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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES SPECIAL INCOME DETERMINATIONS

10/24 VOLUME V, PART XII, PAGE 12

Efforts to collect amounts issued to sponsored immigrants through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or other means-tested public benefits must be made within 10 years of the date of the last issuance.

6. Awaiting Verification

If the information necessary to determine the amount of the sponsor’s or sponsor’s spouse’s income and resources attributed to the immigrant, is not received or verified in a timely manner, the sponsored immigrant will be ineligible until all necessary facts are obtained. In addition, if questions arise about whether an immigrant has a sponsor, the date of entry, or the date of the adjustment of status, such questions must be resolved before SNAP eligibility can be established for the immigrant. The eligibility of any remaining household members must be determined. The income and resources of the ineligible immigrant (excluding the attributable income and resources of the alien's sponsor and sponsor's spouse) must be treated in the same manner as a disqualified member as set forth in Parts XI.G and XII.E, and considered available in determining the eligibility and benefit level of the remaining household members.

If the sponsored immigrant refuses to cooperate in providing and/or verifying needed information, other adult members of the immigrant’s household will be responsible for providing and/or verifying the information required. If the household refuses to cooperate in this regard, the entire household is ineligible. If the information or verification is subsequently received, the BPS must act on the information as a reported change in household membership as required by the timeliness standards in Part XIV.A.

If the same sponsor is responsible for the entire household, the entire household will be ineligible until the needed sponsor information is provided and/or verified.

D. HOUSEHOLDS WITH A DECREASE IN INCOME DUE TO FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ANOTHER PROGRAM’S RULES

SNAP benefits must not be increased when a household’s benefits from another means-tested, publicly funded program are reduced, terminated, or suspended because of a failure to comply with that program’s requirements. Changes that are not related to the penalty imposed by the other program must continue to be reflected in the SNAP benefit amount, including adding household members who may be barred from receiving benefits from other public assistance programs. The public assistance income, as a penalty, must not be counted in the calculation of SNAP benefits if the public assistance case is closed at the household’s request, failing to sign the VIEW Agreement of Personal Responsibility or for a reason other than noncompliance, regardless of prior case actions that may have been taken due to noncompliance.

1. For federal, state, or local public assistance programs, such as TANF or GR-Unattached Child, failure to comply will be determined to exist after it has been established that policy exemptions and good cause provisions, if appropriate, have not been met. Failure to comply may also be evidenced by a court conviction for a fraud conviction or a finding through the ADH process.

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