Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 28 - Division of County Operations › Rule 016.28.23-006 - SNAP Resource Limits Changes

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL - SECTION 4000
2B4300 Resource Eligibility Standards
9B4310 Uniform Resource Standards
4300
Resource Eligibility
			 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
4450
Resources Excluded by Law
The current list of resources excluded by Federal statute
				includes the following items:
1. As
			 authorized by the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act (P.L. 99-425), the
			 amount of home energy assistance payments or allowances provided directly to or
			 on behalf of a household.
2.
			 Benefits received from the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants
			 and Children (WIC) under P.L. 92-443, Sec. 9 and P.L. 100-435, which amended
			 Section 77(m)(7) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
3. Reimbursement from the Uniform Relocation
			 Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-646,
			 Sec. 216).
4. Payments to Indian
			 tribes as specified below:
* 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)
5. Per capita payments of two thousand
			 dollars ($2,000) and less made under Public Law 98-64 to Native Americans from
			 judgment awards and funds held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior and
			 purchases made with certain per capita payments to specific tribes or bands of
			 Indians.
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).
6. Certain payments made to
			 Vietnam veterans and/or children of Vietnam veterans. This includes:
* 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.
7.
			 Payments to U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry and permanent resident Japanese
			 aliens or their survivors under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-383).
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.
8. Payments received through the
			 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act,
			 P.L.
			 101-426,
			 Sec. 6
			 (h) (2),
			 10/15/90. This law
			 establishes a program to compensate individuals for injuries or deaths
			 resulting from exposure to radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining in
			 Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.
9.
			 Income amounts necessary for the fulfillment of a PASS (Plans for Achieving
			 Self-Support) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. See SNAP 4460 for
			 additional IDA exclusions.
10. The
			 value of assistance to children under P.L. 89-642, Section 11(b) of the Child
			 Nutrition Act of 1966 and P.L. 79-396, the National School Lunch Act. Under
			 P.L. 100-435 which amended section (17) (m) (7) of this act, coupons that may
			 be exchanged for food at a farmer's market may also be excluded.
11. Payments under
			 P.L.
			 107-171, the Food Stamp Reauthorization Act of
			 2002, all student financial assistance. See SNAP 1622.3.
12. Payments made to individuals because of
			 their status as victims of Nazi persecution under
			 P.L.
			 103-286.
13. Earned Income Credits payments received
			 as a lump sum or as payments under Section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code by
			 any household member.) A Federal earned income tax credit received either as a
			 lump sum or as payments under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code is
			 excluded for the month of receipt and the following month for the individual
			 and that individual's spouse. Any Federal, State, or local earned income tax
			 credit received by any household member is excluded for twelve (12) months, if
			 the household was participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
			 Program at the time of receipt of the tax credit and if the household
			 participates continuously during that twelve (12) month period. Breaks in
			 participation of one (1) month or less due to administrative reasons, such as
			 but not limited to, delayed recertification or missing or late reports is not
			 considered as nonparticipation in determining the twelve (12) month
			 exclusion.
14. Under the Tax
			 Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and job Creation Act of 2010,
			 Federal Income tax refund payments received as a lump sum by any household
			 member are excluded as a resource for twelve (12) months. The total amount of a
			 Federal tax refund after December 31, 2009 is disregarded as resource in the
			 month received. The Federal tax refund may be the result of a refundable
			 credit, over-withholding, or both. The resources exclusion lasts for twelve
			 (12) months.
15. Under
			 P.L.
			 103-22, compensation made to crime victims as
			 authorized by the Crime Act of 1984.
16. Under P.L. 99-576, Veteran's Benefits and
			 health Care Authorization Act of 1996, any amount by which the basic pay of an
			 individual is reduced to comply with this law.
17. Funds, including interest accruing, in an
			 individual development account (IDA) under the TANF block grant program will be
			 excluded during any period the individual maintains or makes contributions into
			 such an account (P.L.
			 104-193). See SNAP 4460 for additional IDA
			 exclusions.
18. Funds in Department
			 of Housing Urban Development's (HUD) Family Self-Sufficiency Program escrow
			 accounts are excluded as resources when determining eligibility for SNAP. When
			 a Family Self-sufficiency program participant has an increase in earnings, the
			 public housing authority increases his or her rent, but deposits the increase
			 in an interest-bearing account. When the participant successfully completes the
			 program and can verify that no household member is receiving welfare
			 assistance, he or she receives the funds in the account. Funds may be withdrawn
			 from the escrow account before completing the program with permission from the
			 housing authority, but only for purposes related to goal of the FSS contract,
			 e.g.-completion of higher education, job training, or start-up costs of a small
			 business. Since the funds in the escrow accounts, as well as any funds
			 withdrawn from them prior to completion of the program are not available to buy
			 food, the funds are inaccessible-thus excluded as resources.
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.