FNS policy concerning how employment-related cafeteria/flex benefits are counted in the FS program.

In our continuing effort to simplie Food Stamp Program rules and increase participation, the Department of Transitional Assistance is requiring certain NPA FS AUs with earned or unearned income (or a history of income within the past six months) to be on Universal Semiannual Reporting.

In our continued effort to decrease access barriers and simplify FS rules, the Department has taken advantage of the Farm Bill option to exclude certain Income and Assets to mirror cash regulations for purposes of determining FS eligibility and benefit amount. The affected regulations are 106 CMR 363.140; 363.220; and 363.230. These changes were issued in State Letter 1275.

With the deployment of Increment 2.1.18 the Department will automate the FS Attributed Amount (“Riverside Rule”) function in BEACON. The Riverside Rule requires that the Department not increase Food Stamp benefits when an AU’s benefits under another federal or state means-tested program as defined in 106 CMR 360.030 have been decreased (reduced or suspended, but not when an AU’s cash benefits are terminated) due to fraud or a failure to comply with a requirement of the program that imposed the benefit decrease.

Instructions to DTA workers on how the private employee verification system, The Work Number, can be used to verify employment-related information describe how The Work Number Standard Service can be accessed and lists the steps to follow to request and receive information from The Work Number. (Note, individual workers who work for companies who use The Work Number should also be able to access this information directly without relying on DTA to get it.)

This Field Operations memo issues procedures for processing Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have resided in the U.S. as a qualified noncitizen or five years but who do not provide sponsor deeming information; and describes a report that identifies  AUs requiring AU Manager review to determine whether or not FS benefits need to be recalculated for the next cyclical period.

The 2008 Health and Human Services (HHS) Poverty Guidelines were published in the Federal Register on 1/23/2008.  The HHS Poverty Guideline is used to calculate the eligibility standards in the following programs:  TAFDC: Income from the Parent(s) of a Teen Parent Under Age 18 (200 percent of poverty guideline);EA Eligibility Standard (130 percent of poverty guideline); and Food Stamps: Gross Monthly Categorical Eligibility Income Standards (200 percent of poverty guideline).  

Field Operations Memo 2008-49 implemented the 2008 Farm Bill provisions which included lifting the cap on the dependent care deduction in the calculation of SNAP benefits. Since the dependent care deduction is now uncapped, it could become error prone if individual dependent care expenses are not carefully entered into BEACON for each household.  This memo informs staff of the Dependent Care Expense Clean-up Report and issues procedures to process the report. 

Food stamp regulations at 106 CMR 364.400 allow elderly and/or disabled household members to deduct medical expenses in excess of $35 per month. This includes the reasonable cost of transportation and lodging to obtain medical treatment or services. These regulations also allow a deduction for dependent care expenses incurred for transportation to and from a child care or dependent care site.

Minimum wage increase affects Food Stamp work requirement; mortgage crisis relocation benefits not countable

Explains that rebates are noncountable income but are counted as assets under cash and Food Stamp programs, and the differences in how they are counted as assets in the different programs.

Explains which work study income is noncountable and which is countable, and that even work study with noncountable income meets work requirements.

Some Food Stamp recipients on SSI/DDSI have representatives who charge fees for administering the benefits. In these cases, the portion of the benefits that go to pay these fees should be treated as noncountable income for Food Stamp purposes.

Educational assistance (loans, grants, scholarships, etc.) are not counted as income until actually received by the student, and then must be averaged over the period that it covers and counted accordingly. An example in the FYI shows that the combination of these two rules sometimes results in part of the assistance being disregarded.

Foster grandparent income is noncountable for TAFDC and Food Stamp programs.

Income from Youthbuild and Americorps is not countable for TAFDC or Food Stamp programs.

Instructions on provision of retroactive payments to Food Stamps recipients who had combat pay erroneously counted against their benefits.

Treatment of teenage student's earnings from employment for TAFDC and FS programs; FS cooling SUA information.

Treatment of lump sum income at application stage for TAFDC and FS.

TAFDC: Caring for a disabled family member exemption redetermination and conseqences; TAFDC and Food Stamps when only child in household is ineligible immigrant; Food Stamps: gift cards not countable.

