Ohio Administrative Code › Title 5101:4 - Division of Food Stamps › Chapter 5101:4-1 - General Provisions › Section 5101:4-1-03 - Food assistance: definitions

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) This rule describes the terms and
			 meanings used to administer the supplemental nutrition assistance program
			 (SNAP), formerly known as the food assistance program. These definitions are
			 not intended to fully explain or to limit the scope of any action in the
			 administration of the program.
(B)
			 Definition:
(1) "Allotment" means the total
			 value of SNAP benefits an assistance group is authorized to receive during each
			 month or other time period. The allotment may be issued in the form of a check
			 (cash-out) or electronic benefit transfer (EBT).
(2) "Application for Cash, Food, or Medical
			 Assistance (JFS 7200)" means the document utilized by the state of Ohio as an
			 application for cash, food, and medical assistance. It is also a screening
			 device for determining entitlement to expedited SNAP benefits. It is the
			 beginning step in the application process and is used in conjunction with the
			 interactive interview.
(3)
			 "Assessment" means an in-depth evaluation of employability skills coupled with
			 counseling on how and where to search for employment.
(4) "Assistance group" means those persons
			 potentially eligible or determined eligible to receive benefits together under
			 one assistance group name. This was formerly referred to as the SNAP
			 household.
(5) "Assistance group
			 name" means the case name. All assistance groups will have an assistance group
			 name. The assistance group name may or may not be the applicant. The person
			 designated as the assistance group name will be the person to receive all
			 notices and will assume all responsibilities such as reviewing the application
			 form for completeness and validity, signing and dating the application,
			 participating in the interactive interview and accepting the program rights and
			 responsibilities unless the assistance group has designated an authorized
			 representative to apply on their behalf.
(6) "Assistance group payee" means a person
			 who is designated to receive the benefits for an assistance group. The person
			 who is the assistance group name will be the payee unless the assistance group
			 has an authorized representative to receive the benefits. There will only be
			 one assistance group payee per assistance group and benefits will only be
			 issued to this person.
(7)
			 "Beneficiary and earnings data exchange (BENDEX)" means the system that is used
			 to verify social security benefit information.
(8) "Case file or case record" means all
			 program information, verification, application, forms, notices and journal
			 entries used to make an eligibility determination for the assistance
			 group.
(9) "Case Worksheet-Cash,
			 Food Stamp, and Medical Assistance Interview (JFS 01846)" means the document
			 which is utilized by the state of Ohio to gather data for the cash, food, and
			 medical assistance programs for home visits and telephone interviews when the
			 statewide automated eligibility system is unavailable. The applicant must
			 acknowledge the information on the form by signing and dating the
			 form.
(10) "Code of Federal
			 Regulations (CFR)" means the codification of the rules published in the Federal
			 Register by the U. S. government.
(11) "Date of entry" means the date
			 established by U.S. citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) as the date an
			 alien was admitted into the United States.
(12) "Department of housing and urban
			 development (HUD)" means a governmental agency that provides housing to
			 low-income households.
(13) "Drug
			 addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program" means any drug
			 addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program conducted by a
			 private nonprofit organization or institution, or publicly operated community
			 mental health center, under part B of Title XIX of the Public Health Service
			 Act (42 U.S.C.
			 300x) (1992).
(14) "Elderly or disabled member" means a
			 member of an assistance group who:
(a) Is
			 sixty years of age or older;
(b)
			 Receives supplemental security income benefits under Title XVI of the Social
			 Security Act of 1935 or disability or blindness payments under Title I, II, X,
			 XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act;
(c) Is a veteran with a service-connected or
			 nonservice-connected disability rated by the veterans administration as total
			 or paid as total under Title 38 of the United States Code (U.S.C.)
			 (2002);
(d) Is considered in need
			 of regular aid and attendance or permanently housebound under such title of the
			 code;
(e) Is a surviving spouse of
			 a veteran and considered by the veterans administration to be in need of
			 regular aid and attendance or permanently housebound or a surviving child of a
			 veteran and considered by the veterans administration to be permanently
			 incapable of self-support under Title 38 of the U.S.C.;
(f) Is a surviving spouse or surviving child
			 of a veteran and considered by the veterans administration to be entitled to
			 compensation for a service-connected death or pension benefits for a
			 nonservice-connected death under Title 38 of the U.S.C. and has a disability
			 considered permanent under section 221(i) of the Social Security Act.
			 "Entitled" as used in this definition refers to those veterans' surviving
			 spouses and children who are receiving the compensation or pension benefits
			 stated or have been approved for such payments, but are not receiving
			 them;
(g) Receives federally or
			 state-administered supplemental benefits under section 1616(a) of the Social
			 Security Act provided that the eligibility to receive the benefits is based
			 upon the disability or blindness criteria used under Title XVI of the Social
			 Security Act;
(h) Receives
			 disability retirement benefits from a governmental agency because of disability
			 considered permanent under section 221(i) of the Social Security Act;
(i) Received an annuity payment under section
			 (2)(a)(1)(iv) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and is determined to be
			 eligible to receive medicare by the railroad retirement board; or section
			 (2)(a)(1)(v) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and is determined to be
			 disabled based upon the criteria used under Title XVI of the Social Security
			 Act;
(j) Is a recipient of interim
			 assistance benefits pending the receipt of supplemental security income;
			 or
(k) Receives federally or state
			 administered supplemental benefits under section 212(a) of P.L. No. 93.66,
			 42 U.S.C.
			 1382, (12/2013).
(15) "Eligibility determination/benefit
			 calculation (ED/BC)" means the automated process of determining eligibility and
			 the level of benefits by the statewide automated eligibility system which is
			 based on data entered into the system.
(16) "Eligibility worker" means an employee
			 of the county agency responsible for determining eligibility for
			 SNAP.
(17) "Eligible foods" means:
(a) Any food or food product intended for
			 human consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, hot foods, hot food
			 products prepared for immediate consumption;
(b) Seeds and plants to grow foods for the
			 personal consumption of eligible assistance groups;
(c) Meals prepared and delivered by an
			 authorized meal delivery service;
(d) Meals served by a communal dining
			 facility for the elderly and their spouses, disabled recipients who receive
			 social security or supplemental security income (SSI) and their spouses, and to
			 homeless assistance groups;
(e)
			 Meals prepared and served by an authorized drug addict or alcoholic treatment
			 and rehabilitation center to narcotic addicts or alcoholics and their children
			 who live with them;
(f) Meals
			 prepared and served by a group living arrangement facility to residents who are
			 blind or disabled as defined in paragraphs (B) (15)(b) to (B) (15)(k) of this
			 rule;
(g) Meals prepared and served
			 by a shelter for battered individuals and children to its eligible
			 residents;
(h) Meals prepared and
			 served by an authorized public or private nonprofit establishment (e.g., soup
			 kitchen, temporary shelter), as determined by the county agency, which provides
			 meals on a regular basis to homeless persons; and
(i) Container deposit fee required to
			 purchase any food or food product contained in a returnable bottle, can or
			 other container, regardless of whether the fee is included in the shelf price
			 posted for the food or food product, as long as the amount does not exceed the
			 state's container deposit fee.
(18) "Employment and training (E&T)
			 component" means a work experience, education and training,
			  supervised job search, work-based learning or job retention program as
			 described in Chapter 5101:4-3 of the Administrative Code designed to help SNAP
			 recipients move promptly into unsubsidized employment.
(19) "Employment and training (E&T)
			  participant" means a SNAP
			 recipient who has been
			 referred to the SNAP E&T program and is either required to be work-registered according to
			 rule 5101:4-3-11 of the
			 Administrative Code or volunteers to participate.
(20) "Employment and training
			 (E&T) program" means a program operated by each county agency consisting of
			 case management and one or more E&T components.
(21) "Employment services" means the agency
			 responsible for work registration and job search activities.
(22) "Food and nutrition service (FNS)" means
			 the federal agency of the United States department of agriculture (USDA)
			 responsible for the overall administration of the SNAP program.
(23) "Guardian" means, an individual that is
			 granted authority by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised
			 Code, or a court of competent jurisdiction in another state, to exercise
			 parental rights over a child under the age of eighteen to the extent provided
			 in the court's order and subject to residual parental rights of the child's
			 parents.
(24) "Guardianship
			 payments" means a payment made to a person who becomes a legal guardian of a
			 child under the age of eighteen that can include:
(a) Kinship care payments which enables
			 children and families to remain connected to their family of origin;
			 or
(b) Subsidized guardianship
			 payments for foster care which enables children who cannot be adopted, and do
			 not live with relatives, to have a greater degree of permanency.
(25) "Group home" means a public
			 or private nonprofit residential setting that provides its residents with a
			 majority of their meals (over fifty per cent of their meals daily), has no more
			 than sixteen residents, and is certified by a public agency of the state of
			 Ohio under section 1616(e) of the Social Security Act, or under standards
			 determined by the secretary of the United States department of agriculture to
			 be comparable to standards implemented by appropriate state agencies under
			 section 1616(e) of the Social Security Act. In accordance with rule
			 5101:4-6-26 of the
			 Administrative Code to be eligible, for SNAP benefits, a resident of the group
			 home is to be blind or disabled as defined in paragraphs (B)(15)(b) to
			 (B)(15(k) of this rule.
(26) "Group
			 living arrangement" means the same as a group home.
(27) "Homeless individual" means an
			 individual who lacks a fixed and regular night time residence or an individual
			 whose primary night time residence is:
(a) A
			 supervised shelter designed to provide temporary accommodations (such as a
			 welfare hotel or congregate shelter);
(b) A halfway house or similar institution
			 that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be
			 institutionalized;
(c) A night time
			 residence which is a temporary accommodation for no more than ninety days from
			 the date the temporary accommodation began in the residence of another
			 individual; or
(d) A place not
			 designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for
			 human beings (a hallway, a bus station, a lobby or similar places).
(28) "Homeless meal provider"
			 means an authorized public or private establishment (e.g., soup kitchen,
			 temporary shelter), which provides meals on a regular basis to homeless
			 persons, as determined by the county agency.
(29) "Household" means a personal place of
			 residence where persons live together at the same common address. The persons
			 may or may not be related. Group homes and commercial establishments such as
			 hotels or boarding houses are not included in this definition of
			 household.
(30) "Income and
			 Eligibility Verification System (IEVS)" means a system of information
			 acquisition and exchange for purposes of income and eligibility verification
			 which meets the requirements of section 1137 of the Social Security
			 Act.
(31) "Interactive interview"
			 means the interview between the eligibility worker and the applicant to discuss
			 eligibility information to determine benefits. The interview may be conducted
			 face-to-face, by telephone or a home visit.
(32) "Internal revenue service (IRS)" means
			 the federal agency responsible for the administration of governmental income
			 from taxes, including collection of taxes and enforcement of tax
			 laws.
(33) "Kinship support
			 payments" means the payment that is received by caretakers for children in
			 accordance with rule
			 5101:2-42-18.2 of the
			 Administrative Code.
(34)
			 "Management evaluation (ME) review," means an analysis conducted to determine
			 if a county is administering and operating the SNAP program in accordance with
			 program requirements.
(35) "Minimum
			 benefit" means the lowest full monthly amount of SNAP that an eligible one or
			 two person assistance group may receive. By law, this amount is eight per cent
			 of the maximum allotment for an assistance group containing one member, rounded
			 to the nearest dollar.
(36)
			 "Non-assistance" means an assistance group that participates in the SNAP
			 program but at least one of its members does not receive public
			 assistance.
(37) "Ohio works first
			 (OWF)" means a program funded under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act. This
			 program was formerly referred to as the "TANF program" and the "ADC
			 program."
(38) "Ohio works first
			 (OWF) recipient" means any person who receives an OWF payment, in accordance
			 with paragraph (E) of rule
			 5101:1-23-01 of the
			 Administrative Code.
(39)
			 "Overpayment" means the amount by which benefits issued to an assistance group
			 exceed the amount the assistance group was eligible to receive.
(40) "Public assistance (PA)" means any of
			 the following programs authorized by the Social Security Act: old-age
			 assistance; TANF funded under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act; aid to the
			 blind; aid to the permanently and totally disabled; and aid to the aged, blind,
			 or disabled.
(41) "Quality control
			 (QC) review" means a review of a statistically valid sample of active and
			 negative cases to determine the extent to which households are receiving the
			 SNAP allotments to which they are entitled, and to determine the extent to
			 which decisions to deny, suspend or terminate cases are correct.
(42) "Retail food store" means an
			 establishment or recognized department of an establishment, or a house-to-house
			 trade route, whose eligible food sales volume as determined by visual
			 inspection, sales records, or other methods that are customary or reasonable in
			 the retail food industry, is more than fifty per cent staple food items for
			 home preparation and consumption; public or private communal dining facilities
			 and meal delivery services; private nonprofit drug addict or alcoholic
			 treatment and rehabilitation programs; publicly operated community mental
			 health centers for drug addicts and/or alcoholics; public or private nonprofit
			 group living arrangements; public or private nonprofit shelters for battered
			 women and children; public or private establishments approved by an appropriate
			 state or local agency that feeds homeless persons; any private nonprofit
			 cooperative food purchasing venture, including those whose members pay for food
			 prior to receipt of the food; and a farmer's market.
(43) "Shelter for battered individuals and
			 children" means a public or private nonprofit residential facility that serves
			 battered individuals and their children. When such a facility serves other
			 individuals, a portion of the facility must be set aside on a long-term basis
			 to serve only battered individuals and their children.
(44) "SNAP program" means a program designed
			 to promote general welfare and to safeguard the health and well-being of the
			 nation's population by raising the levels of nutrition among low-income
			 households.
(45) "Social security
			 administration (SSA)" means the federal agency responsible for the
			 administration of benefits for retirement, survivors', or disability
			 benefits.
(46) "Spouse" means:
(a) Those defined as married to each other
			 under applicable state law and those required to be recognized as married
			 pursuant to the United States supreme court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges,
			 576 U.S.,
			 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015); or
(b) Those who are living together and are
			 holding themselves out to the community as husband and wife by representing
			 themselves as such to relatives, friends, neighbors, or tradespeople. Since
			 October 10, 1991 Ohio has not recognized common law marriages so only couples
			 established as a common law marriage prior to October 10, 1991 fall under this
			 definition.
(47) "State
			 agency" means the Ohio department of job and family services, including the
			 local offices, that have the responsibility for the administration of the
			 federally aided public assistance programs within the state.
(48) "State data exchange (SDX)" means the
			 system used to verify supplemental security income (SSI) benefits.
(49) "Statewide automated eligibility system"
			 means the centralized automated system that supports all eighty-eight county
			 agencies.
(50) "Substantial lottery
			 or gambling winnings" means a cash prize won in a single game before taxes or
			 other withholdings are taken that is equal to or greater than the maximum
			 allowable financial resource limit for elderly or disabled households as
			 outlined in rule
			 5101:4-4-01 of the
			 Administrative Code. In Ohio this may include but is not limited to payouts
			 from casinos, racinos, slot machines, poker, and keno and other forms of
			 gambling. All assistance groups are subject to report lottery or gambling
			 winnings equal to or greater than the limit defined in rule
			 5101:4-4-01 of the
			 Administrative Code. Resource limits are reviewed and adjusted annually; a food
			 assistance transmittal letter is issued notifying the county agencies of the
			 updated amounts. Division 3770:1 of the Administrative Code describes the types
			 of lottery permitted in Ohio. Section
			 2915.01 of the Revised Code
			 defines gambling as permitted in Ohio. This is not limited to substantial
			 lottery or gambling winnings won only in Ohio.
(51) "Supplemental security income (SSI)"
			 means cash payments made under the authority of Title XVI of the Social
			 Security Act, to the aged, blind, and disabled; or section 1616(a) of the
			 Social Security Act.
(52)
			 "Supplemental security income (SSI) recipient" means a person who receives SSI
			 payments, whose entire SSI grant is being recouped, whose SSI case is in
			 suspended status, or whose SSI has been authorized but payment has yet to be
			 received.
(53) "Systematic alien
			 verification for entitlements (SAVE)" means the U.S. citizenship and
			 immigration services (USCIS) whereby county agencies may verify the validity of
			 documents provided by aliens applying for SNAP benefits by obtaining
			 information from a central data file.
(54) "Temporary assistance for needy families
			 (TANF)" means a program funded under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act.
			 This is the title used in federal legislation and regulations. Ohio has adopted
			 the title "Ohio works first (OWF)" for its Title IV-A cash assistance program
			 and the "prevention, retention, and contingency program (PRC)" for its benefits
			 and services program.
(55) "Thrifty
			 food plan" means the diet required to feed a family of four persons consisting
			 of a man and a woman ages twenty through fifty, a child ages six through eight,
			 and a child ages nine through eleven determined in accordance with the
			 secretary of agriculture's calculations. The cost of such diet shall be the
			 basis for uniform allotments for all assistance groups regardless of their
			 actual composition. In order to develop maximum SNAP allotments, the secretary
			 of agriculture shall make assistance group size and other adjustments in the
			 thrifty food plan taking into account economies of scale and other adjustments
			 as required by law.
(56) "U.S.
			 citizenship and immigration service (USCIS)" (formerly known as the immigration
			 and naturalization service) is an agency under the department of homeland
			 security.
(57) "United States
			 department of agriculture (USDA)" means the federal agency responsible for
			 overseeing the SNAP program.
(58)
			 "Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)" means the legislation
			 providing funding for job training, adult education, education for youths,
			 employment for dislocated workers, and vocational rehabilitation. This
			 legislation was formerly administered by the Workforce Investment Act of
			 1998.
(59) "Work program" means:
(a) A program under the Workforce Innovation
			 and Opportunity Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No. 113-128);
(b) A program under section 236 of the Trade
			 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
			 2296) (7/2014); and
(c) A program of employment and training
			 operated or supervised by a state or political subdivision of a state that
			 meets standards approved by the governor of the state, including a program
			 under section 6 (d)(4) of the Food and Nutrition Act.
(d) A program of employment and training for
			 veterans operated by the department of labor or the department of veterans
			 affairs, and approved by the United States department of agriculture (USDA)
			 food and nutrition service (FNS).