FOOD STAMPS. Feel free to ask Eligibility Worker any questio

Boni

Sun, Sep 02 2012, 3:29 pm

Reading all the topics about Food Stamps with a lot of wrong advises and unnecessary worries, I found out that I could help people in the community since I am an Eligibility FS Worker in CA. So, please feel free to ask me any question about Food Stamps eligibility,

Last edited by Boni on Thu, Oct 25 2012, 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Sun, Sep 02 2012, 6:35 pm

Thanks, Boni! I am the one who started a different recent thread about this where you answered a lot of my questions! The one thing I'm still wondering (for now) is why did I get so much less than what the online 'calculators' predicted I could get. My income is close to zero and my rent is high, so why didn't we get the max? Does it pay to try to appeal it or should I just stay quiet, stay out of trouble, and accept what we got which is technically enough to live on but with more we could 1. live more easily, and 2. have more left over for those difficult transition months when we don't qualify for more but don't make enough on our own yet. Any advice?

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 2:14 am

@amother 1. Food Stamps is federal program, so the rules are pretty much the same except some state waivers mostly about sponsored green card holders' eligibility.

@amother 2. What did you mean your income close to $0? How many members in your household and what kind of income do you have? Different income treated differently by the system. It's really matter if you receive regular earned income, self-employed income or unearned income. For example, household receiving self-employed income of $1000/m gets much more FS than the same household with regular earned income of $1000/m, If you have $1000/m unearned income such as unemployment benefits, social security benefits, child support,ect, you will get less benefits than with the same $1000/m earned income and of course much much less than the same household with $1000/m self-employed income. So it's either you did wrong entries of your income when you did online calculation or your worker, that is possible. Also if two households with the same amount of members and same income reported different expenses they get different FS amounts. For example if your rent is $1000/m including utilities you will get much less FS than if your rent was $450 and electricity bill $30, because there are standart deductions for rent and utilities. If you are concerned about your benefits amount, you definitely should call your worker or even your worker's supervisor to clarify the situation. Workers do mistakes, and I've seen cases when one call to Supervisor did a big difference.

Last edited by Boni on Thu, Oct 25 2012, 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 12:08 pm

I'm the second amother. My income is close to zero because I am usually self employed but had to stop working for about half a year due to pregnancy complications. So the only income we have until I can get back to work after having the baby is DH's kollel check, I don't get any unemployment because I was self employed in the first place. Our rent is a little more than twice as much what DH gets, but includes all utilities. 3 household members. I even tried adding in an extra $1000 into the calculator website because maybe it was still looking back at the last earnings I got from when I was working, because I had to report the last three months instead of one month due to being self employed, and even though I explained that the last payments were really a late payment for work I'd done even before then I added some into the calculator and it still says I could theoretically be getting about $100 more. And that's IF I were earning an extra $1000 a month, which I'm not, at least not anymore and not for the next several months. But if that's what they're counting on, that extra income that showed up on my bank statement (which was money a client owed me since FEBRUARY. And I brought the invoices to prove it) I don't know how to get past that. Can you have your FS raised in between recertifications if your income drops further during that time? It's so annoying, I'm used to medicaid which has always taken my yearly tax return and averaged it over 12 months which makes it quite obvious that I qualify, unlike this month by month examination where it could look like I'm raking it in just because three people paid me all at once even thought the previous four months I made nothing waiting for them.

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 2:00 pm

@amother 2. There are couple problems on your case: first of all, they look at the check date or issue date on the check, doesn't matter when you earned the money, matter when the money become available to you, so in your case if bank account is the only income verif, I would wait a month until no more deposits from your customers show up and when submit that bank statement with a self declaration letter that you are no longer working since you have to take care of your newborn child. Another problem, that your utilities included in your rent, and I am not sure how they enter your husband's check as earned income or unearned (as a stapend) if he is teaching you may want to bring a letter from kolel so they will enter his income as earned.

@tb. bring school financial aid award letter and if it says direct loan they won't count it

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 2:14 pm

amother wrote:

are you allowed to claim tuition as an expense for food stamps?

No, only child care or after school care if both parents working or looking for work
You can claim College tuition and other school expenses like books, transportation, ... only if you are living off the student loans.

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 4:15 pm

busydev wrote:

Are assets part of the food stamp eligibility tests? if yes then how much money would be to much in my bank account? Is this the same across the US?

Resources are exempt in most states, though the dividents are counted as unearned income. I recommend to call FS hotline at your state/county to find out it first. In my county, in CA, we do quick eligibility screening over the phone if someone calls with question.

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 4:22 pm

MiamiMommy wrote:

Will I stop getting food stamps when my ex starts paying child support (iyh)? Is that income?

It's unearned income and it will be counted. Your benefits will be recalculated and if your total income is over the income limit for Household of your size, than Yes you will stop receiving it.

busydev

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 4:34 pm

Boni wrote:

busydev wrote:

Are assets part of the food stamp eligibility tests? if yes then how much money would be to much in my bank account? Is this the same across the US?

Thanks! It is really nice of you to do this.

amother

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 6:52 pm

I just recertified for FS in NY and was NOT APPROVED.
The reasoning was that I make 126$ over the gross countable monthly income.They also wrote that they do not count expenses for heat and air conditioning, because I do not pay for it separately. I DO pay for it and sent in my Con Ed bill for proof.
I called a case worker at my local JCC, and she said that heat and a/c has nothing to do with it and its irrelevant. If I'm over income then I'm no longer eligible.
I see that in the other thread you wrote that there's a $320 deduction. Based on this, does that mean that I'm currently eligible for FS?
Should I ask for a fair hearing or is it easier to just reapply?
Thanks!

Boni

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 7:45 pm

amother wrote:

You have to pass the gross income test first and then the system will take care of your expenses. If your monthly gross income is over the income limit, than expenses are irrelevant.

amother

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 7:49 pm

Boni wrote:

amother wrote:

You have to pass the gross income test first and then the system will take care of your expenses. If your monthly gross income is over the income limit, than expenses are irrelevant.

Thnak you for the quick response!