Franklin v. New Jersey Department of Human Services

We accelerated this appeal, which challenges the five-month expiration date for a certain form of emergency assistance (EA) benefits established under the program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). We set forth below our reasons for not now disturbing the Commissioner’s decisions on how best to implement this program to avert the homelessness of families with dependent children. The need for a prompt decision will make this a somewhat abbreviated discussion of the competing claims. Consequently, our opinion is not intended as a definitive exposition of all the complex legal…