William O. Douglas

“ We think it beyond reason to believe that Congress would have considered that providing employment for the paramour of a deserted mother would benefit the mother's children whom he was not obligated to support. ”

“ HEW may, in other words, reasonably conclude that an obligation to support under state law must be of 'general applicability' to make that obligation in reality a solid assumption on which estimates of funds actually available to children on a regular basis may be calculated. ”

“ Smith that AFDC aid can be granted 'only if 'a parent' of the needy child is continually absent from the home.' 392 U.S., at 313, 88 S.Ct. at 2131. If the stepfather or MARS is a 'parent' within the meaning of the federal Act, any federal matching assistance under the AFDC program for children living with a MARS or stepfather would not be available to appellants. The three-judge court said that ' (t) he HEW regulation, by requiring proof of actual contributions from a MARS, reduces the expectation of Congress to a mere hope.' 312 F.Supp., at 202. We disagree. ”