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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 5000 5700 Unearned Income 5704 Child Support/Alimony Payments

households not receiving benefits a collection fee; however, this fee can be neither deducted nor excluded. The entire gross amount collected and disbursed to the household will be counted in the SNAP budget. EXCEPTION: Non-recurring lump sum payments issued to make up for 1) a missed payment already counted in the SNAP budget or 2) payments held in error by OCSE will be handled as a lump sum payment in the month of receipt. See SNAP 4950. EXAMPLE: A household normally receives $100 per month child support through OCSE. This amount has been included in the SNAP budget for the certification period June through November. On December 15, the household submits another SNAP application. Child Support of $300 is declared on the application. At the interview, the household states that the $300 child support payment was received on December 10th. However, $200 of that amount was to make up for the months of October and November when no payments were received. Since $200 of the $300 payment has already been counted in the SNAP budget, only $100 will be shown as income in the budget for December. $100 will be anticipated as child support income in the prospective budget. At times, OCSE withholds support received by individuals no longer receiving TEA in order to reimburse previous TEA or AFDC payments. Such individuals are considered to have an “AFDC or TEA arrearage.” Any child support monies, whether intended for the current month or a month prior to the current month, will be excluded as income when applied to an AFDC or TEA arrearage. See SNAP 5401. At other times, an absent parent pays child support in excess of the court-ordered amount to make up for previously missed payments. If these payments need not be applied to an AFDC or TEA arrearage, OCSE will send the extra money to the household. Any such payments not already counted in the household’s SNAP budget, will be counted as income in the month received. When it is anticipated that the absent parent will continue to make support payments in excess of the court-ordered amount due to the number of missed payments, the extra money will continue to be counted in the SNAP budget. A variable budget will be prepared as instructed in SNAP 7523.3 if the household’s child support payments are anticipated to decrease. When OCSE receives more than the court-ordered amount of child support and there is no arrearage, only the court-ordered amount will be disbursed. The balance of the money will be held by OCSE in an “advance account” and used to pay the court-ordered support amount when the absent parent is unable to pay due to lack of work or other circumstances. Only the amount