704.250 Noncountable Income

This section lists income that is not counted in either the test of financial eligibility or the grant amount calculation. Income that may or may not be countable under certain circumstances is treated as provided at 106 CMR 704.260. The following types of income are never countable:

(A) All income of any member of the household:

(1) who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI);

(2) who receives State Supplement Program (SSP) benefits;

(3) who receives an SSI emergency advance payment or one-time payment made pending an SSI eligibility determination;

(4) who receives TAFDC and for whom state or federal foster care maintenance payments are being provided, including the child of the foster child when the foster care maintenance payment includes the child; or

(5) who receives TAFDC and for whom state or federal adoption assistance is provided except when the household member is included as a member of the assistance unit;

(B) The first $600 of lump sum income as defined in 106 CMR 704.240(A)(3) is noncountable in the month of receipt;

(C) SNAP benefits;

(D) USDA-donated SNAP benefits or surplus commodities;

(E) Payments under the Nutrition Program for the Elderly pursuant to Title VII of the Older Americans Act of l965;

(F) Assistance received pursuant to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the National School Lunch Act;

(G) Home produce for consumption by members of the filing unit and their families;

(H) Training stipends including, but not limited to, payments from the Department of Career Services (DCS) or the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC);

(I) Reimbursement payments for education and/or training-related expenses received from participation in the Employment Services Program (ESP), or from other agencies and organizations that are nonduplicative of Transitional Cash Assistance payments and are provided for specific goods or services. Such payments include, but are not limited to, those provided for transportation allowances, child care costs, and the costs of books, supplies or uniforms;

(J) Any financial assistance paid to a student as part of a financial aid package, grant, loan or scholarship for the purposes of obtaining a degree or certificate from an institution of higher education. Permissible purposes may include, without limitation, room and board, tuition and fees, and other ancillary costs associated with the costs of obtaining a degree or certificate at an institution of higher education;

(K) Reserved;

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(L) Reserved;

(M) Reserved;

(N) Irregular or infrequent income, such as gifts, that cannot be reasonably projected over a period of time and that is less than $30 per client in any quarter;

(O) Earnings received from the United States Census Bureau for temporary employment during the decennial census;

(P) Payments to, or reimbursement given to, volunteers serving as foster grandparents, senior health aides or senior companions, or serving in the Service Corps of Retired Executives, or in VISTA, or in any other program established pursuant to the Domestic Service Act of 1973;

(Q) The tax-exempt portions of payments made pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;

(R) Funds distributed to, or held in trust for, members of any Indian tribe pursuant to a judgment of the Indian Claims Settlements or the Secretary of the Interior;

(S) Payments to Native Americans pursuant to Public Laws 92-254, 93-134, 94-114, 94-540, 96-420, 97- 458, 98-64 and 102-71, including interest income from these payments;

(T) Relocation benefits as provided in 106 CMR 705.350;

(U) Housing subsidies received under any Massachusetts or Federal housing program including utility allowances paid under such programs;

(V) A loan verified by a written document, signed by the borrower and lender, that expresses the borrower’s intent to repay and the conditions of repayment as well as the terms of which specify the purpose of the loan and preclude its use to meet current living costs;

(W) Reserved;

(X) All earned income of a dependent child:

(1) under age 16; and

(2) age 16 or older who is a full-time student;

(Y) Foster parent payments made by any public or licensed private nonprofit Child Welfare Agency for a child who is not required to be in the filing unit;

(Z) Reserved;

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(AA) Cash contributions from a non-legally responsible person that:

(1) are for a specific purpose; and

(2) are used to pay for a portion of the needs provided in 106 CMR 704.210(C) or provide for some or all of a need not included in 704.210(C);

(BB) Payments from the Home Energy Assistance Program;

(CC) Assistance from other social service agencies or organizations that does not duplicate assistance received under Transitional Cash Assistance;

(DD) Transitional Cash Assistance benefits resulting from a correction of an underpayment or a fair hearing decision, in the month of receipt and the following month;

(EE) Refunds from a utility company, landlord or other vendor that were originally paid for by Transitional Cash Assistance benefits, fuel assistance, or other noncountable income funds;

(FF) Any portion of a Workers’ Compensation, property damage, personal injury, Compensation to Victims of Violent Crimes Act, or death settlement or award that is spent for the purpose for which it was originally earmarked and is not compensation for lost wages;

(GG) Up to the first $50 in current child support for a child included in the assistance unit or alimony received on the family’s behalf and paid to the family in any month;

(HH) Reserved;

(II) Earned income credits whether received as advance payments or as part, or all, of an income tax refund;

(JJ) Payments to eligible individuals of Japanese ancestry or their survivors pursuant to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and payments to eligible Aleuts (who were former residents of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands) or their survivors pursuant to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act, Public Law 100-383;

(KK) Agent Orange Settlement Fund payments made to Vietnam veterans or their survivors, pursuant to Public Law 101-201, effective January 1, 1989;

(LL) Money received from a loan secured by the equity in the home of an individual who is aged 60 or over (also known as a “reverse mortgage");

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(MM) Payments made pursuant to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990;

(NN) Payments credited to an escrow account pursuant to the Family Self-Sufficiency Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when the filing unit lacks the legal ability to use the money for its support and maintenance;

(OO) Payments made to individuals because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution pursuant to Public Law 103-286;

(PP) Youthbuild or Americorps allowances, earnings or payments to individuals participating in those programs; and

Veterans Benefits Payments to a female Vietnam veteran made on behalf of a child with birth defects or spina bifida.

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