| (a) Eligibility for program assistance is determined
under the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines and calculated as described
herein (in some Programs certain forms of income may qualify the Household
as Categorically Eligible for assistance; however, Categorical Eligibility
does not determine the level of benefit, which is determined through
the Income Determination process).
(b) Income means cash receipts earned and/or received
by all Household members 18 years of age and older before taxes during
applicable tax year(s), but not the excluded income listed in subsection
(d) of this section. Income is to be based on the Gross Annual Income.
(c) Exceptions to the use of Gross Annual Income are
forms of income:
(1) From non-farm or farm self-employment net receipts
must be used (i.e., receipts from a person's own business or from
an owned or rented farm after deductions for business or farm expenses);
and
(2) From gambling or lottery winnings net income must
be used.
(d) If an income source is not excluded in this subsection,
it must be included when determining income eligibility. Excluded
Income:
(1) Capital gains;
(2) Any assets drawn down as withdrawals from a bank;
(3) Balance of funds in a checking or savings account;
(4) Any amounts in an "individual development account"
as provided by the Assets for Independence Act, as amended in 2002
(Pub. L. 107-110, 42 U.S.C. 604(h)(4));
(5) Proceeds from the sale of property, a house, or
a car;
(6) One-time payments from a welfare agency to a family
or person who is in temporary financial difficulty;
(7) Tax refunds, Earned Income Tax Credit refunds,
the economic impact payments from the Internal Revenue Service under
section 103 of the American Taxpayer Act;
(8) Jury duty compensation;
(9) Gifts, loans, and lump-sum inheritances;
(10) One-time insurance payments, or compensation for
injury;
(11) Non-cash benefits, such as the employer-paid or
union-paid portion of health insurance or other employee fringe benefits;
(12) Reimbursements (for mileage, gas, lodging, meals,
etc.);
(13) Employee fringe benefits such as food or housing
received in lieu of wages;
(14) The value of food and fuel produced and consumed
on farms;
(15) The imputed value of rent from owner-occupied
non-farm or farm housing;
(16) Federal non-cash benefit programs such as Medicare,
Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Women,
Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC); school
lunches; and housing assistance (Medicare deduction from Social Security
Administration benefits should not be counted as income);
(17) Combat zone pay to the military;
(18) College scholarships, Pell and other grant sources,
assistantships, fellowships and work study, VA Education Benefits
(GI Bill), Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance programs (20
U.S.C. 1087uu);
(19) Child support payments received by the payee (amount
paid by payor is included income);
(20) Income of Household members under 18 years of
age including payment to Children under the age of 18 made payable
to a person over the age of 18;
(21) Stipends from senior companion programs, such
as Retired Senior Volunteer Program and Foster Grandparents Program;
(22) AmeriCorps Program payments, allowances, earnings,
and in-kind aid;
(23) Depreciation for farm or business assets;
(24) Reverse mortgages;
(25) Payments for care of Foster Children. This includes
payments to a host Household for individuals in Extended Foster Care;
(26) Payments or allowances made under the Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program (42 U.S.C. 8624(f));
(27) Any amount of crime victim compensation (under
the Victims of Crime Act) received through crime victim assistance
(or payment or reimbursement of the cost of such assistance) as determined
under the Victims of Crime Act because of the commission of a crime
against the applicant under the Victims of Crime Act (42 U.S.C. 10602(c));
(28) Major disaster and emergency assistance received
by individuals and families under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (93, as amended) and comparable
disaster assistance provided by States, local governments, and disaster
assistance organizations (42 U.S.C. 5155(d));
(29) Allowances, earnings, and payments to individuals
participating in programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (29 U.S.C. 3101));
(30) Payments received from programs funded under Title
V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056(g));
(31) The value of any child care provided or arranged
(or any amount received as payment for such care or reimbursement
for costs incurred for such care) under the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858(q));
(32) Certain payments received under the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1626(c));
(33) Income derived from certain submarginal land of
the United States that is held in trust for certain Indian tribes
(25 U.S.C. 459(e));
(34) Income derived from the disposition of funds to
the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians (94, §6);
(35) The first $2,000 of per capita shares received
from judgment funds awarded by the National Indian Gaming Commission
or the U.S. Claims Court, the interests of individual Indians in trust
or restricted lands, and the first $2000 per year of income received
by individual Indians from funds derived from interests held in such
trust or restricted lands (25 U.S.C. 1407 - 1408). This exclusion
does not include proceeds of gaming operations regulated by the Commission;
(36) Payments received on or after January 1, 1989,
from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund (101) or any other fund established
