[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 7, Volume 4]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 7CFR253.6]



[Page 523-528]

 

                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE

 

    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 

PART 253_ADMINISTRATION OF THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM FOR HOUSEHOLDS 

ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS--Table of Contents

 

Sec. 253.6  Eligibility of households.



    (a) Household concept. (1) The State agency shall determine 

eligibility for the Food Distribution Program on a household basis. 

Household means any of the following individuals or groups of 

individuals, provided that such individuals or groups are not boarders 

or residents of an institution and provided that separate household or 

boarder status shall not be granted to a spouse of a member of the 

household, or to children under 18 years of age under the parental 

control of a member of the household.

    (i) An individual living alone.

    (ii) An individual living with others, but customarily purchasing 

food and preparing meals for home consumption separate and apart from 

the others.

    (iii) A group of individuals living together for whom food is 

customarily purchased in common and for whom meals are prepared together 

for home consumption.



[[Page 524]]



    (2) Nonhousehold members. The following individuals residing with a 

household shall not be considered household members in determining the 

household's eligibility. Nonhousehold members specified in paragraphs 

(a)(2) (i) and (v) who are otherwise eligible may participate in the 

Program as separate households.

    (i) Roomers. Individuals to whom a household furnishes lodging, but 

not meals, for compensation.

    (ii) SSI recipients in ``cash-out'' States. Recipients of SSI 

benefits who reside in a State designated by the Secretary of Health, 

Education, and Welfare to have specifically included the value of the 

coupon allotment in its State supplemental payments. These persons are 

not eligible for Food Distribution Program benefits.

    (iii) Disqualified individuals. Individuals disqualified from the 

Food Stamp Program for fraud, as set forth in Sec. 273.16.

    (iv) Illegal residents. Individuals who are not legal residents of 

the United States. While U.S. citizenship is not required for 

participation in the Food Distribution Program, persons receiving food 

distribution benefits must be lawfully living in the United States.

    (v) Others. Other individuals who share living quarters with the 

household but who do not customarily purchase food and prepare meals 

with the household. For example, if the applicant household shares 

living quarters with another family to save on rent, but does not 

purchase and prepare food together with that family, the members of the 

other family are not members of the applicant household.

    (3) Authorized representatives. The head of the household, spouse, 

or any other responsible member of the household may designate an 

authorized representative to act on behalf of the household in making 

application for commodities and/or obtaining commodities as provided in 

Sec. 253.7(a)(10)(i) and Sec. 253.7(a)(10)(ii) respectively.

    (b) Residency or citizenship. (1) All households residing on a 

reservation on which the FDPIR operates shall be eligible to apply for 

program benefits on that reservation regardless of whether they include 

an Indian member. All Indian tribal households as defined in Sec. 

253.2(c) of this part which reside in near areas established under Sec. 

253.4(d) of this part shall be eligible to apply for program benefits. 

The ITO or State agency shall serve all income-eligible applicant 

households residing on reservations who apply for benefits, and all 

income-eligible applicant Indian tribal households residing in near 

areas. The ITO or State agency administering the program in a near area 

shall, for purposes of determining program eligibility, accept 

documentation from a household member's tribe of origin as proof of 

tribal membership. Residency shall not mean domicile nor shall the State 

agency impose any durational residency requirement. However, persons on 

the reservation solely for vacations shall not be considered residents. 

No household may participate in the Food Stamp Program or in the Food 

Distribution Program in more than one geographical area at the same 

time.

    (2) No person shall participate in the Food Distribution Program on 

an Indian reservation unless the person is legally a resident of the 

United States. A further discussion of ``legal residency'' is provided 

in paragraph (a)(2)(iv) of this section.

    (c) Income and resource eligibility standards of public assistance, 

supplemental security income, and certain general assistance households. 

(1) Households in which all members are included in a federally aided 

public assistance or supplemental security income grant, except as 

provided for in paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, shall, if 

otherwise eligible under this part, be determined to be eligible to 

participate in the Food Distribution Program while receiving such grants 

without regard to the income and resources of the household members.

