COMAR 07.03.17.02. Definitions.

(a) Receives Supplemental Security Income benefits or other federal or State-administered payments when eligibility to receive the benefits is based upon the disability or blindness criteria of the Social Security Act;

(i) With a service-connected or non-service-connected disability pension rated or paid as total, or

(ii) Whom the Veterans Administration considers to be in need of regular aid and attendance, or to be permanently housebound;

(c) Is a surviving spouse of a veteran and considered by the Veterans Administration to be in need of aid and attendance, or to be permanently housebound;

(d) Is a surviving child of a veteran and considered by the Veterans Administration to be permanently incapable of self-support;

(e) Is a surviving spouse or child of a veteran and entitled to compensation for the veteran's service-connected death or pension benefits for a non-service-connected death when the spouse or child has a disability considered permanent;

(f) Is receiving a disability retirement benefit from a government agency because of a disability considered permanent under the Social Security Act;

(g) Is receiving a railroad retirement disability annuity which meets Social Security disability criteria and is determined by the Railroad Retirement Board to qualify for Medicare;

(h) Is receiving interim assistance benefits pending receipt of Supplemental Security Income; or

(i) Is receiving disability-related federal medical assistance.

(7) “Elderly” means an individual who is 60 years old or older.

(8) “Electronic benefit transfer (EBT)” means an online computer-based system in which benefits are stored at a central computer database and benefit authorization is received through a point-of-sale terminal.

(9) “Eligible food” means:

(a) Any food or food product intended for human consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and hot foods and hot food products prepared for immediate consumption;

(b) Seeds and plants to grow foods for the personal consumption of eligible households;

(c) Meals prepared and delivered by an authorized meal delivery service to households eligible to purchase delivered meals;

(d) Meals served by an authorized communal dining facility for the elderly, or Supplemental Security Income households, to households eligible to use Program benefits for communal dining;

(e) Meals prepared and served by:

(i) A group living arrangement facility to eligible residents who are blind or disabled as defined in §B(6) of this regulation, or

(ii) A shelter for battered women and children to its eligible residents;

(f) Meals prepared for and served by an authorized public or private nonprofit establishment approved by the State or local agency that feeds individuals who are homeless; and

(g) Meals prepared by a restaurant that contracts with the State to serve meals at low or reduced prices to homeless individuals.

(10) “Head of household” means a household member designated by the household or by the local department to act on behalf of the household.

(11) “Homeless individual” means an individual:

(a) Without a fixed and regular nighttime residence; or

(b) Whose primary nighttime residence is a:

(i) Supervised shelter designed to provide temporary accommodations,

(ii) Halfway house or similar institution,

(iii) Temporary accommodation, not to exceed 90 days, in the residence of another individual, or

(iv) Place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, such as a hallway, bus station, lobby, or similar place.

(12) “Homeless meal provider” means a public or private nonprofit soup kitchen, temporary shelter, or similar establishment that feeds homeless individuals.

(13) “Inadvertent household error (IHE)” means an error caused by a misunderstanding or unintended mistake on the part of the household, as determined by the local department.

(14) “Initial month” means:

(a) The first month for which an allotment is issued following any period during which the household was not certified for participation, provided the household does not have an application pending; or

(b) In the case of a migrant or seasonal farm worker household, the first month for which an allotment is issued to a household that applies to participate following a period of more than 30 days in which the household was not certified for participation.

(15) “Intentional program violation (IPV)” means an intentional:

(a) False or misleading statement, or misrepresentation, concealment, or withholding of facts; or

(b) Act that constitutes a violation of:

(i) The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008;

(ii) The Program regulations; or

(iii) Any State statute or regulation relating to the use, presentation, transfer, acquisition, receipt, or possession of food stamp benefits or electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards.

(16) “Local department” means a department of social services in a county or Baltimore City and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

(17) “Local department area” means the jurisdiction served by the local department.

(17-1) “Maryland Senior Nutrition Assistance Program (MSNAP)” means the combined application demonstration project approved by the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.

(18) “Meal services” means a nonprofit meal delivery service, such as Meals on Wheels, or a communal dining arrangement.

(19) “Program” means:

(a) Maryland's Food Supplement Program (FSP); or

(b) The Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program.

(20) “Public assistance (PA)” means any of the following programs:

(a) Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) as described in COMAR 07.03.03;

(b) Temporary Disability Assistance Program (TDAP) as described in COMAR 07.03.05; or

(c) Public Assistance to Adults (PAA) as described in COMAR 07.03.07.

(21) “Qualified alien” means an individual who is not a citizen of the United States who:

(a) Is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);

(b) Is admitted to the United States as a refugee under §207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(c) Is granted asylum under §208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(d) Has had deportation or removal withheld under §243(h) or 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(e) Has been granted status as a Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in §501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;

(f) Is paroled into the United States under §212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for a period of at least 1 year;

(g) Is granted conditional entry pursuant to §203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as in effect before April 1, 1980; or

(h) Is a battered spouse, battered child, or parent or child of a battered individual.

(22) “Service Access and Information Link (SAIL)” means the Maryland web-based online application for Program benefits.

(23) “Shelter for battered women and children” means a facility operated in Maryland as a safe accommodation for battered women and children.

(24) “Sponsor” means an individual who executed an affidavit of support or similar agreement on behalf of an immigrant as a condition of the immigrant's entry or admission into the United States as a permanent resident.

(25) “Spouse” refers to either of two individuals who:

(a) Would be defined as married to each other under applicable State law; or

(b) Are living together and are holding themselves out to the community as husband and wife by representing themselves as husband and wife to relatives, friends, neighbors, or trades people.

(26) “Supplemental Security Income (SSI)” means a monthly cash payment by the Social Security Administration to an aged, blind, or disabled individual.

(27) System Error.

(a) “System error” means an error resulting from a malfunction at any point in the redemption process including:

(i) From the system host computer,

(ii) To the switch,

(iii) To the third-party processors,

(iv) To a store's host computer, or

(v) Point of service (POS) terminal.

(b) “System error” may not include human errors, such as those that may result in incorrect postings or incorrect entries at the POS.

(28) “Thrifty Food Plan” means the cost of the diet, as determined by the Department of Agriculture and adjusted for family size, required to feed a family of four individuals consisting of a:

(a) Man and a woman, 20 through 50 years old;

(b) Child, 6 through 8 years old; and

(c) Child, 9 through 11 years old.

(29) “Trafficking” means the:

(a) Buying or selling of Program benefits for cash or consideration other than eligible food; or

(b) Exchange of firearms, ammunition, explosives, or controlled substances, as defined in 21 U.S.C. §802, for Program benefits.

(30) “United States non-citizen national” means an individual:

(a) Born in an outlying possession of the United States on or after the date the United States acquired possession; or

(b) Whose parents are United States non-citizen nationals.