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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 5000 5400 Income Exclusions 5413 Vendor Payments

3. Emergency and special public assistance (PA) funds provided to a third party on behalf of a household are excluded as a vendor payment if the assistance is provided over and above the normal PA grant or payment. Vendor payments included as income are called Diverted Payments or Diverted Wages. See SNAP 5706, Diverted Payments, or SNAP 5506, Diverted Wages. 5413.1 Demonstration Cash-Out Projects SNAP Manual 06/01/05 Demonstration project cash-out funds are excluded as income. Cash-out funds are in-kind or vendor payments that have been converted to direct cash payments under the approval of a federally authorized demonstration project. If the in-kind or vendor payment would have been excluded as income, the cash-out funds will also be excluded as income. Under these provisions, money received from the Cash and Counseling Demonstration Project for Medicaid recipients is excluded as income. This program, which is operational in Arkansas, provides cash to certain Medicaid recipients so they can purchase personal care services. The Independent Choices Program is a cash and Counseling Demonstration Project.  NOTE: See SNAP 5512 for instructions if the attendant care provider is a household member and the funds come from a source other than a Demonstration project under the Cash and Counseling Demonstration Project.

5413.2 Individual Development Accounts Matching Payments See SNAP 5405, item 16 for information about SSI PASS plans. When a Family Self-sufficiency program participant has an increase in earnings, the public housing authority increases his or her rent, but deposits the increase in an interest bearing account. When the participant successfully completes the program and can verify that no household member is receiving welfare assistance, he or she receives the funds in the account. Funds may be withdrawn from the escrow account before completing the program, with permission from the housing authority, but only for purposes related to the goal of the FSS contract, e.g. - completion of higher education, job training or start up costs of a small business. Matching funds deposited into any of the following Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) will not be counted as income. Under the Family Savings Initiative Act of 1999 (Act 1217) households with low income and few assets may accumulate assets by opening an individual development account (IDA). An IDA