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Show State Department ojj PublicWelfare Explained by Chairman F.P.Champ F. P. Champ, chairman of the State Board of Public . Welfare, issued the following statement today: ' ! The State Department of Public Welfare has nothing to do with any pensions. A few persons have accused the State department depart-ment of Public Welfare of causing unhappiness among the aged of Che state by requiring that an ! applicant for age assistance agree : that a lien may be taken upon property owned personally or jointly by the applicant. The ; state board " is accused of voting for a requirement for a "pension" "pen-sion" which is not required in the : federal act. The term "pension" is not used anywhere in the entire social security se-curity act. That act has two plans for providing for the aged. Title Two of the act relates to federal old-age benefits and provides pro-vides for a method by which persons per-sons who are not aged now may provide, through a system of payments, pay-ments, so that when they do grow eld they will not be needy, for they will draw old-age benefits. These old age benefits come under a provision of the Social Security Securi-ty Act which is NOT administered by the State Department of Public Pub-lic Welfare. Title One of the act grants to states for old-age assistance is to be administered by the state department de-partment of public welfare. Section Sec-tion one of this act states that the purpose is to enable each state to furnish financial assistance, as far as practicable under the conditions in .such state, to aged needy individuals. indi-viduals. The phrases "aged needy indi-j indi-j viduals" and "as far as practicable I under the conditions in such state" I are worthy of study. The state department de-partment of public welfare considers con-siders that an "aged needy indi- J vidual" is a person dependent up-1 on the public for support. The law does not provide for a "pension" to be granted to the needy aged individual but that "assistance" may be given "as far as practicable practica-ble under -tne conditions in suc state"." " ' The board has been studying the conditions in the state of Utah since it was appointed . 1. Ivlay and the boaiXTias a. clear understanding under-standing as to the magnitude of the problem involved in meeting the cost of a well-rounded program pro-gram under the Social Security (Continued on Page Eight) ) ent children in the state children who have lost one or both parents and are reserving of consideration. These children are not organized as are the aged and few, if any, persons are writing letters to the newspapers or Governor demanding demand-ing "pensions" for them. Plenty of attention has been focussed upon the plight of the needy aged but very little on the plight of needy children. The day has passed when it is considered proper to solve the problem of widows and orphans by farming out the children and telling tell-ing the mother to go to work. The modern idea is to provide assistance assis-tance to the mother so she can stay at home and look after the needs of the children. The state department of Public Welfare also contemplates providing provid-ing relief for the needy blind and it hopes to expand the state public pub-lic health service, do something for crippled children, launch a program of child welfare and i program of maternal and child health all of which activities are provided for in the Social Security Act and call for state financial support to obtain federal aid. To finance these programs, the State Department of Public Welfare Wel-fare looks to the $2,000,000.00 a year which is available from the sales tax and to contributions from the counties. This sales tax money mon-ey and the sums from the county must also be the source of funds for the relief of needy persons in our state who do not come within with-in the provisions of the Social Security Se-curity Act, namely those persons who are unemployable for reasons other than that they are aged, parent or guardian of the de-Tpnt. de-Tpnt. children or because they are !an advance to an applicant for aid by requiring a mortgage but represents an attempt to secure for the public, which is providing the assistance, some return from the property on which the lien is taken after other obligations on the estate are satisfied. A sons who have property when their relatives, in many instances, go gallivanting around the country and expect to get the estate of the persons maintained by public aid." The board can not see why old folks should be made unhappy by the Board's rule requiring a lien, many a person, the board feels, would be happy to grant a lien on property which is yielding no income in return for a stated amount every month, and the board further does not feel there should be any concealment of state and federal requirements. Persons who make application should know the maximum conditions that may be imposed. Nearly every state, including many far more wealthy than Utah sets up some rule relating to possession pos-session of property owned by applicants ap-plicants for public assistance. Utah's laws long has provided that a lien may be required from applicants ap-plicants for old age assistance. The federal act recognizes this situa-ton situa-ton by providing that "if the state or any of its political subdivisions collect from the estate of any recipient re-cipient of old-age assistance any amount with respect to old-ags assistance furnished him under ths plan, one half of the net amount set collected shall be promptly paid to the United States., Any payment so made shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit .of the appropriation ap-propriation for the purposes of this title." - Utah's welfare needs require that the best possible use be made of available funds and that those who ' blind, or are otherwise eligible for assistance. Thus, it Jong has been apparent to the State Department of Public Welfare . that the welfare problem in?Utah is heavy. The idea in the minds of some that every person over the age of 65 years was to receive a "pension" of $30.00 a month was developed without knowledge of the facts or of the financial situation of the state and counties. Such an idea had no basis in anything to be found in the Social Security Act or in any announcement from the State Department De-partment of . Public Welfare. In fact this idea has been persistently persistent-ly refuted by board members by public utterances and in the press. The state department and the county departments of public welfare wel-fare must limit the number receiving re-ceiving assistance to those most needy. In view of all the" circumstances, there is no injustice in requiring that an applicant for -.old age assistance as-sistance be required to grant a lien on his or her property. - This lien need not inconvenience the applicant. appli-cant. The lien Is to be collected only when the estate is liquidated. It is not expected that a lien will be- collected while a surviving spouse is occupying real estate. , The rtate department of Public Welfare teeK that if the public supports an aged person who1 has ' property that the property should ; go to the public rather than to relatives or - ethers who can not or will not support the aged person. per-son. As one county commissioner said, "We can not see why the county should look after aged per- , v - .... I, Stite Department 't -,Ui'.rutfrc Vrfcltare j, " Explained by Chair- J s man F. P. Champ j (Continued from Page One) 1 Act. The needy aged are not the : only persons to be considered, i There are the hundreds of depend- are to receive assistance-shall be those most needing and deserving of help. Any sums collected from liquidation of estates upon which there are liens will go into the program fan extending old-age assistance as-sistance to others. This ruling and the state and federal laws relating to liens on which the ruling is based were net set up with any attempt to secure |