N.J. Admin. Code § 10:87-2.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 10:87-2.2 - Household defined

(a) A household may be composed of any of the following individuals or groups of individuals:

1. Individual living alone;

2. An individual living with others, but who customarily purchases food and prepares meals for home consumption separate and apart from others.

i. Any person who has a disability that prevents him or her from purchasing or preparing his or her own food, but who has arranged to have his or her food purchased and prepared separate and apart from others in the household, may claim separate household status. Separate household status may be granted even if the person who shops for food or prepares meals for the disabled person is residing with the disabled person;

3. A group of individuals living together for whom food is purchased in common and for whom meals are prepared together for home consumption;

4. An individual who is 60 years of age or older (and the spouse of such individual) living with others who is unable to purchase and prepare meals because he or she suffers from a disability considered permanent under the Social Security Act or suffers from some other physical or mental nondisease-related, severe, permanent disability may be a separate household (see definition of elderly or disabled at 10:87-2.34 and verification requirements at 10:87-2.19(i) ). However, the gross monthly income of the household with which the individual resides cannot exceed the gross monthly income eligibility standard for the appropriate household size at 10:87-12.7. This income determination shall be made in accordance with the following procedures:

i. The gross monthly income of the others with whom the elderly, disabled person resides shall be determined as if they were applying for participation in the program. The income of the elderly, disabled person and his or her spouse is not included in the calculation. The elderly, disabled person and his or her spouse are not to be considered household members for this purpose;

ii. The gross monthly income of the others shall then be compared to the monthly income eligibility standard for the appropriate household size in 10:87-12.7 to determine if the income is within the prescribed limit. The elderly, disabled person and his or her spouse would not be considered as household members for this comparison.

5. An applicant household that has customarily purchased and prepared food separately in the past but, because of changes in financial or other circumstances, is now temporarily buying and preparing food with others, shall be considered a separate household, providing it intends to return to its former status upon receipt of NJ SNAP benefits. The applicant household's statements on past and intended practices shall suffice, except when the information provided is questionable according to the criteria at 10:87-2.19(i). If the applicant household does not return to its former status, the actual household composition will prevail and will be considered a client-reportable change in accordance with 10:87-9.5(a) and (b). The 10-day period for reporting that the applicant household has not returned to its former status will commence upon receipt of NJ SNAP benefits.

(b) Individuals or groups of individuals who are residents of an institution (except as otherwise specified in 10:87-2.4) or commercial boarding home, or boarders (except as specified in 10:87-2.3(b) ) may not participate in the program.

(c) In no event shall nonhousehold member status or separate household status be granted to:

1. Parents and their biological, adopted or stepchildren (excluding foster children) under the age of 22 who reside together, regardless of the marital status or having a child of their own. The biological parent-child relationship takes precedence unless there has been a termination of parental rights. Legal custody does not in and of itself terminate parental rights, in which case the legal relationship between the biological parent and the child would still exist even though another person(s) has been awarded legal custody of the child. The following are two examples of such household compositions:

i. Example 1: The grandparents who have legal custody of a grandchild, their own adult child, who also is the biological parent of the grandchild, all reside together. The parent and child would have to be considered one household for NJ SNAP program benefits because parental rights have not been terminated. Likewise, the grandparents would also have to be included in the same NJ SNAP household because the grandchild is financially dependent on them since they have legal custody of that grandchild (see (c)2 below).

ii. Example 2: There are two siblings, with the mother having legally terminated her parental rights of one of the siblings. The grandparents have legal custody of that child. This can be a two-person household if the mother applies for NJ SNAP benefits for herself and the one child for whom she has not given up her parental rights. If the grandparents apply for NJ SNAP benefits, they would be a separate NJ SNAP household with the grandchild of whom they have legal custody (see (c)2 below);

2. A child (other than a foster child) under 18 years of age who lives with and is under parental control of a household member other than his or her parent. A child shall be considered to be under parental control for purposes of this provision if he or she is financially or otherwise dependent on a member of the household.

i. An individual between the ages of 18 and 22 is considered an adult and can be a separate household from those with whom he or she lives if he or she purchases and prepares food separately. In the case of an 18 through 22 year old living with a grandparent, he or she can be a separate household unless the grandparent has legally adopted the 18 through 22 year old or they purchase and prepare meals together.

ii. An individual between the ages of 18 and 22, not living with his or her biological, adoptive or stepparent, who is married and/or has a child of his or her own, and is not financially dependent on a member of the household, and prepares and eats his or her meals separate and apart from other members residing in the household, may, for NJ SNAP purposes, be considered a separate household.

iii. An individual, including individuals under 18 years old, emancipated from any parental control, living solely with his or her spouse and/or children, for NJ SNAP purposes, shall be considered a separate household;

3. A spouse of a member of the household. For the purposes of this Program, the term "spouse" shall include persons who are legally married pursuant to New Jersey law, as well as individuals in a domestic partnership, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:8A-1 et seq., and civil union partners, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 37:1-28 et seq.; or

4. Individuals who purchase and prepare meals together, with the following exceptions:

i. A household containing an elderly and disabled member who cannot purchase and prepare meals separately can be separated from the other household members, provided that the income of the other members does not exceed 165 percent of the Federal poverty level for the household size of the other members, per 10:87-2.2(a)4. (See 10:87-12.7 Table VII.)

ii. Foster individuals (10:87-2.3(b)6 ) cannot be required to be included in the household if the household decides otherwise.

(d) In cases of joint child custody, either parent may claim a child(ren) as a member of their NJ SNAP household, as long as the child(ren) resides in the home for some portion of the month. In the event that both parents are participating in the NJ SNAP program and both want to claim the child(ren) as a part of his or her household, the parent who has the child(ren) the greater part of the time shall be the parent to claim the child(ren) as a part of his or her NJ SNAP household.

1. If the child(ren) lives with each parent equally, the parent household that applies first shall be the one to add the child(ren) to his or her NJ SNAP household.

2. Under no circumstances shall duplicate participation occur. The child(ren) cannot be a part of two NJ SNAP households at the same time.

N.J. Admin. Code § 10:87-2.2

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 267(a), effective 2/6/2017

Amended by 56N.J.R. 1105(b), effective 6/17/2024