Guidelines on when employee "flex accounts" are countable as income and when they are not countable as income.

Household composition and income treatment issues for stepparent with stepchild on TAFDC; exemptions in two-parent families.

Income tax refunds, Earned Income Credit, and Food Stamp and cash programs.

Learnfare sanctions and effect on Food Stamps; effect of NAP receipt on FS.

Treatment of tax refunds and EIC for TAFDC and FS; FS reporting requirements for work-required homeless households.

TAFDC for 18 year-old who has finished high school but not passed MCAS; counting income of working teen dependents for TAFDC and FS purposes.

Department of Mental Health FS referrals

Food Stamp program: treatment of child support payments for obligor's Food Stamp case;  verification of obligor's child support obligations; Food Stamp clients only need to verify household composition if questionable.

Expanded categorical eligibility for NPA Food Stamp households. Questions pertain to elder and disabled households and to 18 year-old single.

FS: Quality Control and most frequent errors; missing pay stubs; DTA must act on notification of changed circumstances within 10 days; CIP's; preventing shelter and utility deduction errors; medical expense deduction and family health insurance plan.

TAFDC and FS: Noncitizen deeming-- multiple issues.

EA: difference between refusing shelter placement and abandoning shelter; FS: babysitting income is self-employment earnings; TAFDC: fair market and equity asset limits on car value.

Car value for applicant for TAFDC and Food Stamps; Food Stamps: Subsidized adoption income; Providing interpreters for Limited English Proficiency/ LEP persons.

Student financial aid verification forms; FS anf TAFDC: Aliens with DV code admitted through diversity lottery; FS: excess income of institutionalized child; FS: residents of battered women's shelters eligible for FS even if shelter provides meals; FS: timeframe for inputting addition of new family member to raise benefits; FS: handling of FS cases for refugees not receiving TAFDC.

EBT card replacement; Americorps workers not eligible for child care; funeral benefits for family cap child; Food Stamp program: Short-term disability payments as earned or unearned income; SSFSP issues.

FS: recertification of NPA AU's associated with TAFDC AU's; UI compensation is counted gross for all programs; procedures for placing pregnant homeless teens who do or do not receive TAFDC.

Child support and FS (must be legally obligated to be deductible); Child support referrals to DOR at application stage for TAFDC; temporary absence and receipt of FS.

Leased vehicles not countable; treatment of tax refunds and EIC; TAFDC: how many pay stubs to use to calculate financial eligibility for extension for recipient who has just started working; FS: when to start counting ineligibility period for voluntary quit prior to application; FS: 60 days of job search counts for 12 calendar months regardless of whether case closes and reopens;  TAFDC: Sponsor deeming.

FS: income for sanctioned teen parent; TAFDC: Monthly reporting stops when wage earner moves out of household; FS: crediting spouse's or parent's work quarters for immigrants;

FS: amount of income to count, and length of time to count  it,  when recipient is sanctioned on TAFDC gran -- addresses many situations,  including teen parent issues; FS: treatment of irregular earned income; FS: Prorating SUA in households with two FS assistance units.

TAFDC: affect of teen parent school requirement sanction on teen parent's child's TAFDC and teen parent's mother's TAFDC, effect of DSS custody of teen parent on her eligibility for TAFDC and TLP; FS: length of time sanctioned TAFDC amount counts as income, combination SFS/FS issue re: shelter proration.

Treatment of earned income of undocumented and documented immigrants not on grant in FS and TAFDC programs;  pre-paid calling card not a utility for FS SUA purposes.

TAFDC: Teen parent outreach service referrals; FS: how to treat conflicting information about SSI amounts; FS: SSI recoupment must be considered in determining income-- SSI recoupment is not treated the same as TAFDC sanctions for FS purposes; FS eligibility for refugees; TAFDC: recipient may be eligible for DV waivers even if batterer is in prison.

FS: no rent allowance when rent is paid in entirety by someone not in household; full unheated SUA even if bills are low; residents of dv shelters eligible for FS even if shelter provide meals;  calculation of FS for sanctioned teen; how to calculate period of ineligibility due to voluntary quit prior to application; EA: receipt of shelter in another state does not count as receipt of EA in past 12 months; TAFDC: time limit is counted in terms of calendar months not cyclical months.

