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

actually disbursed to the household by OCSE plus the collection fee will be counted in the SNAP budget. 5704.4 Anticipating Child Support Income SNAP Manual 01/01/00 In the 7000 Section of the SNAP Certification Manual a variety of methods of anticipating income are explained. The worker may chose from SNAP 7000 the most appropriate method of anticipating child support income based on the household’s current situation. EXAMPLE 1: A household receives child support payments in the same amount each week or every other week. You may anticipate monthly income by multiplying the payment amount by 4.334 or 2.167 as appropriate. See SNAP 7513. EXAMPLE 2:A household normally receives child support every month but the monthly amount fluctuates. You may average several months’ income. See SNAP 7521. EXAMPLE 3: A household receives child support payments sporadically (every other month or every quarter) but a pattern of payment can be established. You may average the child support payment over the period of intended use. See SNAP 7520. If the household is expecting changes in the amount of child support or the frequency of payment, these changes must be anticipated when the prospective budget is prepared. See SNAP 7512 for instructions. In the event that a change is anticipated, a variable budget may be required. See SNAP 7523.3 for instructions on preparing variable budgets. The county office worker must be alert not to verify and handle child support payments from different sources as one source of income. EXAMPLE: There are two children in the home. Each child has a different father. Each father pays child support. Each child support payment must be handled as a separate source of income. In some instances, child support received by the household will not be included in the budget. General guidelines for excluding child support income: • DO NOT COUNT child support received by the TEA recipients which are obligated to be turned over to OCSE to maintain TEA eligibility even when such payments are kept by the household in violation of the law. SNAP 5401