Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) A household may be composed of any of the
following individuals or groups of individuals:
1. Individual living alone;
2. An individual living with others, but who
customarily purchases food and prepares meals for home consumption separate and
apart from others.
i. Any person who has a
disability that prevents him or her from purchasing or preparing his or her own
food, but who has arranged to have his or her food purchased and prepared
separate and apart from others in the household, may claim separate household
status. Separate household status may be granted even if the person who shops
for food or prepares meals for the disabled person is residing with the
disabled person;
3. A
group of individuals living together for whom food is purchased in common and
for whom meals are prepared together for home consumption;
4. An individual who is 60 years of age or
older (and the spouse of such individual) living with others who is unable to
purchase and prepare meals because he or she suffers from a disability
considered permanent under the Social Security Act or suffers from some other
physical or mental nondisease-related, severe, permanent disability may be a
separate household (see definition of elderly or disabled at
10:87-2.34 and verification
requirements at
10:87-2.19(i) ).
However, the gross monthly income of the household with which the individual
resides cannot exceed the gross monthly income eligibility standard for the
appropriate household size at
10:87-12.7. This income
determination shall be made in accordance with the following procedures:
i. The gross monthly income of the others
with whom the elderly, disabled person resides shall be determined as if they
were applying for participation in the program. The income of the elderly,
disabled person and his or her spouse is not included in the calculation. The
elderly, disabled person and his or her spouse are not to be considered
household members for this purpose;
ii. The gross monthly income of the others
shall then be compared to the monthly income eligibility standard for the
appropriate household size in
10:87-12.7 to determine if the
income is within the prescribed limit. The elderly, disabled person and his or
her spouse would not be considered as household members for this
comparison.
5. An
applicant household that has customarily purchased and prepared food separately
in the past but, because of changes in financial or other circumstances, is now
temporarily buying and preparing food with others, shall be considered a
separate household, providing it intends to return to its former status upon
receipt of NJ SNAP benefits. The applicant household's statements on past and
intended practices shall suffice, except when the information provided is
questionable according to the criteria at
10:87-2.19(i). If
the applicant household does not return to its former status, the actual
household composition will prevail and will be considered a client-reportable
change in accordance with
10:87-9.5(a) and
(b). The 10-day period for reporting that the
applicant household has not returned to its former status will commence upon
receipt of NJ SNAP benefits.
(b) Individuals or groups of individuals who
are residents of an institution (except as otherwise specified in
10:87-2.4) or commercial boarding
home, or boarders (except as specified in
10:87-2.3(b) )
may not participate in the program.
(c) In no event shall nonhousehold member
status or separate household status be granted to:
1. Parents and their biological, adopted or
stepchildren (excluding foster children) under the age of 22 who reside
together, regardless of the marital status or having a child of their own. The
biological parent-child relationship takes precedence unless there has been a
termination of parental rights. Legal custody does not in and of itself
terminate parental rights, in which case the legal relationship between the
biological parent and the child would still exist even though another person(s)
has been awarded legal custody of the child. The following are two examples of
such household compositions:
i. Example 1:
The grandparents who have legal custody of a grandchild, their own adult child,
who also is the biological parent of the grandchild, all reside together. The
parent and child would have to be considered one household for NJ SNAP program
benefits because parental rights have not been terminated. Likewise, the
grandparents would also have to be included in the same NJ SNAP household
because the grandchild is financially dependent on them since they have legal
custody of that grandchild (see (c)2 below).
ii. Example 2: There are two siblings, with
the mother having legally terminated her parental rights of one of the
siblings. The grandparents have legal custody of that child. This can be a
two-person household if the mother applies for NJ SNAP benefits for herself and
the one child for whom she has not given up her parental rights. If the
grandparents apply for NJ SNAP benefits, they would be a separate NJ SNAP
household with the grandchild of whom they have legal custody (see (c)2
below);
2. A child (other
than a foster child) under 18 years of age who lives with and is under parental
control of a household member other than his or her parent. A child shall be
considered to be under parental control for purposes of this provision if he or
she is financially or otherwise dependent on a member of the household.
i. An individual between the ages of 18 and
22 is considered an adult and can be a separate household from those with whom
he or she lives if he or she purchases and prepares food separately. In the
case of an 18 through 22 year old living with a grandparent, he or she can be a
separate household unless the grandparent has legally adopted the 18 through 22
year old or they purchase and prepare meals together.
ii. An individual between the ages of 18 and
22, not living with his or her biological, adoptive or stepparent, who is
married and/or has a child of his or her own, and is not financially dependent
on a member of the household, and prepares and eats his or her meals separate
and apart from other members residing in the household, may, for NJ SNAP
purposes, be considered a separate household.
iii. An individual, including individuals
under 18 years old, emancipated from any parental control, living solely with
his or her spouse and/or children, for NJ SNAP purposes, shall be considered a
separate household;
3. A
spouse of a member of the household. For the purposes of this Program, the term
"spouse" shall include persons who are legally married pursuant to New Jersey
law, as well as individuals in a domestic partnership, pursuant to N.J.S.A.
26:8A-1 et seq., and civil union partners, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 37:1-28 et
seq.; or
4. Individuals who
purchase and prepare meals together, with the following exceptions:
i. A household containing an elderly and
disabled member who cannot purchase and prepare meals separately can be
separated from the other household members, provided that the income of the
other members does not exceed 165 percent of the Federal poverty level for the
household size of the other members, per
10:87-2.2(a)4.
(See 10:87-12.7 Table VII.)
ii. Foster individuals (10:87-2.3(b)6
) cannot be required to be included in the
household if the household decides otherwise.
(d) In cases of joint child custody, either
parent may claim a child(ren) as a member of their NJ SNAP household, as long
as the child(ren) resides in the home for some portion of the month. In the
event that both parents are participating in the NJ SNAP program and both want
to claim the child(ren) as a part of his or her household, the parent who has
the child(ren) the greater part of the time shall be the parent to claim the
child(ren) as a part of his or her NJ SNAP household.
1. If the child(ren) lives with each parent
equally, the parent household that applies first shall be the one to add the
child(ren) to his or her NJ SNAP household.
2. Under no circumstances shall duplicate
participation occur. The child(ren) cannot be a part of two NJ SNAP households
at the same time.