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Riverhead Central School District v. Romano

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 3, 1986
118 A.D.2d 551 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)

Opinion

March 3, 1986

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Gerard, J.).


Orders affirmed, without costs or disbursements.

The Riverhead Central School District sought to restrain Anita Romano, as Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Social Services, inter alia, from placing families with school-age children in a motel owned by Kenny King Enterprise Company, Inc., alleging that such placement was in violation of Social Services Law § 350-j, which limits emergency assistance to 30 days in any 12-month period. Romano moved to dismiss the complaint, insofar as it is asserted against her, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), claiming that her mandate to provide Aid to Dependent Children is governed by Federal statute.

Although Aid to Dependent Children is a Federal program which must be administered by the States in accordance with Federal standards (see, Matter of Foster v. Blum, 71 A.D.2d 758), State regulations are valid as long as they are not more restrictive than those provided in the Social Security Act (see, Hagans v Berger, 536 F.2d 525). The language of Social Services Law § 350-j was taken from the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. § 606 [e] [1]) and appears as well in 18 NYCRR 372.1 (b). Accordingly, emergency assistance to families with children cannot, by definition, be authorized for a period of more than 30 days (see, Matter of Albin v. Blum, 74 A.D.2d 869), and the plaintiff's claim states a cause of action against Romano. As Special Term found that the respondent was not a necessary party (see, CPLR 1001 [a]; see, Matter of Castaways Motel v. Schuyler, 24 N.Y.2d 120), and no cause of action was asserted against it, dismissal with respect to it was proper. Mangano, J.P., Rubin, Eiber and Kooper, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Riverhead Central School District v. Romano

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 3, 1986
118 A.D.2d 551 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)
Case details for

Riverhead Central School District v. Romano

Case Details

Full title:RIVERHEAD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, Respondent-Appellant, v. ANITA ROMANO…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 3, 1986

Citations

118 A.D.2d 551 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)

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