Example: Shelter cost total $600

$600-289 (578x.50)=$311 (uncapped because of SSI member)

Subtract the excess shelter cost not to exceed the maximum in Section 600.

Example: Net income $267 ($578-$311)

If the household contains an elderly or disabled member as described in Section 212.3A, subtract the total amount of the excess shelter cost.

Households are not entitled to both an excess shelter deduction and a homeless shelter allowance.

NOTE: Remember, the net income limit does not apply to households that are categorically eligible.

409.4 Determining Benefit Level

The household's monthly allotment is equal to the Thrifty Food Plan (maximum SNAP allotment) for the household's size reduced by 30 percent of the household's net monthly income as calculated in Section 409.3 above.

409.4 Determining Benefit Level (continued)

Example: Household size is 3

TFP (maximum allotment) is $511

SNAP allotment is $431

$267x.30=$80.10

$511-$80=$431

The local department will round up:

The product of 30 percent times the household's net income to the next whole dollar if it ends in 1 through 99 cents; and

To $2, $4, or $6, respectively if an allotment of $1, $3, or $5 results.

The Eligibility and Enrollment (E&E) system will prorate SNAP benefits for an initial month as described in this manual’s Section 412. If the calculation of the initial monthly allotment yields an allotment of less than $10 for the household, CARES will not issue a benefit for the initial month.

Except during an initial month, all eligible one and two-person households will receive a minimum monthly allotment of $16, and all eligible households with three or more members which are entitled to $1, $3, or $5 allotments will receive allotments of $2, $4, or $6, respectively.

A one or two-person categorically eligible household will always receive at least a $16 allotment, regardless of how high the net income is.

Exception: An initial month may be prorated.

Beginning October 1, 2016, the supplemental benefit automatically posted as cash to the customer’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) account. The supplement posts as a SNAP benefit on the regular SNAP benefit issuance date. Customers do not need to complete a new or separate application to apply for the supplemental benefit.

Maryland Human Services Article §5–501 requires that if a household includes an individual who is at least 62 years old and receives a federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit in an amount less than $40 per month, the State shall provide a supplement to increase the total benefit to $40 per month.

This benefit is known as the Minimum State Supplement.

The benefit will automatically post as cash to the household’s EBT account.

Categorically eligible households of three or more persons will receive the allotment listed for the net income on the Basis of Issuance Table. Some categorically eligible households of three or more members may not receive an allotment even when eligible for SNAP benefits according to the standards. There is no minimum benefit for households of three or more. The E&E system will automatically close or deny the case.

For households that are not categorically eligible, the local department will deny eligible households with three or more members that are entitled to no benefits because net income exceeds the standard.

Exception: Do not deny a household that is program eligible but benefit ineligible in the initial month due to the proration of benefits.

A household that files a joint public assistance-SNAP benefit application and is categorically eligible after being denied SNAP benefits will have its SNAP benefits for the initial month prorated from the later of:

The date from which the local department determines that the household is eligible for public assistance; or

The date of the original SNAP application.

409.5 Change of Eligibility Standard

When a household’s circumstances change and it becomes entitled to a different income eligibility standard, the LDSS applies the different standard at the next recertification, or when the agency changes the household’s eligibility, benefit level, or certification period, whichever occurs first.

Example: When a household member turns sixty years old, the household is subject only to the net income standard and is eligible for an uncapped shelter cost deduction.