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Title 7: SNAP Page 7 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter C: Nonfinancial Eligibility Household Composition Revised September 27, 2024 Foster and Pre-Adoptive Children Foster and Pre-Adoptive Children Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.1(b)(4) Policy: Foster children and their spouse or children living with them are not required to be in the foster parents’ SNAP household unless the household chooses to include them. This is true regardless of whether they buy and fix food together. If the household excludes them, they cannot receive SNAP on a separate case. Similarly, the children for whom the pre-adoption payments are made are not members of the SNAP household unless the household wants to include them, even if they buy and fix food with other household members. Comment: For the purpose of determining the SNAP household, children receiving payments through the Kinship Caregiver Payment (KCP) program are treated the same as other foster children. Independent Living Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)(ii) Policy: Children that live in an independent living arrangement and receive foster care payments can get SNAP on their own. Subsidized Guardianship Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.1(c) Policy: Subsidized guardianship situations are like foster care. The children for whom the subsidized guardianship payments are made are not members of the SNAP household unless the household wants to include them, even if they buy and fix food with other household members. Categorical Eligibility Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.2(j) Policy: When a household is “categorically eligible,” certain eligibility factors are automatically considered to be met and verified for that household. Categorical eligibility does not confer automatic eligibility for SNAP. With the exception of the requirements that are automatically met, these households still must meet all SNAP eligibility requirements to receive benefits.