    (2) If FNS determines that a State or local general assistance 

program applies criteria of need the same as or similar to, those 

applied under any of the federally aided public assistance programs, 

households in which all members are included in such a general 

assistance grant, shall, if otherwise eligible under this part, be 

determined to be eligible to participate in the Food Distribution 

Program while receiving



[[Page 525]]



such grants without regard to the income and resources of household 

members.

    (d) Resource eligibility standards--(1) Uniform household standards 

for nonassistance households. The State agency shall apply uniform 

national resource standards of eligibility to all applicant households, 

except those in which all members are recipients of federally aided 

public assistance, supplemental security income, or certain general 

assistance program benefits as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this 

section. The maximum allowable resources shall not exceed $1,750 for the 

household; except that, for households of two or more members which 

include a member or members age 60 or over, such resources shall not 

exceed $3,000.

    (2) Resources. In determining the resources of a household, only 

cash on hand, money in checking or savings accounts, savings 

certificates, stocks, or bonds, or other readily negotiable and 

accessible certificates or instruments shall be counted; except that the 

following resources shall be entirely excluded:

    (i) The cash value of life insurance policies and pension funds, 

including funds in pension plans with interest penalties for early 

withdrawals, such as a Keogh plan or an Individual Retirement Account 

(IRA), as long as the funds remain in the pension plans.

    (ii) Any governmental payments which are designated for the 

restoration of a home damaged in a disaster, if the household is subject 

to a legal sanction if the funds are not used as intended, for example 

payments made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through 

the individual and family grant program of disaster loans or grants made 

by the Small Business Administration.

    (iii) Resources, such as those of students or self-employed persons, 

which have been prorated as income. The treatment of self-employment 

income is explained in Sec. 253.7(b)(1)(iii).

    (iv) Resources which are excluded by express provision of Federal 

statute. The following is the current listing of resources excluded by 

Federal statute:

    (A) Payment received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

(Pub. L. 92-203, section 21(a) or the Sac and Fox Indian claims 

agreement Pub. L. 94-189);

    (B) Payments received by certain Indian tribal members under Pub. L. 

94-114, section 6, regarding submarginal land held in trust by the 

United States;

    (C) Payments received by certain Indian tribal members under Pub. L. 

94-540 regarding the Grand River Bank of Ottawa Indians;

    (D) Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real 

Property Acquistion Policy Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-646, section 216);

    (E) Earned income tax credits received before January 1, 1980, as a 

result of Pub. L. 95-600, the Revenue Act of 1978.

    (3) Jointly owned resources. Resources owned jointly by separate 

households shall be prorated between or among those households unless 

the applicant can demonstrate that such resources are inaccessible to it 

because access to the value of the resource is dependent upon the 

agreement of a joint owner who refuses to comply.

    (4) Resources of disqualified members. Resources of individuals 

disqualified from participation in the Food Stamp Program for fraud 

shall continue to count in their entirety to the remaining household 

members when determining the household's eligibility for the Food 

Distribution Program.

    (e) Income--(1) Income eligibility standards for nonassistance 

households. (i) The State agency shall apply uniform national income 

eligibility standards for the Food Distribution Program except for 

households in which all members are recipients of public assistance, 

supplemental security income except as provided for in paragraph 

(a)(2)(ii) of this section, paragraph (c) of this section, or certain 

general assistance program payments as provided in Sec. 283.6(c). The 

income eligibility standards shall be the monthly income eligibility 

standards for the Food Stamp Program in the State, increased by the 

amount of the standard deduction for that State, as published in the 

appendix to Sec. 273.9.

    (ii) The income eligibility standards for the Food Distribution 

Program shall be adjusted each October 1, as necessary, to reflect 

changes in the



[[Page 526]]



Food Stamp Program income eligibility limits and standard deductions.

    (2) Definition of income. Household income shall mean all income 

from whatever source, excluding only items specified in paragraph (e)(3) 

of this section.

    (i) Earned income shall include:

    (A) All wages and salaries of an employee.

    (B) The total gross income from a self-employment enterprise, 

including the net profit from the sale of any capital goods or equipment 

related to the business. Ownership of rental property shall be 

considered a self-employment enterprise. Payments from a roomer and 

returns on rental property shall be considered self-employment income.

    (C) Training allowances from vocational and rehabilitative programs 

recognized by Federal, State or local governments, such as the Work 

Incentive Program, and programs authorized by the Job Training 

Partnership Act, to the extent they are not a reimbursement.

    (ii) Unearned income shall include, but not be limited to:

    (A) Assistance payments from Federal or Federally aided public 

assistance programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), General Assistance (GA) 

programs, or other assistance programs based on need.

    (B) Annuities; pensions; retirement; veteran's or disability 

benefits; worker's or unemployment compensation; old-age, survivors, or 

social security benefits; strike benefits; foster care payments for 

children or adults.

    (C) Support or alimony payments made directly to the household from 

nonhousehold members.

    (D) Scholarships, education grants, fellowships, deferred payment 

loans for education, veteran's education benefit and the like in excess 

of amounts excluded under paragraph (e)(3)(iii) of this section.

    (E) Payments from Government-sponsored programs, dividends, 

interest, royalties, and all other direct money payments from any source 

which can be construed to be a gain or benefit.

    (F) The earned or unearned income of an individual disqualified from 

participation in the Food Stamp Program for fraud shall continue to be 

counted as income, less the pro rata share for the disqualified member. 

Procedures for calculating this pro rata share are described in Sec. 

253.7.

    (iii) Income shall not include the following:

    (A) Monies withheld from an assistance payment, earned income or 

other income source, or monies received from any income source which are 

voluntarily or involuntarily returned to repay a prior overpayment 

received from that income source.

    (B) Child support payments received by TANF recipients which must be 

transferred to the agency administering title IV-D of the Social 

Security Act of 1935, as amended, to maintain TANF eligibility.

    (3) Income exclusions. Only the following items shall be excluded 

from household income and no other income shall be disregarded:

    (i) Any gain or benefit which is not in the form of money payable 

directly to the household, including:

    (A) In-kind income. Nonmonetary or in-kind benefits, such as meals, 

clothing, public housing, or produce from a garden.

    (B) Vendor payments. A payment made in money on behalf of a 

household shall be considered a vendor payment whenever a person or 

organization outside of the household uses its own funds to make a 

direct payment to either the household's creditors or a person or 

organization providing a service to the household. For example, if a 

relative, who is not a household member, pays out of its own resources 

the household's rent directly to the landlord, the payment is considered 

a vendor payment and is not counted as income to the household. Also, 

payments specified by a court order or other written support or alimony 

agreement to go directly to a third party rather than the household and 

support payments which are paid to a third party are excluded as vendor 

payments. Wages garnished or diverted by employers, or money deducted or 

otherwise diverted from a household's public assistance grant by a State 

for purposes such as managing the household's expenses, shall not be 

considered



[[Page 527]]



a vendor payment, since the person or organization making the payment is 

using money payable to the household rather than its own funds.

    (ii) Any income in the certification period which is received too 

infrequently or irregularly to be reasonably anticipated, but not in 

excess of $30 in a quarter.

    (iii) Education loans on which payment is deferred, grants 

scholarships, fellowships, veterans' educational benefits, and the like 

to the extent that they are used for tuition and mandatory school fees. 

Mandatory fees are those charged to all students or those charged to all 

students within a certain curriculum. For example, uniforms, lab fees, 

or equipment charged to all students to enroll in a chemistry course 

would be excluded. However, transportation, supplies, and textbook 

expenses are not uniformly charged to all students and, therefore, would 

not be excluded as mandatory fees.

    (iv) All loans, including loans from private individuals as well as 

commercial institutions, other than education loans on which repayment 

is deferred.

    (v) Reimbursements for past or future expenses to the extent they do 

not exceed actual expenses. For example, reimbursements of flat 

allowances for job or training related expenses such as travel per diem, 

uniforms, and transportation to and from the job or training site are 

excluded as income.

