application shall be made in the manner and form prescribed by the Board of Public Welfare, and shall contain information as to the age and residence of the child and such other information as may be required by the Board of Public Welfare.

Sec. 7.

Upon the receipt of an application for assistance, an investigation

Investigation and record.

and record shall be made of the circumstances in order to determine the dependency of the child and to ascertain the facts supporting the application and such other information as may be required by the Board of Public Welfare.

Sec. 8.

Upon completion of such investigation the Board of Public

Decision of Board.

Welfare shall decide whether the child is eligible for assistance under the provisions of this Act, and shall determine the amount of such assistance and the date on which assistance shall begin.

Sec. 9.

All assistance grants made under this Act shall be reconsidered by the Board of Public Welfare as frequently as it may deem necessary. After such further investigations as the Board of Public Welfare may deem necessary, the amount of assistance may be changed, or assistance may be entirely withdrawn if the Board of Public Welfare finds that the child’s circumstances have altered sufficiently to warrant such action.

Sec. 10.

If an application is not acted upon within a reasonable time of the filing of the application, or is denied in whole or in part, or if any award of assistance is modified or canceled under any provision of this Act, the applicant or recipient may appeal for a hearing to the Board of Public Welfare in a manner and form prescribed by the Board.

Sec. 11.

All assistance granted under this Act shall be deemed to be granted and to be held subject to the provisions of any amending or repealing Act that may hereafter be passed, and no person shall have any claim for compensation or otherwise, by reason of a child’s assistance being affected in any way by any amending or repealing Act.

Sec. 12.

The Board of Public Welfare is hereby authorized and directed to cooperate in all necessary respects with the Social Security Board of the United States Government in the administration of this Act, and to accept any sums allotted or appropriated by such Board, as are available under the provisions of the Social Security Act.

Sec. 13.

Congress shall appropriate annually and make available to the order of the Board of Public Welfare of the District of Columbia such sums as may be needed to pay the share of the District of Columbia for aid to dependent children provided under this Act together with a sufficient sum to defray its share of administrative expenses to be incurred in connection therewith, and include such

Deficiencies.

sums in the annual District of Columbia Appropriation Act. Should the sum so appropriated, however, be expended or exhausted during the year for the purposes for which it was appropriated, additional sums shall be appropriated by Congress as the case demands to carry

Funds available.

out provisions of this Act. The balance remaining in the appropriation “Home care for dependent children” as contained in the District

57 Stat. 334.

of Columbia Appropriation Act, 1944, approved July 1, 1943 (Public Law 107, Seventy-eighth Congress, first session), as of the effective date of this Act is hereby made available to carry out the provisions of this Act and shall continue available for such purpose through June 30, 1944.

Sec. 14.

All necessary expenses incurred by the District of Columbia in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be paid in the same manner as other expenses of the District of Columbia are paid.

Sec. 15.

Any adult person who attempts to obtain, or obtains, or aids or assists any child or other person to obtain, by false representation, fraud, or deceit, any allowance under this Act, or who receives for the benefit of any child any allowance knowing it to have been fraudulently obtained, shall upon conviction in the

Punishment.

Municipal Court for the District of Columbia, criminal division, be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment, for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Sec. 16.

This Act shall be cited as the “Aid to Dependent Children Act”.

Sec. 17.

The Act entitled “An Act to provide home care for dependent children in the District of Columbia”, approved June 22, 1926, and all other provisions of law in conflict with this Act, are hereby repealed.

Sec. 18.

If any provisions of this Act or the application thereof to

Separability.

any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.