Lawsuit Seeks Increase in Payments to Indigent

The poorest residents of Los Angeles County became plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday by lawyers seeking an increase in maximum monthly general-relief payments to stave off hunger and homelessness. The suit against the County Board of Supervisors claims that the maximum payment of $312 a month, established after another lawsuit, is “grossly inadequate” to feed, clothe and shelter the indigent.

“This monthly allocation has not been increased since mid-1988 and is significantly below the federal poverty line,” said attorney John Brinsley, co-counsel in the lawsuit.

Those representing the plaintiffs in the class-action suit, which would affect an estimated 50,000 poor who receive the payments each year, include the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Inner City Law Center and Western Center on Law and Poverty Inc.