Clarifying Information - WAC 388-408-0035

Buying and Preparing food: This rule (formerly known as the “purchase and prepare concept”) applies to the typical shopping and food preparation arrangements of the people who live in the home. Persons who normally buy and prepare their food separately can be in separate AUs if they do not have to be in the same AU for some other reason. This rule does not force people to be in the same AU if they occasionally share a meal or share insignificant items such as seasonings. It also doesn’t force people to be in the same AU if they buy food and make meals separately, but eat their meals together. Persons sharing a residence can be separate households when they regularly buy food and prepare meals separately.

Persons sharing a residence must be one Basic Food household when they:

Buy food together;

Prepare meals together; or

Buy food and prepare meals together.

Transitional Food Assistance (TFA) AUs:

When a mandatory member as described in WAC 388-408-0035 moves into the home of an AU already receiving benefits under TFA, this person cannot be added to the TFA AU unless the household opts out of TFA to apply for regular Basic Food. The new member cannot receive benefits separately if they are required to be in the AU under the WAC. Refer to WAC 388-489-0015 for more information.

Buying and Preparing food – Temporary arrangements based on no food money:

If a client does not currently buy and prepare food separately from others in the home **only** because they have no food or money to buy food, they may be a separate AU from the others in the home if they are not required to be in the same AU under WAC 388-408-0035 (2) **and** they intend to buy and prepare food separately from the others.

Homeless Youth:

If a minor is homeless and is temporarily living at the residence of an adult who is not their parent and does not provide for them financially, they are not considered to be under parental control and can be their own assistance unit.

Examples of when a minor is not under parental control include, but are not limited to, when the minor is:

Receiving a TANF grant as the person's own payee; or

Receiving, as the person's own payee, gross income equal to or exceeding the TANF grant payment standard; and

Living in the home of a non-parental adult temporarily with no intention to remain permanently.

A minor is not required to have a residence or income to be eligible for Basic Food. A child should not be considered "financially dependent" unless the child receives significant and sustained financial or other in-kind support from a non-parental adult.

If the minor regularly buys and prepares food with others, everyone who does must be in the same assistance unit for Basic Food.

While there are no special eligibility requirements for homeless youth, they must be provided the same rights, protection, and accommodations as homeless individuals, including the exception to the requirement to verify residency. Other important considerations include:

Homeless youths' living arrangements are often different than many other households, as they commonly share the housing of others in temporary, informal conditions.

Unlike foster or kinship care, the non-parental adults have no legal responsibility or authority to control the youth. They provide temporary shelter, which may be inadequate and often unsafe for the youth. Youth may move on a weekly or even daily basis.

There isn't a minimum age requirement to apply for Basic Food. If there isn't an adult exercising parental control of a minor, the minor can apply on their own behalf.

Homeless youth may not have readily available photo ID. Just as with adults, we can accept a collateral contact to verify identity as needed and we must assist the youth in gathering needed verification.

There is no requirement to provide information about persons outside of their household including the youth's parents. We would only request information on their parent's whereabouts if the individual circumstances of the case are questionable.

Temporary living arrangement refers to an arrangement which will last less than 90 days.

When a minor child doesn't live with an adult:

If a minor child doesn't live with an adult, we decide whom to include in the AU as if the minor child was an adult. A minor child who lives alone is independent of an adult even if they have been assigned a payee.

When a minor child lives with their payee:

If a minor has a payee, but they get and have control of income of at least the TANF payment standard in WAC 388-478-0060 (2), we consider them as financially independent from unrelated adults in the home.

If the payee has control of the minor’s income such as deciding which bills to pay and shopping for the minor, the child is not financially independent and must be in the adult’s AU.

When parents have shared custody of a child:

An individual can only be in one AU during a given month. A child may get Basic Food in the AU where they are "living". We do not use a set number of hours or days someone must sleep in the home to decide if a child is living in the home. If a child stays with their parents who do not live together, we decide where the child lives based on the actual living arrangements.

If the child lives in one home 51% of the time, and the other home for the rest of the time, they can only get Basic Food in the home where they live 51% of the time. This is true even if the parent the child lives with the majority of the time doesn't apply for benefits.

If a child lives with two people for an equal amount of time, the child can get benefits in the AU that applies for benefits first.

Unmarried parents of a child in common:

If a child lives with both parents, both parents must be in the AU regardless of whether or not the parents buy and cook food together. An unmarried parent cannot choose to be excluded from the AU if the other parent has applied for Basic Food for the child.

Adults living at the same address as their parents:

If a person age 18 through 21 lives at the same address as their parents, this person can be a separate AU from the parents only if they have separate living, cooking, and sanitation facilities.

Also see WASHCAP rules ( WAC 388-492-0030 , (1)(c)(ii)) for SSI recipients, ages 18 through 21 living with a parent.

Spouses who live at the same address:

If someone lives at the same address as their spouse, this person can be a separate AU from their spouse only if they have separate living, cooking, and sanitation facilities.

11. Same-Sex Legally Married Couples:

As of July 28, 2014, legally married same-sex couples are treated the same as heterosexual married couples and fall under the definition of "spouses" for the purposes of determining who buys and prepares food together and are in the same food assistance AU.

12. Child living with biological parent:

Adoption ends a biological parent's parental rights as well as their legal and financial responsibilities to the child. If a child who has been adopted lives in the same home as one of their biological parents, we do not consider it any different than if they were living with an unrelated adult.

We determine if the child is in the same AU as their biological parent based whether or not the child is financially independent from their biological parent, and the arrangements for buying and preparing food.

13. Live-in attendants:

a. A client does not have to be a paid employee to be a live-in attendant.

b. Someone who must be in a client's AU under WAC 388-408-0035 (2) cannot be in a separate AU even if this person is a live-in attendant.

14. Income of an elderly and disabled AU member's spouse:

a. If an elderly and disabled person can't buy and cook their own food, but they want to be a separate AU, we compare the income of the other people who live in the home to the 165% standard.

b. We don't count the income of the elderly and disabled person's spouse in the above step because spouses who live in the same home must always be in the same AU.

15. Home-monitored AU members:

For Basic Food, AU members who live at home and are being monitored by the court or the Department of Corrections are not considered as living in an institution. They can get Basic Food benefits if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

16. Clients living in a group home:

Clients who live in certain group homes may be eligible for Basic Food even though they are living in an institution. See WAC 388-408-0040 to determine if a client living in a group home can receive Basic Food.

17. State-Funded Basic Food AUs:

We use the same rules to build an AU for state-funded Basic Food as we do for federally funded benefits.