016.28.23 Ark. Code R. 006
SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL - SECTION 4000
2B4300 Resource Eligibility Standards
9B4310 Uniform Resource Standards
A household's eligibility will be denied or terminated when the value of the household's countable resources (both liquid and non-liquid assets) exceeds the limit for all households regardless of household size, including households with an individual with disabilities (see glossary definition of sixty (60) years of age or older individuals with disabilities households).
The household is classified as categorically eligible if all household members receive SSI benefits or a combination of TANF and SSI. A combined household of SSI recipients and non-SSI recipients cannot be classified as categorically eligible. However, the individual household members who receive SSI benefits are categorically eligible. This means that any resources owned solely by an SSI recipient are not to be counted when the household's total resources are determined, but all resources owned by the other household members are to be counted. If the resources owned by household members, who do not receive SSI, exceed the resource limit, t hen the entire household (including the SSI recipient) is ineligible to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Co-owned resources will not automatically be excluded under this policy. Instead, the resource will be handled in the same manner as any other jointly owned resource. Please see Appendix D for current resource limits for Regular and Age/Disabled households.
16B4450 Resources Excluded by Law
The current list of resources excluded by Federal statute includes the following items:
* Payments received by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation and the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation from Indian Claims Commission as designated under P.L. 95-433, Sec. 2
* Payments to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their members received pursuant to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-420, Sec. 5);
* Payments received from the disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians (P.L. 94-540);
* Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (P.L. 92-203, Sec. 21(a) and Section 15 of P.L. 100-241, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Amendments of 1987 or the Sac and Fox Indian Claims Agreement (P.L.94-189);
* Payments received by certain Indian tribal members under P.L. 94-114, Sec.6, regarding sub-marginal land held in trust by the United States.
* Payments of relocation assistance to members of the Navajo and Hopi Tribes under P.L. 95-531.
* Payments to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, Arizona (P.L.97-403);
* Payments to the Blackfeet, Grosventre, and Assiniboine tribes (Montana)and the Papago (Arizona) (P.L. 97-408);
* Per capita and interest payments made to the Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community and the Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Beck Indian Reservation (Montana) (P.L. 98-124, Section 5);
* Per capita and interest payments made to the Red Lake Band of Chippewas (P.L. 98-123, Section 3, 10/13/83);
* Payments to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan (P.L. 99-346, Section 6(b) (2));
* Per capita payments to the Chippewas of Mississippi (P.L. 99-377, Section4(b), 8/8/86);
* Payments to heirs of deceased Indians under the Old Age Assistance Claims Settlement Act except for per capita shares in excess of $2,000 (P.L.98-500, Section 8, 10/17/84);
* Payments to the Puyallup Tribe of the State of Washington (P.L. 101-41, 6-21-89); and
* Payments under the White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act of 1985to the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota (P.L. 99-264)
* Payments under the Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990 to members of the Seneca Nation (P.L. 101-503).
* Funds appropriated in satisfaction of judgments awarded to the Seminole Indians in dockets 73, 151, and 73-A of the Indian Claims Commission (P.L. 101-277)
* Funds distributed or held in trust for members of the Chippewas of Lake Superior (P.L. 99-146).
* Assistance paid under P.L. 95-608, the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
* Payments to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation under the Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act (P.L. 103-436).
* Funds appropriated in satisfaction of judgments awarded to the Seminole Indians by the Indian Claims commission (P.L. 101-277)
* Distributions under the Michigan Indian Claims Settlement Act, Section 111, to the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan (P.L. 105-143)
This exclusion applies on a per-person and not a per-household basis. It applies individually to each payment regardless of how frequently the payments are made and regardless of the number of months for which the payment is made. When such payments are deposited in a bank or financial institution, the funds remain excluded. The length of the exclusion period will be determined by the type of funds in the account. See SNAP 4960.
The purchase exclusion extends only to purchases of property with funds distributed to Native Americans after December 31, 1981, but before January 12, 1983, under a plan approved by Congress. The exclusion applies to initial purchase only and not to subsequent purchases. Property remains excluded only if the person who originally received the exclusion holds the property. Since more than one per capita payment may have been received during the period from December 31, 1981, to January 12, 1983, the total exclusion allowed for the property may exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000).
* Payments authorized under P.L 101-239, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1989, Section 10405, the Agent Orange Settlement fund, or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the Agent Orange product liability litigation, M.D.L No 381 (E.D.N.Y.)
* Any monetary allowances paid under P.L. 104-102, Section 1805(d), to a child of a Vietnam Veteran for any disability resulting from spina bifida suffered by such child.
* Any monetary allowances paid under P.L. 106-419, Section 1815 (a), to any individual with one (1) or more covered birth defects if he or she is a child of a female Vietnam veteran.
Federal and other disaster relief payments. This resource exclusion applies to disaster relief payments received from the Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) under P.L. 93-288, Sec. 312 (d) as amended by P.L. 100-707, Section 105 (i) the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1988.
This resource exclusion applies to Federal assistance provided to persons directly affected and to comparable disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster assistance organizations. For payments to be excluded, the disaster or emergency must be declared by the President. This resource exclusion also applies to Disaster Unemployment Assistance paid as a result of a major disaster and to Disaster Relief Employment. See SNAP 5405, items sixteen (16) and seventeen (17) for additional information.
