Food Stamp Household Rule Clarified
July 1, 2006
Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate)| Louise M. Tarantino
USDA's Food & Nutrition Service recently clarified that disabled individuals who live with others but cannot purchase and prepare their food separately due to their disability CAN establish separate household status for food stamp purposes without applying the 165% of poverty income rule. Under that rule, elderly and disabled individuals whose meals are purchased and prepared together with those with whom they live can be treated as separate households only if the income of those with whom they reside is no more than 165% of the Federal poverty income guideline. 7 C.F.R. §273.1(a)(3).
According to Cathy Roberts, Food Stamp Specialist at the Nutrition Consortium of NYS, under the new clarification, as long as a disabled individual’s food is purchased and prepared separately from the individuals s/he live with - regardless of who purchases and prepares it separately - the disabled person can claim separate household status.
See http://www.fns.usda.gov, as well as Empire Justice Center’s on-line resource center for a copy of the FNS memo.
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