Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable F. C. Xeaves County Auditor, Grayson County Sherman, Texas Pear sir: i)p:‘.nion Kc. o-5943 Ne : Proper method of handling expenditures of county finds for aid of chil,dwel~fnread- mivistered by Child Welfare Board. Your letter of Mk-ch 21, 1944, requestirg the opicion of this department on the above subject, together with your supplementary letter of April 17, 1944, reciting additional facts relative to your question number three, have been received. I% quote froa your first letter as follows: "Please furnish me a written opinion on the following questions: . May the Cccrmi~ssioners' "I. Court of Grnyson Coutrty, Texas, appropriate, and advance to, the County Child Welfare Board, a specific sum of money to be expended by said County f!hi:dWelfare Pcard RS they daen:neoessary for the aid of dependent, etc., children,,a~nd,saj~d County rhj~ldWelfare Board prcvido the %mmissioners' Court later with 8 report shcn!ng the various purposes of Child &kl.fareaid such mcnoy was used? "2. ?ky the ~cnx~issioners'court of Grnyson County, Texas, doLegate the authority to seid County Child Welfare Eoard, to place dapecder,tchildren ir,various private homes at $20.00 each per month, same to be paid cut of Connty funds, titkwut tho apprwal of the Com- missioners' Court I.neach case prior to saj~dchild being pl~cod ix:said private hone? "3. May the %mmissicners' &rt of flreysonknty, TCCXRS,eatthe request of sa5.dCounty Child %lfare Board, allm and order paid, expense of 8 dependent child et $20.00 per month, when such money is used in part payment of the expenses of said child attending St. Joseph's Aclidally, Sheman, Texas: (Article 1, Section 7, Constitution of 'i.exRS) i f * * * + * * " -._ . Honorable R. C. Aeaves, page 2 o-5943 The supplement to your question number three reads BS follows: "Said child was placed in the oustody of a private home by the Child Welfare Board, .atan expenditure of $20.00 per month for board, to be paid by Grsyscn County, and in turn said private home placed the child in S+. Joseph's Academy. The private home collects the $20.00 per month from the County and In turn pays all expenses of said child attend- ing the Academy.such as board, room, tuition, books and clothes. "The child resides at the Aoademy full time except week ends and holidays." From your letter of &rah 21, 1944, we now quote your question number four as follows: "May the Commissioners' Court of Grayson County, Texas, et the request of said County Child Welfare Board, allow and order paid a monthly salary from county funds for B clerk or stenographer to said Child Welfare Board, when same has bean appropraited in the County budget?" Article 2351, Seation 11, Revised %vil Statutes, provides* "Each Commissioners Court shall: Provide for the sup- port of paupers and such idiots and lunatics as oannct be admitted into the lunatio asylum, residents of their county, who are unable to support themselves. 'srthe term resident as used herein, is meant a person who has been a bona fide inhabitant of the County not less than six months and of the State not less than one year." Article 695a, Sections 4 and 5, Revised Civil Statutes, provides: "Sea. 4. The Commissioners' Court of any county may appoint in said county seven persons, resident therein. who shall serve without canpensetion and hold office during the pleasure of the Commissioners Court, who shall ccnsti- tute a Child PYelfarsBoard for the County, which Child Rlelfarebard shall select its cm chairman. The Child Welfare Board shall perform such duties as may be required of it by said Commissioners' Court and Board of Control in furtherance of the purposes of this Act. The County Ccm- missioners 1 Court of any ocunty mey remove any manber of such County Welfare Board for just cause0 "Sec. 5. The Board of Control, through said County Welfare Board, shall work in ocnjunaticn with the County Ccmmiscicners' Court, Juvenile Roards and all other of- fiaers and agencies whose purpose is ??orthe proteaticn Honorable R. C. Neaves, page 3 o-5943 of the children described herein, and the Board of Control is hereby authorized to use and allot any funds, that may be speoifiaally appropriated for such purposes, by the Legislature, that may be necessary in jointly establishing and maintaining, together Juvenile Board or other County or City Board or other Bgenoy, homes, schools, and insti- tutions for the care, protection, education and training of the alass of children sought to be protected by the provision5 hereof." Under Article 695c. Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, all the rights, powers, and duties, including those enumerated in Se&ion 5, Article 696a, of the Divioion of Child Ylelfareof the State Board of Control were transferred to the State Department of Public Welfare; the artiale further providing, in Section 39 thereof, ~5 follows: "No provision of this Act is intended to release the counties and municipalities in this State from the specific responsibility which is currently borne by those counties and municipalities in support of public welfare, child welfare, and relief services. Such funds which may hereafter be appropriated by the oounties and munioipalitiss for those services may be administered through the county or district offices of the State Department, and if 50 administered, shall be devoted exclusively to the services in the county or municipality making such appropriation.' (Ihphasis ours) Section 40, Article 6950, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, provide5 as follows: "County Child Welfare boards established or hereinafter appointed in conformity with Section 4, Acts of 1931, Forty- second Legislature, page 323, Chapter 194, shall fun&ion and/or continue to function as provided therein, and the Com- missioners Court of any county may appropriate funds from= general funds or any other available fund, foi the adminis- tration of suoh County Child Welfare Boards and provide for ser~ioes to and support of children in need of protection -._~ and or care.ll (F$lphasisours) Article 1580, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, authorizes the ocmmissioners' oourt to appoint agents to act in its behalf for any purposes authorieed by law and the acts so done shall be valid and ef- fectual to bind such county to all intents and purposes. Ministerial executive duties may be delegated by the commissioners' oourt. Cal- veston County V, Gresh-s, 220 8. IF.560; Boydston V. Rockwell CO*, 24 S. It’. 272. At 11 Texas Jurisprudence 574, it is said that "the oormni55ionsr5'court is empowered to appoint agents for the acooxz- plishment of purposes authorized by law." firely admini5trative acts may be ratified when done by another without authority. Williams V. Fura Oil Company, 78 S. W. (2d) 929. Honorable 9. C. Weaves, page 4 o-5943 The rights, powers, and duties of the Juvenile Boards of the counties as enumerated in Articles 6139-6142 need not be discussed here but in subdivision (d) of Section 9, Article 695a, certain re- strictions were placed on the Child Welfare Board as follows~ "(d) Provided that no provision of this Act shall in any wanner interfere with the powers and functions of *** the Juvenile Boards of any of the counties authorized by Title 82.” The authorities above recited confer upon the commissioners' court power to expend funds for the purposes enumerated in the Child Welfare Act but it is fundamental that county funds may bs expended only for purposes authorized by law, Section 40, Article 6950, supra, expressly provides that funds may be expended for the Administration of the Board and to provide for servioes to and support of children in need. Therefore, in answer to your question number one, we are of the opinion that the commissioners' court may direct the Child Welfare lbard to perform such duties as it deems necessary in furtherance of the purposes of the Act and advance of the said Board funds to be ex- pended for the protection of the children herein named, the Board reporting later to the commissioners court the specific items of ex- penditure. However, we here point out that such action of said Board is at all times subject to the control and final determination of the cowmissioners' court in so far as the disposition of county funds is concerned. The necessity of placing chjldren in private homes was antioi- pated by the Legislature and in Article 4442A the licensing of "Chil- drens' Boarding Homes" is authorized, Upon the adoption of the Child Welfare Law, one of its provisions, Section 8 of Article 695a, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, transferred the duties and responsibilities of the State Board of Health, provided in Article 4442A,-to the Division of Child Welfare. Section 18, Artiale 6950, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, reads *s follcws: "The amount of assistance which shall be given under the provisions of this Act with respeot to any needy dependent child shall be determined by the State Department through its district or county agencies in the district or county in which the dependent child resides with due consideration to the income and other resources of such child and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State Department. The amount of assistance given shall provide such dependent child with a reasonable subsi~stencecompatible with decency and health, within the limitations and provisions of the Constitution of Texas as are now provided, or may hereafter be provided." (Emphasis curs) Honorable R. C. Neaves, pege 6 o-5943 Within its discretion and in conjunction with the commissioners~ court and the State department a finding by the County Child helfare Board that a sum of $20 per month is reasonable for the subeistence of a child is warranted. The placing of a child in a private home and the payment to suoh home of $20 a month out of county funds, is author- ized by the stetutes and the commissioners court may direct the Board to pleoe the children without requiring separate approval for each in- dividual case es this constitutes e lawful delegetion of ministerial executive duty es contemplated by Article 15~30~ This is in answer to your question number two. Legislative acts have made it possible for the State Department of Public Welfare, the Ccnsnissioners'Courts and the County Child Welfare Board, working in co-operation with each other, to provide for the protection of delinquent, dependent, end underpriviledged children. Section 5, Article 695a, supra. Private oitisens, in taking e child into their homes, essume grave responsibility and their actions ere eealously scrutinieed by the State Department of Child