Court of Appeals of New York

In plaintiff's section 1983 suit alleging that the Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration and the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health violated Social Services Law section 133 and her constitutional right to due process by failing to give her notice of the availability of "temporary assistance" benefits at the time of her application, the Appellate Division's reversal of the Supreme Court's dismissal of the complaint on grounds of mootness and failure to exhaust administrative remedies is affirmed where: 1) since defendants' policy of not informing applicants of the availability of temporary Medicaid assistance in the form of personal care attendant services is alleged to have applied to all similarly situated Medicaid claimants who sought benefits under the same statutory provision as plaintiff, this issue is "likely to recur"; 2) based on the potential ramifications from delays in providing critical benefits and the relatively brief nature of the violation, the question is substantial and will typically evade judicial review; and 3) accepting as true the assertion that defendants maintain policies and procedures as alleged, plaintiff's pursuit of the claims through the administrative process would have been futile.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/30/2012
• Published 10/30/2012

Judges

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel