Summary
In Nason v. Commonwealth, 516 Pa. 517, 533 A.2d 435 (1987), this Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Department of Public Welfare and certain state and county officials in a mandamus action brought by Nason, a mentally retarded individual, and trustees to a testamentary trust under which Nason was a beneficiary, which sought to compel payment for Nason's care in a private facility until there was an opening in a state-operated facility.
Summary of this case from Barr v. Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Professional & Occupational AffairsOpinion
October 16, 1987.
Appeal from the Commonwealth Court, No. 2378 C.D. 1983, 103 Pa. Commw. 430, 520 A.2d 1223.
Carol A. Mager, Elizabeth A. Read, Philadelphia, for appellants.
Kathleen D. McGrath, Harrisburg, Chester A. Dickerson, for appellees.
OPINION
This is an appeal by a trust beneficiary and its trustees seeking public funds for interim care under Section 507 of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966, Act of October 20, 1966, Spec. Sess. No. 3, P.L. 96, 50 P. S. § 4507. The local agency charged with providing such funds under Section 301(d)(8) of the Act, 50 P. S. § 4301(d)(8), has informed appellant beneficiary they are not available to her. As persons aggrieved by a local agency's adjudication, appellants had a right to appeal to Common Pleas. 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 752; 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 933(a)(2). The petition for review she and the trustees filed to Commonwealth Court's original jurisdiction seeking mandamus was not proper.
Accordingly, Commonwealth Court's order, 520 A.2d 1223, is vacated and the record is transferred, pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5103 and Pa.R.A.P. 751, to the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County for consideration on the merits in a manner consistent with the relevant statutory provisions and our recent decision in Lang v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare, 515 Pa. 428, 528 A.2d 1335 (1987). See, e.g., Philadelphia Electric Co. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Resources No. 101 E.D. Appeal Dkt. 1987; filed October 5, 1987.