SR 11-18 Dated 01/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases clarifications to Food Stamp Manual (FSM) 239.01, Student Eligibility, to incorporate the policy clarification released in the Director’s Memo dated January 28, 2010, subject line, Averaging Food Stamp Hours for Food Stamp Eligibility. A waiver from Food and Nutrition Service allows students in higher education to be eligible for Food Stamp benefits if all other Food Stamp Program criteria are met and the student is employed for pay for a minimum of 80 hours averaged over a four-week period. Previously, students in higher education were required to meet a 20-hour per week minimum to be eligible for Food Stamp benefits, which caused some students with fluctuating work hours to be ineligible for benefits despite the student having met all other program criteria.

POLICY

If all other Food Stamp Program requirements are met, students in higher education are eligible for Food Stamp benefits if employed for pay for a minimum of 80 hours over a four-week period. This allows students in higher education with fluctuating schedules to still meet Food Stamp Program student work eligibility requirements. Self-employed students in higher education must have gross earnings of at least 80 times the federal minimum wage over a four-week period as a condition of eligibility for Food Stamp benefits.

NEW HEIGHTS SYSTEMS AND DISTRICT OFFICE PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

No changes in New Heights were required to average fluctuating work hours for students in higher education who are employed for pay and applying for Food Stamp benefits. However, New HEIGHTS is not designed to average fluctuating work hours for self-employed students in higher education. The Family Service Specialist (FSS) must manually determine whether the self-employed student meets the criteria in this SR, and then enter the information on the "Self-employment" screen in New HEIGHTS as follows, to ensure policy is applied correctly:

1. Add up the student’s total gross self-employment income over the four-week period and divide it by the federal minimum wage.

2. Divide the resulting figure in Step 1 above by 4.

3. Multiply the resulting figure in Step 2 above by 4.33 and enter this "monthly" hourly figure on the "Self-employment" screen for the hours worked by the self-employed student.

If the figure entered in Step 3 above is equal to or more than 86.6, and all other Food Stamp Program eligibility criteria are met, New Heights will then open the self-employed student for Food Stamp benefits.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Food Stamp Manual Topic

Section 239.01   Student Eligibility

IMPLEMENTATION

The policy clarifications released in this SR are effective upon release.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

No special client notification is needed or planned.

TRAINING

A Director’s Memo dated January 28, 2010, subject line, Averaging Food Stamp Hours for Food Stamp Eligibility, was provided to all Family Services Specialists. No other training is planned or needed.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at www.dhhs.nh.gov/DFA/publications.htm, effective October 31, 2011. Additionally, this SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all internal hard copy holders of the Food Stamp Manual.

DFA/LRB:s