Welfare end the %unty Child 'irelfare Board, working ,in conjunction with the Commissioners' Court. Any change of condition or circumstance affecting the welfare of the child is subject to the action of the Welfare Agencies and the Commissioners' Court. These utteranoes are clearly justified from a study of the pertinent provisions of law. The benevolent eat of the foster parents imposes upon them the obligation to do all things compatible with the purposes of the statutes, but we cannot say that they are precluded from spending their own money to afford their ward privileges and opportunities commensurate with those afforded by their station in life. IJnderthe facts in the situation presented by your question Ro03, the private home receives county funds for subsistence afforded the child. With the approval of the Child Welfare Board, the home plaoed cut said child with St. Joseph's Academy for board and schooling for five days cut of each week. For the remaining days of the week the child resides with its foster parents. If it were determined by the Commissioners Court and the County Child Welfare Board that the part-time boarding of the child in St. Joseph's Academy was for the best interest of the child, and that the sum of $20.00 per month is adequate end necessary for the services and support of such needy child,,end no part of suoh sum is to be expended for tuition, we see no legal restriction which would bring this case into e different category from those where such child does not leave the private home. The fact that the child receives educational train- ing et the academy, if not paid for out of county funds, would not af- feat in any way the authority of the Ccmmissioners~ Court to expend county funds for subsistence of the child. In respect to the expenditure of the $20.00 per month paid by the Honorable R. C. Meeaves,page 6 o-5943 county to provide for servioes and support of such needy children, we must here caution that suah serviaes end support are suah as m-e corn- monly termed "subsistence", and in no circumstanoes would include the education of suah children. County fund8 may be expended only for thqss purpos88 expressly authorized by law, Public money is provided by Bpproprietions for the Public Frea School Syetem and Stats Insti- tutions of Learning, of whioh the Cammissioners' Court is well advised, The public free sohoola 8~8 open to all ahildren of the proper age, and 8 oounty would not be authorieed to divert its funds oreated for the specific purpose of subsistence to needy and dependent ahildren to any school fund, publio or private. We reiterate that no part of such $20.00 subsistence grant could be used for tuition payments and if such sum becomes more than enough to pay for such subsistence, then it shall be the duty of the Commissioners' Court to reduce such payment to the exact amount required. Rowwar, to say that such child could not be placed in 8 private school at private expense, because of the fact that such underprivi- leged child ~88 unfortunat8 enough to have to accept #ZO.OO per month subsistence allowance from the County, would be to deny the child an equal opportunity with th8 more fortunate and would, in our opinion, defeat the purpose of the Child Welfare Act. Section 36, Article 6960, reads in part, 88 follows: "* * f This Act shall be liberally oonstrued in order that its purposes may bs aoaomplished as equitably, doe- nomically, and expeditiously 8s possible." Bearing in mind the restriotions pointed out above, we therefore advise that in our opinion the expenditure described in question No. 3 is authorized, and w8 8nsw8r said question in the affirmative. The "administration" of a County Child YPelfareBoard in providing services to and support of ohildren in need of protection and oar8, of necessity requires the usual and customary detail work, correspondence and other function8 found in other governmental and oivil undertakings, The mcrmbersof the Child Welfare Board, each serving without compensa- tion, oertainly would not be called upon to do stenographia and other similar nork, in many instances requiring the efforts of on8 skilled in the duties to be performed, and the delegation of a responsibility to a board without giving it the means with whioh to accomplish the end would not be reasonable to a8sumeo Every function performed ty the Board or its stenographer would be 8 direot benefit to the children within the Board'8 province. Accordingly, in 8nsw8r to your question number four, we are of the opinion that funds can be legally expended by the commissioners' court in aaquiring the services of a stenographer. % respect,fWly oall your attention to our opinion No. O-2721, _-- Honorable R. C. Neeves. page 7 o-5943 relating to the s&eifia duties end functions of the Coun,tyChild Welfare Board es distinguished from those of the JuvenJ.leBoard, Ws do not think it necessary to discuss the functions of the State Welfare Boerd end e State Welfare worker in relation to their aid to end cooperation with the respective oounty welfere boards, Yours very truly ATTORNXY G&N"RAL OF TEXAS By s./HerrisToler Harris Toler Assistant By s/Robert I,,Sattimore, Jr. Robt, I;,Tattimore, Jr, Assistant HT:RLLrff:wo Ar'PRCiVED JUNE 27, 1944 s/Gee. P. Blackburn ATTORNXY GFJNSV+LOf 'l'&XAS (Acting) This Opinion Considered And Approved In Limited Conferenaa