    (vi) Monies received and used for care and maintenance of a third 

party beneficiary who is not a household member.

    (vii) The earned income (as defined in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this 

section) of children who are members of the household, who are students 

at least half time and who have not attained their eighteenth birthday. 

The exclusion shall continue to apply during temporary interruptions in 

school attendance due to semester or vaction breaks, provided the 

child's enrollment will resume following the break. Individuals are 

considered children for purposes of this provision if they are under the 

parental control of another household member.

    (viii) Money received in the form of a nonrecurring lump sum 

payment, including but not limited to, income tax refunds, rebates, or 

credits; retroactive lump-sum social security, SSI, public assistance, 

railroad retirement benefits or other payments, or retroactive lump-sum 

insurance settlements; refunds of security deposits on rental properties 

or utilities or lump-sum payments arising from land interests held in 

trust for, or by, a tribe. These payments shall be counted as resources 

in the month received unless specifically excluded from consideration as 

a resource by other Federal law.

    (ix) The cost of producing self-employment income. The procedures 

for computing the cost of producing self-employment income are described 

in Sec. 253.7(b)(1)(iii).

    (x) Any income that is specifically excluded by any other Federal 

statute from consideration as income. The following Federal statutes 

provide such an exclusion.

    (A) Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real 

Property Acquisition Policy Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-646, section 216).

    (B) Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

(Pub. L. 92-203, section 21(a)).

    (C) Any payment to volunteers under Title II (RSVP, foster 

grandparents, and others) and title III (SCORE and ACE) of the Domestic 

Volunteer Services Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-113), as amended. Payments 

under title I (VISTA) to volunteers shall be excluded for those 

individuals receiving federally donated commodities, food stamps, or 

public assistance at the time they joined the title I program, except 

that households which are receiving an income exclusion for a VISTA or 

other title I subsistence allowance at the time of implementation of 

these rules shall continue to receive an income exclusion for VISTA for 

the length of their volunteer contract in effect at the time of 

implementation of these rules. Temporary interruptions in food 

distribution shall not alter the exclusion once an initial determination 

has been made. New applicants who are not receiving federally donated 

commodities, food stamps or public assistance at the time they joined 

VISTA shall have these volunteer payments included as earned income.

    (D) Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United 

States



[[Page 528]]



which is held in trust for certain Indian tribes (Pub. L. 94-114, 

section 6).

    (E) Payments received by certain Indian tribal members under Pub. L. 

94-540 regarding the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians.

    (f) Income deductions. (1) Households with earned income, as defined 

in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, shall be allowed a deduction of 

twenty percent of their earned income. Earned income excluded under 

paragraph (e)(3) of this section shall not be considered earned income 

for the purpose of computing this deduction.

    (2) Households shall also receive a deduction for the actual costs 

for the care of a child or other dependent when necessary for a 

household member to accept or continue employment or attend training or 

pursue education which is preparatory to employment. This deduction 

shall not exceed the maximum allowable deduction for dependent care 

costs allowable under the Food Stamp Program in the 48 States and the 

District of Columbia.

    (3) Households will receive a deduction for legally required child 

support payments paid by a household member to or for a nonhousehold 

member, including payments made to a third party on behalf of the 

nonhousehold member (vendor payments). The State agency must allow a 

deduction for amounts paid towards overdue child support (arrearages). 

Alimony payments made to or for a nonhousehold member cannot be included 

in the child support deduction.

    (4) Households will receive a deduction for the full amount of the 

Medicare Part B medical insurance premium that is withheld from the 

Federal retirement or disability payment of a household member or is 

paid by a household member directly to Medicare. This income deduction 

is not allowed in situations where the premium is paid by the State on 

behalf of the Medicare beneficiary or where household members are not 

Medicare beneficiaries because they receive their health care through 

the Indian Health Service.



[44 FR 35928, June 19, 1979. Redesignated by Amdt. 1, 47 FR 14137, Apr. 

2, 1982, and amended at 59 FR 1449, Jan. 11, 1994; 64 FR 73383, Dec. 30, 

1999; 65 FR 47833, Aug. 4, 2000]