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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION

10/24 VOLUME V, PART VI, PAGE 2

2. Required Household Members (7 CFR 273.1(a)(2))

The following individuals living with others or groups of individuals living together must be considered as one SNAP household, even if they do not customarily purchase food and prepare meals together:

a. A spouse of a member of the household. Spouse refers to either of two individuals who would be defined as married to each other under applicable state law or are living together and are holding themselves out to the community as husband and wife by representing themselves as such to relatives, friends, neighbors, or tradespeople.

b. Children under 18 years of age who are under the parental control of an adult household member other than their parents. For this provision, children must be financially or otherwise dependent on a household member. Parental control will be assumed to exist if an adult household member has legal custody of a child.

c. Children 21 years of age or younger who live with natural or adoptive parents, unless parental rights have been terminated, or stepparents, unless ties have been severed through divorce.

In the event a child lives in the home with an adult who has parental control (b) and a parent (c), only one SNAP household will exist.

3. Individuals in Foster Care

Households containing individuals in foster care have the option of including individuals in foster care as part of the household or excluding them. This option takes precedence over other guidelines for determining household composition. If the individual is not included as a member of the foster family's SNAP household however, the foster individual may be considered a SNAP household member of any other household in which the individual lives for a portion of the month. A foster care service plan must exist that allows the individual to be a part of another household on a temporary basis, such as a plan that allows weekend visits to the home of the biological parents or prior custodian.

The foster care payment will be counted as income to the foster household if the household elects to count the foster individual as a member of the household for SNAP purposes. The payment is excluded as income if the foster family does not include the foster individual in its request for SNAP benefits. If the foster individual is included in any other SNAP household, only direct payments from the foster care grant from the foster family to the individual or other SNAP household would count as income to that household.

An individual in foster care and residing with others may not be considered as a separate SNAP household. Foster individuals may only receive SNAP benefits as a part of another household in which they live, including a spouse or children living with them. The restrictions described in this section do not apply to persons assigned to the Independent Living Program.

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