VA Pension and SNAP Recipients: Outreach flier to identify MA veterans with SNAP benefits incorrectly reduced, terminated or denied

We are writing to ask you to reach out to low income veterans whose SNAP benefits may have been reduced or terminated because DTA incorrectly counted VA Pension monies the veteran does not receive. In addition to a host of troubling DTA "data matches" (matches involving non-countable Work Study, SCSEP income, earnings of a minor in school), veterans advocates are very concerned about DTA’s handling of VA Pension income in the SNAP program.

What is VA Pension and who receives it? 

Many low income veterans qualify for a needs-based federal benefit called â€VA Pension” benefits . This is a federal benefit based on a veteran’s non-service disability or his or her age, as well as financial criteria. See https://www.benefits.va.gov/pension/ VA Pension is different from VA Compensation, which is based on a service-connect disability and is not needs-based. Some veterans receive both. In addition, Massachusetts offers a state-funded Veterans Services benefit. The Massachusetts Attorney General's office has some excellent materials including a detailed Resource Guide, here. 

Approximately 4,000 low-income veterans in Massachusetts receive the federal VA Pension benefits (and over 57,000 receive VA Compensation). See VA Fact Sheet on Veterans Demographics, scroll down to State Summary Fact Sheets FFY2013, Many of these veterans are also eligible for SNAP benefits and apply for them (note, as disabled, these veterans are also eligible to claim medical expenses and a photo-less EBT card!)

What's the problem with the VA Pension and SNAP Benefits?

Over the past year, Harvard Legal Services identified veterans whose SNAP benefits were improperly cut. DTA counted the VA Pension income that the veteran did not receive. In one case, DTA even hit the veteran with a retroactive SNAP overpayment, retroactively attributing the income he did not receive. Sometimes the Veterans Administration recoups€ or œwithholds a portion of a VA Pension for an overpayment caused by the VA or veteran error. Regardless of the reason for this error, withheld VA Pension monies do NOT count in the SNAP math.  DTA should only count the net€ VA pension received by the veteran in the SNAP math.*

MLRI and our Legal Services colleagues have raised concerns with the Patrick Administration and USDA, and we have urged both to look at the data match information the Veterans Administration supplies to states, including whether the VA is accurately reporting net VA Pension income. We have also urged them to identify all veterans adversely affected. These discussions are ongoing

What you can do to help veterans?

Attached is a flier to help you alert Veterans to this problem.  Both Veterans Legal Services and the Veterans Legal Clinic at Harvard Law School are available to speak directly with low income veterans about this SNAP problem. Please note their hours of availability. (MLRI does not have a regular intake system, but send us an email if you identify a case). 

Please screen for any veterans whose SNAP benefits were denied, reduced or terminated based on improper counting of “withheld” VA Pension income and ask them to contact one of these organizations immediately. You may need to run the "SNAP math" to identify an incorrect payment. This will help us get the current or next Administration to identify and resolve all the cases improperly denied or terminated.

*The SNAP rules on withheld income:

The federal SNAP regulations limit the situations in which a state agency can count €œwithheld€ or recouped income in the SNAP financial calculation. Here are the basic criteria for counting income not received:  a) the "withheld" income is from the SSI, TAFDC, EAEDC or state Veterans Services programs, b) the individual was found by the agency that administers the cash to have committed fraud or a â€program sanction€, c) the activity that triggered the sanction happened while the individual was receiving SNAP benefits (not prior to application) and d) DTA must confirm the sanction information and date of the action causing the sanction -  not the SNAP recipient.  Federal SNAP rules at: 7 CFR 273.11. The state DTA SNAP regulations are confusing and do not spell out these criteria. Note, any income withheld from Unemployment Comp, regular Social Security (RSDI), VA Pension, VA Compensation does not count at all, even if a sanction triggered overpayment.