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Page | 99 CHAPTER SEVEN: HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7000 HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION

7100 HOUSEHOLD CONCEPT

A household is defined as individuals living together who usually purchase, prepare, and consume food together. Individuals may be certified separately if they share living quarters with the household but do not customarily purchase, prepare, and consume food with the household as long as the individual(s) do not meet the criteria outlined in 7200 (B) listed below.

This category also includes live-in attendants who reside with a household to provide medical, housekeeping, childcare, or other similar personal services whether or not they receive meals in the household in which they live.

Individuals may be certified separately if they are filing an application as a separate household while living with others, they depend on for support only if their intention is to purchase, prepare, and consume their own food separate from the others when they get their SNAP benefits.

An individual may not be certified to participate in more than one SNAP household in the same month unless the individual meets the battered woman requirements.

An individual cannot receive SNAP and commodities (through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)) in the same month. If an individual applies for SNAP in the same month, they have already received commodities or SNAP with another household, their application must be denied for duplicate eligibility in the application month. If the applicant did not receive SNAP or commodities in the application month, but resides with a household that did, the applicant is allowed to have separate household status for one month, if otherwise eligible. The situation must be resolved by the second month.

If a household is certified for SNAP but is receiving $0 benefits, they are eligible to receive FDPIR (commodity) benefits. In addition, if an individual is sanctioned, other than IPV, the individual can apply and receive commodities while the rest of the household receives SNAP. In this situation, the individual that is sanctioned is not considered to be receiving SNAP benefits.

If it is established that an individual received SNAP and commodities in the same month, a claim is filed only if the household received (picked up) commodities first because the household was never entitled to SNAP. If the household was certified for SNAP first, then no claim is needed because the household was legally entitled to their SNAP benefits (it is commodities that were erroneously received). Example 1: Mr. Jones filed an application as a separate household on September 19. On August 20, he had lost his only income so moved in with a friend. Mr. Jones states that if he is eligible, upon receipt of his SNAP benefits he will begin purchasing, preparing and consuming his own food. He may be certified as a separate household. Example 2: A spouse who is an interstate truck driver, and who has no separate residence may not claim separate household status even though meals are consumed away from home.