pursuant to the settlement in In Re Agent Orange Liability Litigation,
M.D.L. No. 381 (E.D.N.Y.);
(37) Payments received under the Maine Indian Claims
Settlement Act of 1980 (96, 25 U.S.C. 1728);
(38) Payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the
Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache
Tribe of Mescalero Reservation (95);
(39) Any allowance paid under the provisions of 38
U.S.C. 1833(c) to children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida
(38 U.S.C. 1802 - 05), children of women Vietnam veterans born with
certain birth defects (38 U.S.C. 1811 - 16), and children of certain
Korean service veterans born with spina bifida (38 U.S.C. 1821);
(40) Payments, funds, or distributions authorized,
established, or directed by the Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990
(25 U.S.C. 1774f(b));
(41) Payments from any deferred U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs disability benefits that are received in a lump sum
amount or in prospective monthly amounts (42 U.S.C. §1437a(b)(4));
(42) A lump sum or a periodic payment received by an
individual Indian pursuant to the Class Action Settlement Agreement
in the case entitled Elouise Cobell et al. v. Ken Salazar et al.,
816 F.Supp.2d 10 (Oct. 5, 2011 D.D.C.), for a period of one year from
the time of receipt of that payment as provided in the Claims Resolution
Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-291);
(43) Per capita payments made from the proceeds of
Indian Tribal Trust Cases as described in PIH Notice 2013-30 "Exclusion
from Income of Payments under Recent Tribal Trust Settlements" (25
U.S.C. 117b(a));
(44) Payments of up to $100,000 a year from an account
established under the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014
or the ABLE Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-295) to a qualified beneficiary
that are expended on qualified disability expenses;
(45) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (LIHWAP
only), and
(46) Any other items which are excluded by virtue of
federal or state legislation or by adopted federal regulations that
have taken effect. The Department will, from time to time, provide
on its website updated links to such federal or state exclusions.
Notwithstanding such information, a Subrecipient may rely on any adopted
federal or state exclusion on and after the date on which it took
effect.
(e) The requirements for determining whether an applicant
Household is eligible for assistance require the Subrecipient to annualize
the Household income based on verifiable documentation of income,
within 30 days of the application date.
(f) The Subrecipient must document all sources of income,
including excluded income, for 30 days prior to the date of application,
for all household members 18 years of age or older.
(g) Identify all income sources, not on the excluded
list, for income calculation.
(1) The Subrecipient must calculate projected annual
income by annualizing current income. Income that may not last for
a full 12 months should be calculated assuming current circumstances
will last a full 12 months, unless it can be documented that employment
is less than 12 months/year and pay is not prorated over the entire
12 month period. For incomes not able to be annualized over a 12 month
period, the income shall be calculated on the total annual earning
period (e.g., for a teacher paid only nine months a year, the annual
income should be the income earned during those nine months). In limited
cases where income is not paid hourly, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly
nor monthly, the Subrecipient may contact the Department to determine
an alternate calculation method in unique circumstances on a case-by-case
basis.
(2) For all customers including those with categorical
eligibility, the Subrecipient must collect verifiable documentation
of Household income received in the 30 days prior to the date of application.
(3) Once all sources of income are known, Subrecipient
must convert reported income to an annual figure. (One-time employment
income should be added to the total after the income has been annualized.)
Convert periodic wages to annual income by multiplying:
(A) Hourly wages by the number of hours worked per
year (2,080 hours for full-time employment with a 40-hour week and
no overtime);
(B) Weekly wages by 52;
(C) Bi-weekly wages (paid every other week) by 26;
(D) Semi-monthly wages (paid twice each month) by 24;
and
(E) Monthly wages by 12.
(h) If a federal or state requirement provides an updated
definition of income or method for calculating income, the Department
will provide written notice to Subrecipients about the implementation
date for the new requirements.
(i) If proof of income is unobtainable, the applicant
must complete and sign a Declaration of Income Statement (DIS).
(j) For CSBG, LIHEAP, and LIHWAP, a live in aide or
attendant is not considered part of the Household for purposes of
determining Household income, but is considered for a benefit based
on the size of the Household. Example: A Household applies for assistance.
There are four people in the Household. One of the four people is
a live-in aide. To determine if the Household is qualified, annualize
the income of the other three Household members and compare it to
the three person income limit. However, if the amount of benefit is
based on Household size (such as benefit level based on the number
of people in the Household), then this is a four person Household.
(k) A Subrecipient shall not discourage anyone from
applying for assistance. Subrecipient shall provide all potential
customers with an opportunity to apply for programs.
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