Special SNAP rules to help households with elder and/or disabled members maximize SNAP benefits
03/01/13
Did you know that close to half of the SNAP households in Massachusetts have at least one elderly or disabled member? There are special SNAP rules for households with an elder and/or disabled adult member worth noting. The federal and SNAP rules allow certain persons to qualify as separate households from others they live with, increasing total SNAP benefits. There are two ways where disabled and/or elderly individuals can be considered a separate SNAP household - even when they are unable to prepare their own meals:
1. When an individual's disability makes them unable to purchase and prepare their own food.
An individual who is severely disabled and gets help with buying and preparing food can be his or her own SNAP household. This is an option as long as the majority of food consumed by the disabled adult (for example, more than half of 21 meals a week) is purchased and prepared by the caregiver separately from others. Note, this option does not apply if the caregiver is a spouse of the disabled individual (or a disabled child). For an example scenario on how this works, see Question 18 of the Food SNAP Advocacy Guide.
Meeting these rules are not as uncommon as it may seem--some persons with disabilities may consume food separately due to special diets or food preferences, eating meals at different times than the rest of the household and/or wish to use their income for their own expenses. The disabled individual need not also be elderly (over age 60) to get get separate SNAP benefits, nor do they need to provide any information on the caregiver's income (in fact, some caregivers might not be SNAP eligible nor chose to apply). For more on this option, see USDA Policy memo of June 12, 2006 /content/fns-guidance-separate-household-status-some-disabled-food-stamp-recipients) and DTA Transitions FYI, December 200, /content/hotline-focus-1207
2. When a household member is both elderly AND disabled, and consumes commonly prepared food with the rest of the household.
An individual who is both elderly (age 60+ ) and permanently disabled can also be a separate SNAP household - even if he or she shares in the commonly prepared food of the household. This option exists if the disabled senior if unable to buy and prepare their own food AND the gross income of the rest of the household needs to be below 165% of the federal poverty level. Typically the food is prepared and consumed by everyone in the household, not just for the elderly/disabled member. See 106 CMR 361.200(B)(4) and DTA Hotline Q and A, October 2010. /content/hotline-focus-1010
MLRI's terrific AmeriCorps member, Vicky Negus, recently won a fair hearing for a client who was never informed of the option to get separate SNAP for her elderly and severely disabled mother who shared the common meals with the family. The family included the client, her husband, two children (4 persons) and the client's mother, who is both elderly and has Alzheimer's disease. The client testified that - during her SNAP interview - the DTA case manager did not inquire about whether the mother was disabled. Vicky successfully argued that since the family included an elderly/disabled member and the rest of the household was under 165% of the federal poverty level, the Department had an affirmative obligation to inform the SNAP applicant that her mother qualified as separate SNAP household. By separating out the elderly/disabled mother - and her $1,000/mo Social Security income - the family of four would receive substantially higher SNAP benefits. And the elderly mother would receive some SNAP as well. The Hearing Officer found that DTA has a duty to assist in the SNAP application process, including informing clients when they are eligible to receive benefits as a separate household. Benefits were granted retroactively to the date of application as two separate households. A copy of the redacted appeal decision is attached.
Note, this case also involved verifications sent by the ARC Food Pantry to the Web Unit through secure email - which the Web Unit failed to track and then denied the case. The hearings officer found credible the testimony that verifications were indeed sent to the Web Unit, but also noted he had the authority under the "de novo" review rules to accept any evidence presented at the hearing. The client was awarded retroactive SNAP benefits as a result. If you have any cases where SNAP was denied for missing verifications sent to the Web Unit, please let us know. There is an upcoming meeting with the Web Unit to discuss missing verifications - happy to send on the details.
Big congratulations to Vicky Negus for this terrific advocacy ! If you would like to see a redacted copy of the appeal memorandum submitted, let us know.
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| DTA_Appeal_360395.pdf (305.86 KB) | 305.86 KB |