Policy Effective: July 12, 2010

When determining who should be included in the household, consider what is actually happening. The household member must physically live in the SNAP household sometime during each month. The amount of time does not matter as long as duplicate participation is not allowed. If the person is not expected to be in the household at all during the month, he or she cannot be considered a member for that month.

It may be necessary to ask clarifying questions to get a clear picture of household composition. Verification of household composition should only be required if, after asking clarifying questions, it is still unclear who lives in the household and who should be included in the SNAP.

When parents have joint custody, and the child actually lives with both parents in the same month, the child can be in either parent’s SNAP household. The amount of time does not matter as long as duplicate participation is not allowed. The child will be included in the SNAP household of the parent that applies first. If the second parent applies to add the child to their SNAP household, the parents must decide whose household the children will be included in. The child will remain in the first parent’s SNAP household, unless the first parent agrees to remove the child from their SNAP household.

Spouses/parents/household members who live away from home during the week to work or go to school and come home on a weekend or any part of the month must be included in the household.

If children in Job Corps or residing in boarding schools are home part of the month, they can be included in the SNAP household.