Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 58 Part 1.djvu/297

 58 STAT.] 78TH CONG. , 2D SESS.-CH. 257-JUNE 14, 1944 [CHAPTER 257] AN ACT To provide aid to dependent children in the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the care and assistance of dependent children is hereby declared to be a special matter of public concern and a necessity in promoting the public health and welfare. To provide such care and assistance at public expense, a systein of aid to dependent children is hereby established for the District of Columbia. SEC. 2. The terms "aid" and "assistance" wherever used in this Act shall be construed to mean money payments with respect to a depend- ent child or dependent children. As used in this Act, the term "dependent child" shall be construed to mean a child under the age of eighteen who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, or aunt in a place of residence main- tained by one or more of such relatives as his or their own home. SEC. 3. Aid to dependent children shall be granted with respect to a child who has resided in the District of Columbia for one year immediately preceding the application or who was born in the Dis- trict of Columbia within one year immediately preceding the applica- tion, one or both of whose parents has resided in the District of Columbia for one year immediately preceding the birth. SEC. 4. The Board of Public Welfare of the District of Columbia shall administer assistance under this Act. It shall prescribe the form and print and supply the blanks for applications, reports, and affidavits, and such other forms as it may deem advisable, and shall make rules and regulations necessary for the carrying out of the provisions of this Act and shall make and render any and all reports required by the Social Security Board of the United States Govern- ment or otherwise authorized or required by law, and comply with such provisions as the Social Security Board of the United States Government may, from time to time, find necessary to assure the correctness and verification af such reports. SEC. 5. The amount of assistance for any child and the manner of providing it shall be. determined by the Board of Public Welfare with due regard to the conditions existing in each case, and shall be sufficient when added to all other income and support available to the child, to provide such chil4l with a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health. SEC. 6. Application for assistance under this Act shall be made to the Board of Public Welfare. The application shall be made in the manner and form prescribed by the Board of Public Welfare, and shall contain information as to the age and residence of the child and such other information as may be required by the Board of Public Welfare. SEC. 7. Upon the receipt of an application for assistance, an inves- tigation and record shall be made of the circumstances in order to determine the dependency of the child and to ascertain the facts supporting the application and such other information as may be required by the Board of Public Welfare. SEC. 8. Upon completion of such investigation the Board of Public Welfare shall decide whether the child is eligible for assistance under the provisions of this Act, and shall determine the amount of such assistance and the date on which assistance shall begin. 277 June 14, 1944 [H. R. 3236] [Public Law 340] District of Colum- bia. Aid to Dependent Children Act. Terms construed. Residence require- ment. Administration by Board of Public Wel fare. Amount of assist. ance. Application for as- sistance. Investigation and record. Decision of Board.

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