All programs: treatment of irrevocable trusts; FS: eligibility of students over 18 who work during the summer; FS: verification  deadlines; DMA responsible for paying for transportation to medical appoinitments and methadone clinics; FS: effect of period of ineligibility  imposed by another state; FS: meal fees included in rent charge must be deducted for purposes of shelter deduction.

TAFDC: time limit is counted in calendar months not cyclical months; TAFDC: teen parent sanction for not attending school can extend to child after 30 days even if teen parent is on her mother's grant; Child care not available for child not in assistance unit because oes not meet deprivation factor; FS: worker's compensation is unearned income; FS: exclusion of car without special equipment which is needed for disabled family member; FS: treatment of short-term disability payments.

FS: foster care payments; AFDC: foster care payments; outdated AFDC issues.

FS: categorical eligibility based on receipt of income-eligible child care; FS: not categorically eligible based on TANF receipt in another state; Funeral benefits-- no reimbursement; All programs: Unemployment compensation counted in gross amount.

AFDC: Must use current school year calendar to determine if 18 year-old is expected to graduate by 19th birthday; FS: treatment of situation where person works off their rent; EAEDC: case must be opened if eligible while awaiting response from agency reviewing medical report.

TAFDC: grandmother does not need guardianship to establish relationship even if not on the grant; TAFDC and FS: severance pay is nonrecurring lump sum payment; TAFDC: recipients in domestic violence shelters are eligible for relocation benefits.

FS: sorting out conflicting SSI amounts.

SNAP and Unemployment compensation (UI) benefits: UI counting gross or net income;  Earnings from  the Title V, Older Americans Act deducted from UI; UI deductions for child support; extended UI screen not showing dependency deductions.

Case worker must ask households if anyone is making support payments, and should specify that this includes child support payments made to children in another household.

Where household could be split into two Food Stamp households due to disability of recipient's mother, and thereby get more Food Stamps, case worker has obligation to inform recipient. In such cases, shelter and utility deductions sometimes must be prorated. When a recipient's job ends, case worker must determine whether a supplemental Food Stamp payment should issue for the month in which the change is reported.

Cannot deny for failure to verify expenses for deduction purposes; cannot deny PA household for over-asset; cannot count both EAEDC and SSI income; cannot close Food Stamps for failure to verify something that is only required for TAFDC; if mail is returned with forwarding address must send letter to new address.

What case workers should do when some members of a household are eligible immigrants and some are ineligible immigrants for Food Stamp purposes; How case workers should determine and enter medical expenses.

To disregard income from a terminated source for an AU on Monthly Reporting, 3 things are necessary: 1) the termination must occur during the budget month, 2)  not counting the wages must increase the TAFDC grant, and 3) the wages must be timely reported. Case workers must ask Food Stamp applicants and recipients about child care expenses when it appears they may have them.

Riverside rule: If TAFDC recipient has sanction lifted, case worker has to remove manually entered income to avoid overissuance of Food Stamps.
Immigrant eligibility: An immigrant can be eligible for Food Stamps via 40 quarters of work from her parents' work history from the time she was under 18 years old. Adult immigrants who entered the country as children should be screened for eligibility based on their parents' combined work histories.

Food Stamp recipients with self-employment income should not be on semi-annual reporting; situations in which one parent leaves the household and takes the EBT card right after benefits were issued for the children.

When a recipient cures a TAFDC sanction, Food Stamps must be ajusted to remove attributed income. Instructions on correctly anticipating income at certifications for Universal Semi-Annual Reporting households.

Attached is an 11/14/08 memo from Art Foley of USDA instructing the mid-Atlantic region (and rest of the country) that they should accept as verification of income the paystubs of an immigrant working under the name and SSN of another individual. USDA instructs states that income verification used to verify income need not match with documents used to verify identity, and that if a household has a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy in the workers name on the earnings records, the verification and that explanation should be accepted. USDA further instructs that states should not report or disclose the fact of a name and SSN of another being used by another to anyone outside of the state agency (e.g. law enforcement or immigration). This is terrific guidance and hopefully will address those few situations where households have earnings but are reluctant to report the information.