Thе Commissioner of Social Security Administration denied applications for disability benefits submitted by children residing in group homes for juvenile rehabilitation. The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services appealed denials on behalf of disabled children who reside in: (1) privately owned and operated group homes and (2) publicly operated group homes serving sixteen or fewer residents. A Social Security Administrative Law Judge upheld the denial of benefits. The Department of Social and Health Services filed suit in district court, and cross motions for summary judgment were filed by the parties. The district court granted the Commissioner of Social Security Administration’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case, upholding the Administrative Law Judge’s determination. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Facts.
Juvenile offenders are children under the age of 18 who have been found by a juvenile court to have committed acts which would be violations or crimes if committed by an adult. See Wash. Rev.Code § 13.40.020(14), (15), & (20). When a term of confinement of more than 30 days is imposed upon the juvenile as a result of his offense, the juvenile is placed under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (“DSHS”). See Wash. Rev.Code § 13.40.185. Once referred to DSHS, juvenile offenders are committed to one of five state-operated institutions, three of which are maximum security and two of which are medium security. After this initial confinement, DSHS may choose to move juvеnile offenders to other facilities, including group homes. The group homes may be owned and operated by DSHS or may be privately owned and operated group homes with which DSHS contracts. See Wash. Rev.Code § 13.40.020(9). Juveniles residing in group homes may participate in “work, educational, community service, or treatment programs in the community up to twelve hours a day.” Wash. Rev.Code § 13.40.205(10).
Privately owned group homes manage their own operаtion and budget, hire and manage their own staff, and determine their own curriculum, programs and activities to be offered to the juveniles. However, the contract between DSHS and each private facility incorporates a “Statement of Work,” in which DSHS imposes numerous requirements. The facility must operate in accordance with DSHS policies and may not release a juvenile without state approval. The contract requires the facility to “[pjrovide a culturally relevant program that adheres to all applicable DJR [Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation] bulletins, DSHS policies including compliance with policies governing employee conduct, Community Residential Placement Standards, and the DJR Case Reporting System.” Excerpts of Record 100. Additionally, the contract imposes specific
When juvenile offenders are placed by DSHS in privately owned group homes, the offenders remain under the custody and control of the State and may be relocated only by order of DSHS. A juvenile who has been sentenced to a term of confinement under the supervision of DSHS may “not be released from physical custody of the department” prior to his or her release date, except under limited circumstances. Wash. Rev. Code § 13.40.205(1).
B. Procedural History.
Fifty-five residents of juvenile group homes in Washington applied for and were denied supplemental security income (“SSI”) benefits by the Social Security Administration. DSHS requested a consolidated hearing on behalf of those fifty-five residents, seeking a ruling that juvenile offenders under its custody and care are entitled to receive SSI benefits.
On January 12,1996, DSHS filed a petition for review and complaint for declaratory and
II. ANALYSIS
A. Standard Of Review.
The grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. See Jesinger v. Nevada Federal Credit Union,
B. The Commissioner’s Decision Regarding Privately Operated Group Homes Is Entitled To Deference.
In 1972, Congress enacted the SSI program to provide assistance “to individuals who have attained age 65 or are blind or disabled” by providing cash subsistence payments to indigent persons who have a disability expected to last more than twelve months. 42 U.S.C. § 1381. The SSI program contains two purposes-the first is the government’s goal to provide a minimally decent standard of living to destitute, blind, aged and disabled individuals, and the second is the government’s need to prevent the dissipation of its resources through neglect, abuse, or fraud. See Martin v. Sullivan,
The basic purpose underlying the supplemental security income program is to assure a minimum level of income for people who are age 65 or over, or who are blind or disabled and who do not have sufficient income and resources to maintain a standard of living at the established Federal minimum income level....
The Social Security Act directs the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration to provide benefits to all individuals who meet the eligibility criteria. See 42 U.S.C. § 1381a. Although the SSI program “is broad in its reach, its coverage is not complete.” Schweiker v. Wilson,
Congress vested authority to promulgate rules and regulations implementing the SSI program in the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(a). Pursuant to that authority, the Commissioner promulgated a regulation defining a “public institution” as:
an institution that is operated or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or a county. The term “public institution” does not include a publicly operated community residence which serves 16 or fewer residents.
20 C.F.R. § 416.201. The Commissioner relied on this regulation in denying benefits to juveniles living in privately owned group homes, finding that the institutions were sufficiently controlled by the state and, thus, qualified as public institutions.
[W]e must give substantial deference to an agency’s interpretation оf its own regulations. Our task is not to decide which among several competing interpretations best serves the regulatory purpose. Rather, the agency’s interpretation must be given controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation.
DSHS argues that the Commissioner’s determination that the private facilities are “controlled” by the state is not entitled to deference because it is inconsistent with both past interpretation and interpretations applied to other facilities.
The private group homes at issue appoint their own directors, control their own finances, hire and fire their own employees, and develop their own treatment programs according to their own ideas regarding care. The relationship between the state and the privately owned group homes is contractual. Nevertheless, the contract prоvides very detailed regulations and requirements for the private facilities, resulting in a more involved relationship. As the ALJ correctly found, the extent of these requirements “go beyond a mere contract for services” and establish extensive DSHS control over the privately operated facilities. Furthermore, the control over the juveniles in the. group homes serves a punitive purpose, as opposed to the non-
“From its very inception, the [SSI] program has excluded from eligibility anyone who is an ‘inmate of a public' institution.’ ” Schweiker v. Wilson,
Deferencе is also afforded to an agency’s construction of its own regulation because its expertise makes it well-suited to interpret its own language. The interpretation by the Commissioner conforms with the purpose and wording of the regulation and is a reasonable construction of the regulatory language and, therefore, should be upheld. See Vallejo Gen. Hosp. v. Bowen,
