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258 (07/2026) Chapter 2:Eligibility • Section 5: Financial eligibility • Elementary School, Middle School or High School tuition paid so that the parent may work Common dependent care deductions include ERDC copay amounts, private payment made to a child care provider by the caretaker, or ERDC overage amounts (the amount unpaid by the ERDC program but still incurred to the parent). Other allowable dependent care deductions include the federal mileage reimbursement rate for transportation of the dependent child to and from care, and other fees associated with the dependent child’s care and ability to participate in activities such as sports, preschool or afterschool programs. Dependent care deductions are not allowed when the person providing care for the child is part of the filing group, or if the provider is the dependent’s biological, adoptive or stepparent. Court-ordered child support payments Individuals may pay child support payments. This area differs from other SNAP deductions because it depends on what the individual pays, rather than what they are billed. Individuals paying legally obligated child support for children outside the household receive this deduction. This means the child for whom the support is paid cannot be a member of the household group. Child support deductions include the amounts the individual is paying for both current child support and arrearages (back payments), unless the payment is collected by Set-Off of Individual Liability (SOIL) recovery. The child support deduction is limited to the amount a member of the filing group is paying for child support. The amount a noncustodial parent pays toward the child’s medical bills or health insurance coverage is also allowed as part of this deduction. To allow the deduction for payment of child support, both of the following must be true: • The child support must be court-ordered. and • The child(ren) the support is for cannot be in the same household group as the person ordered to pay the child support. If each of the above is true, the following must be verified before the deduction can be allowed: • That the support is court-ordered • Which child(ren) the support is for, and • The amount of child support the applicant is paying/has paid. • If the court ordered support cannot be verified, it will not be used as an income deduction for the eligibility determination. Utility Costs/Deductions Allowable shelter and utility expenses help determine if a shelter deduction (the excess shelter deduction or the homeless shelter deduction) may be used in the calculation of the household’s monthly SNAP allotment. The first step is to determine if there are allowable costs for shelter (housing) and for utilities.