Under Section 5(g)(8)(A) of the Tax increase Prevention Act of 2014 excludes from resources the value of educational accounts in section 529 of the Internal Revenue code of 1986. In section 5(g)(8)(B), the Act further provides for a discretionary exclusion for the value of other financial accounts, as determined by the Secretary. FNS has determined that due to the similarities between 529 educational accounts and 529A ABLE accounts, ABLE accounts should be excluded as resources under the discretionary exclusion in the Act.
To determine a household's total countable resources, the county office worker must consider the resources available to all eligible household members and the resources available to any household member disqualified for one of the following reasons:
The countable resources of ineligible aliens are also considered if the alien would otherwise be considered a household member.
Listed below are examples of liquid resources.
Liquid resources must be verified at initial application and thereafter when a new liquid resource is reported or when information about previously reported resources is incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, or outdated. Applications that attest to resources exceeding the resources limit must be verified; if verification of excess resources is not received, the application will be denied for failure to return requested information. A full description of each type of resource, acceptable verification, and documentation is contained in SNAP 4601 - 4670.
SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL - SECTION 7000
Resource Limit -
The SNAP program has a resource limit. The amount of resource limit varies based on the type of SNAP household. Please see Appendix D for resource limits for Regular and Aged/Disabled households.
Categorically eligible households have no resource limit in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (see SNAP 1920). The resources of individuals who receive SSI or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are not counted when determining eligibility for SNAP because these are considered categorically eligible households. For example, The Monroes are resource-eligible since there is a member over sixty (60) years of age.
Applications may be denied immediately when the worker verifies that the household's resources exceed the limit if the household is not categorically eligible.
Applications that attest to resources exceeding the resources limit must be verified; if the verification of excess resources is not received, the application will be denied for failure to return requested information.
SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL - SECTION 11000
The following changes must be reported to the Department of Human Services (DHS) county office:
All changes in residence must be reported. If a change in residence results in a change in the household's shelter cost, the new shelter cost must be reported. For occasional reporters as defined in SNAP 11100, these changes must be reported within ten (10) days of the date that the change becomes known to the household. Households are encouraged to voluntarily report address changes immediately to prevent problems with mail delivery.
If an eligibility worker verifies through any source that a household has moved from Arkansas to another state, the household's case must be closed. This policy applies across the board to all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households, regardless of the household's reporting requirements. No advance notice is required See SNAP 11450 and SNAP 11571. If the worker suspects the household has moved from the State of Arkansas, but the household's residency has not been verified through a reliable source, a request for contact will be sent as instructed in SNAP 12400.
The addition or loss of any eligible or ineligible household member must be reported. For occasional reporters, this change must be reported within ten (10) days of the date the change becomes known to the household. Limited reporters must report this change at the next recertification.
For occasional reporting households, the acquisition of any licensed vehicle must be reported. For limited reporting households these changes must be reported at the next recertification. This includes the acquisition of an additional vehicle or the "trading" of one (1) vehicle for another vehicle.
Changes that attest to resources exceeding the limit must be verified. If the resources exceed the limit, the case will be closed unless the household is categorically eligible.
Households must report when liquid resources go beyond the resource limit for the household. Lottery and gambling winnings, equal to the resource limit for aged or disabled households, must be reported within ten (10) days of receipt for both limited and occasional reporters. See Appendix D for the resource amount.
For occasional reporters, these changes must be reported within ten (10) calendar days of the date that the change becomes known to the household.
Limited reporters are required to report when the household's gross income exceeds the household's gross income limit. This change must be reported within ten (10) calendar days of the end of the month in which the change occurred. If the tenth day falls on a weekend or holiday, the reporting time will be extended to the end of the next workday. A Change Report Form and a change report addendum must be issued to all limited reporting households in order to report such changes.
Self-employment income that has been annualized must be reported and verified when the recertification report is submitted.
Limited reporters must report and verify changes of more than one hundred dollars ($100) in unearned income and changes in sources of unearned income when the recertification is submitted.
Occasional reporters must report the following changes in both earned and unearned income within ten (10) days of the date that the change becomes known to the household:
* Changes in a source of income. This includes new income from any source or income from any source that has stopped.
* Changes in the household's total gross monthly income. This includes both increases and decreases in income.
Neither changes in Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) cash assistance payments nor the receipt of child support refunds paid to TEA recipients need be reported by either limited reporters, or occasional reporters. These changes must be reflected in the household's SNAP benefit amount. See SNAP 12410 - 12420. This applies to both limited reporters and occasional reporters. See SNAP 5704.1.
Limited reporters do not have to report changes in deductions until recertification. Limited reporters must report and verify child support payments when the recertification is submitted if these payments will continue to be deducted. Both occasional reporting and limited reporting households are allowed, but not required to, report changes in shelter costs, dependent care costs, or medical costs.
SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL - SECTION 12000
When a household verifies liquid resources exceeding the resource limit amount (See Appendix D), the SNAP case will be closed unless the household is categorically eligible as defined in SNAP 1920. Applications that attest to resources exceeding the resource limit must be verified before the application is denied.
See SNAP 4950 for an explanation of the procedures for handling lump sum payments.
Additional contact with the household is required if the household reports liquid resources in excess of the resource limit.
When the household reports substantial lottery or gambling winnings equal to or higher than the current resource limit for Aged/Disabled households, no matter the household type, the agency must verify the amount and take appropriate action based on the program rules.
016.28.23 Ark. Code R. 006