1710 Determining Eligibility and Allotments

A household’s eligibility for participation in the food assistance program is based on current and anticipated circumstances related to all factors of eligibility. The policies in Chapter 10 for determining resources Section 1001 and deductions Section 1003 apply to six-month and simplified reporting households. In the six-month reporting system, the income is anticipated for the first six months of the certification period based on the information/verification provided by the household, as determined at the time of the interview to be most representative of the income the household reasonably anticipates receiving during the first six months. After the first six months, the information/verification provided on the six month report is used to anticipate household circumstances for the remainder of the certification period. Earned and unearned income for the report month is used as the basis to anticipate income for the remainder of the certification period, taking into account any changes indicated by the client on the six month report form or otherwise known to the agency. For households with no earned income and all adult members are elderly or disabled, income is anticipated for twelve months based on the information/verification provided by the household, as determined at the time of the interview to be most representative of the income the household reasonably anticipates receiving. All households must provide verification of earned and unearned income received in the thirty (30) days prior to the interview. This income should be budgeted, unless the income is not representative of the income the household expects to receive in the future. The eligibility worker must use prudent judgment in assisting the household in the determination of the representative income. Once the representative income is determined, income received more frequently than monthly may be converted to a monthly figure (using the appropriate conversion factor of 4.3, 2.15 or 2) and this converted income placed in the food assistance budget. Income from each source should be determined and converted separately. In order to be considered reasonable, and therefore included in the food assistance budget, an estimated date of receipt and estimated amount of income must be known. The computations must be based on the best information available by the household applying known and logical factors. Any income which is uncertain, based on amount or receipt date, should not be included in the budget.