C. The Commissioner’s Decision Regarding Public Group Homes Is Entitled To Deference.
Next, DSHS argues that children in state-operated group homes that serve 16 or fewer residents are entitled to SSI benefits. As mentioned supra, disabled people living in public institutions are generally ineligible for SSI benefits. See 42 U.S.C. § 1382(e)(1)(A). However, Congress created an exception for publicly operated community residences in a 1976 amendment to the Social Security Act, which provides in pertinent part: “[T]he term ‘public institution’ does not include a publicly operated community residence which serves no more than 16 residents.” 42 U.S.C. § 1382(e)(1)(C). The Commissioner’s regulations implementing this provision carve out various exceptions to the classes of facilities that can qualify as small community residences. Specifically excluded from the definition of community residences are any facilities
where the personal freedom of аnyone who lives there is restricted because that person is a prisoner, is being held under court order, or is being held until the charges against that person are disposed of
20 C.F.R. § 416.211(c)(5)(iii). Based on this regulation, the Commissioner denied the applications for SSI benefits of children resid
Congress provided in 42 U.S.C. § 1381a that every aged, blind or disabled individual who is eligible shall be paid benefits by the Commissioner. DSHS, therefore, argues that Congress has made clear its intent to withhold any discretionary authority on the part of the Commissioner to restrict eligibility beyond the provided for provisions. However, when the Commissioner issued the regulations implementing this provision, the decision to disqualify correctional facilities from the benefits of the provision was based on the fact that correctional facilities are not “designed to provide the desired living arrangement envisioned by the statute.” 43 Fed.Reg. 55379, 55380. Furthermore, in dismissing DSHS’s challenge to the validity of the regulation at issue, 20 C.F.R. § 416.211(c)(5)(iii), the ALJ referred to one of the legislative purposes of the Social Security Act and its regulations: “[t]o disallow benefits to those residing in a penal institution whose care and custody are provided for by State and/or local governments.” It was not unreasonable for the Commissioner and the ALJ to rely on the intent behind the original SSI legislation to determine that benefits should not be afforded to those in penal institutions. The legislative history reveals that Congress intended the public institution exception to be applied narrowly to benefit the mеntally retarded and other individuals who may need emergency housing assistance. No mention was made of altering the original prohibition against providing-benefits to individuals in penal institutions. ‘TA]n exception to a general statement of policy is sensibly read narrowly in order to preserve the primary operation of the [policy].” City of Edmonds v. Oxford House, Inc.,
The regulation promulgated by the Commissioner excluding detention facilities is “reasonably related to the purposеs of the statute it seeks to implement.” Vierra v. Rubin,
III. CONCLUSION
The Commissioner’s interpretations (1) that private group homes qualify as “public institutions” and (2) that detention facilities are excepted from receiving the benefits provided to publicly operated community residences which serve no more than sixteen residents are not unreasonable and, therefore, are entitled to deference.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
. If a juvenile offender receives federal SSI benefits, Washington law allows DSHS, as custodian of the funds, to use the money to offset the cost of care otherwise paid by the state. See Wash, Rev.Code § 74.13.060. The State pays for the needs of juvenile offenders, although an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act allows the State to seek reimbursement from an offender's parent or legal guardian. See Wash. Rev.Code § 13.40.220.
. This section provides, in pertinent part, that "no person shall be an eligible individual ... with respect to any month if throughout such month he is an inmate of a public institution.”
. DSHS also disputes the Commissioner's reference to the "jail-like” quality of the group homes, arguing that the voluntary nature of the group home does not offer a valid basis for determining that the homes are “public institutions." The group homes do not have locks or physical barriers to prevent a resident from leaving. However, it must be noted that the youths’ participation and residency in the homes is not voluntary.
. DSHS also refers the court to the Programs Operation Manual System ("POMS"), formerly called the “Claims Manual,” which is "the Social Security Administration's authorized means for issuing written program instructions for adjudicating clаims and performing its mission.” Briggs v. Sullivan (Briggs I),
The Commissioner counters this conclusion, asserting that an examination of the POMS reveals consistent interpretations of the statute precluding an award of SSI benefits to juvenile offenders in the custody of а state, even if those offenders are housed in a private facility. Both the 1983 and 1990 versions of the POMS manual expressly stated that an individual who is placed in a correctional facility is not eligible for benefits and that "[i]neligibility continues if the individual is an inpatient or resident in another institution (whether for all or part of the month), if the correctional or holding facility retains jurisdiction and control over the individual.” Both manuals continued by stating that transfer by an аgency with jurisdiction over the prisoner "does not make the individual eligible, even if placed in a halfway house which is a private institution." Id. Therefore, the Commissioner's decision to deny benefits was not inconsistent with prior interpretations and does not cause us to afford the regulation any less deference.
.The same private group home may accept both foster children and juvenile offenders. This results in the anomaly of the institution being classified as private as to some of the children and public as to others.
. In 1979, the Eighth Circuit found that a woman residing voluntarily in a publicly operated nursing home was not an "inmate” of a public institution because she resided there voluntarily. See Levings v. Califano,
. In denying eligibility to the juvеniles in this case, the ALJ also referred to the legislative his-toxy of the Social Security Act, finding that Congress had not intended to pay SSI benefits to individuals to the extent that their needs were already being met from other sources. The state maintains legal custody and control over the juveniles at issue, even if the juveniles are placed in private facilities. As the states have traditionally assumed responsibility for those who break state or local law, the Commissioner suggests that Congress intended that the SSI program not be used to shift this financial burden to the federal government.