316                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                     [CH. 136

CHAPTER 136

(Senate Bill 568)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Sections 18 and
19 of Article 30 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1967 Replace-
ment Volume and 1968 Supplement), title "Deaf, Mute or Blind,"
subtitle "Public Assistance to the Needy Blind," and Sections 51,
52, 70 and 71 of Article 88A (1964 Replacement Volume and 1968
Supplement), title "State Department of Social Services," subtitles
"Aid to Families with Dependent Children," and "Old Age Assist-
ance," to eliminate the requirement of individual investigations of
eligibility of applicants for assistance and to provide for estab-
lishment of regulations by the State Department of Social Serv-
ices, in order to comply with requirements for Federal matching
funds.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Sections 18 and 19 of Article 30 of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume and 1968 Supplement), title
"Deaf, Mute or Blind," subtitle "Public Assistance to the Needy
Blind," and Sections 51, 52, 70 and 71 of Article 88A (1964 Replace-
ment Volume and 1968 Supplement), title "State Department of
Social Services," subtitles "Aid to Families with Dependent Chil-
dren," and "Old Age Assistance," be and they are hereby repealed
and re-enacted, with amendments, and all to read as follows:

18.

ARTICLE 30
DEAF, MUTE OR BLIND

Whenever a local unit receives an application for assistance under
this subtitle, [an investigation and] a record shall promptly be made
of the circumstances of the applicant [to ascertain] and the facts
supporting the application made under this subtitle and such other
information as may be required by the rules of the State Department.

19.

[Upon the completion of such investigation, the] The local unit
shall decide whether the applicant is eligible for public assistance
under the provisions of this subtitle [,] and determine, in accord-
ance with the rules and regulations of the State Department, the
amount of such assistance and the date on which such assistance
shall begin. The local unit shall notify the applicant of its decision.
Such assistance shall be paid upon order of the local unit from funds
allocated to the local unit for this purpose. Should the fund or funds
available be insufficient to make payments in accordance with the
amount of assistance established to be needed, the State Department
shall, by rule and regulation, provide for a uniform method of adjust-
ing individual payments.

ARTICLE 88A

STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
51.

Whenever a local unit receives a notification of the dependency of
a child or an applicant for assistance, [an investigation and] a