Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Migrant or seasonal farm worker households
are entitled to special handling of their application as described below. Only
migrant or seasonal farmworker households will be classified as destitute and
receive the special income considerations outlined in this section. For migrant
or seasonal farm worker households only, the initial month is defined as the
first month for which the household will be certified for participation in the
food stamp program following any period of more than 30 days during which the
household was not certified for participation. More than 30 days must pass
before the application month is considered an initial month and benefits are
prorated from the date of application. If 30 days have not passed, the
household is entitled to a full month's benefits.
B. Destitute households: Migrant or seasonal
farmworker households may have little or no income at the time of application
and may be in need of immediate food assistance, even though a household may
have received income at some time during the month of application. The
following procedures will be used to determine whether migrant or seasonal
farmworker households may be considered destitute and therefore entitled to
expedited service and special income calculation procedures, except that
migrant or seasonal farmworker households with resources of $100 or more will
not be entitled to expedited service.
(1)
Terminated income source:
(a) Expedited
service: Migrant or seasonal farmworkers whose only income for the month of
application was received before the date of application, and was from a
terminated source, will be considered destitute and entitled to expedited
service.
(b) Monthly or more
frequent income: If income is received on a monthly or more frequent basis, it
will be considered as coming from a terminated source if it will not be
received again from the same source during the balance of the month of
application or during the following month.
(c) Less often than monthly income: If income
is normally received less often than monthly, the nonreceipt of income from the
same source in the balance of the month of application or in the following
month is inappropriate to determine whether or not the income is terminated.
Therefore, for households normally receiving income less often than monthly,
the income will be considered as coming from a terminated source if it will not
be received in the month in which the next payment would normally be
received.
(2) New income
source:
(a) Households whose only income for
the month of application is from a new source will be considered destitute and
entitled to expedited service if income of more than $25 from the new source
will not be received by the 10th calendar day after the date of
application.
(b) Income normally
received on a monthly or more frequent basis will be considered to be from a
new source if income of more than $25 has not been received from that source
within 30 days before the date the application was filed.
(c) If income is normally received less often
than monthly, it will be considered to be from a new source if income of more
than $25 was not received within the last normal interval between
payments.
(3) Income
from terminated and new source:
(a) Households
may receive income from both a terminated source before the date of application
and from a new source after the date of application, and still be considered
destitute if they receive no other income in the month of application and if
income of more than $25 from the new source will not be received by the 10th
day after the date of application.
(b) A household member who changes jobs but
continues to work for the same employer will be considered as still receiving
income from the same source. A migrant farmworker's source of income is
considered to be the grower/employer for whom the migrant is working at a
particular point in time, and not the crew chief. A migrant who travels with
the same crew chief but moves from one grower/employer to another will be
considered to have moved from a terminated income source to a new
source.
(4) Travel
advances: Some employers provide travel advances to cover the costs of new
employees who must travel to the location of their new employment. To the
extent that these payments are excluded as a reimbursement, receipt of travel
advances will not affect the determination of when a household is destitute. If
a travel advance is, by written contract, an advance of wages to be subtracted
from wages later earned by the employee rather than a reimbursement, the wage
advance will be counted as income. Receipt of a wage advance for travel costs
of a new employee will not affect the determination of whether subsequent
payments from the employer are from a new source of income, or whether a
household will be considered destitute.
C. Special income calculation: The
eligibility and food stamp benefit amount of destitute households will be
calculated for the month of application by considering only income which is
received between the first of the month and the date of application. Any income
from a new source that the household anticipates receiving after the date of
application will be disregarded. Destitute household eligibility will be
determined using the special income calculations in Subsection B of
8.139.400.14 NMAC, and by comparing
as appropriate the household's gross or net income to the income eligibility
standards in Subsection E of
8.139.500.8 NMAC. The procedures
described in Subsection B of
8.139.400.14 NMAC above apply at
initial application and at recertification, but only for the first month of
each certification period. At recertification, income from a new source will be
disregarded in the first month of the new certification period if income of
more than $25 will not be received from the new source by the 10th calendar day
after the date of the household's normal issuance cycle.
D. Prospective budgeting: Migrant or seasonal
households will be entitled to a prospective determination of eligibility and
food stamp benefit amount during the time they are in the migrant stream.
(1) Anticipating income:
(a) Income received during the past 30 days
will be used as an indicator of the income that is and will be available to the
household during the certification period.
(b) An ISS will not use past income as an
indicator of income anticipated for the certification period if changes in
income have occurred or can be anticipated.
(c) If income fluctuates to the extent that a
30-day period alone cannot provide an accurate indication of anticipated
income, the ISS and the household may use a longer period of past time if it
will provide a more accurate indication of anticipated fluctuations in future
income. Similarly, if income fluctuates seasonally, it may be appropriate to
use the most recent season comparable to the certification period, rather than
the last 30 days, as one indicator of anticipated income.
(2) Handling anticipated income:
(a) Income anticipated during the
certification period will be counted as income only in the month it is expected
to be received, unless the household chooses to have its income
averaged.
(b) At recertification,
income from a new source will be disregarded in the first month of the new
certification period, if more than twenty - five dollars ($25) income will not
be received from this new source by the 10th calendar day after the date of the
household's normal issuance cycle.
(3) Continuous employment:
(a) In cases where the head of a migrant or
seasonal household is steadily employed, income from the previous month is
usually a good indicator of the amount of income that can be anticipated in the
month of application and following months.
(b) If the information supplied by a
household or a collateral contact (8.139.650.7 NMAC) indicates that future
income will differ from the previous month's income, the ISS will use such
information to make a reasonable estimate of anticipated income.
(c) The method used to determine income must
be fully documented in the case record.
(4) Hourly and piecework wages:
(a) When income is received on an hourly or
piecework basis, it may fluctuate if a wage earner works less than eight hours
some days or is required to work overtime on others. The ISS will discuss with
the household to determine the "normal" amount of the income to be expected as
a result of one week's work and whether the income can be reasonably expected
to be available during the certification period. The amount which is reasonably
expected will be used to determine monthly income.
(b) The option of averaging income should be
discussed with the household.
(5) Withheld wages:
(a) Wages held at the request of an employee
will be counted as income to the household in the month the wages would
otherwise have been paid by the employer.
(b) Wages held by the employer as a regular
practice, even if in violation of law, will not be counted as income, unless
the household anticipated asking for and receiving an advance, or receiving
income from wages that were previously held by the employer as a regular
practice, and that were, therefore, not previously counted as income.
(c) Wage advances will count as income in the
month received only if reasonably anticipated.
(6) Varied eligibility: Because of
anticipated changes, a household may be eligible for the month of application
but ineligible in a later month. The household will be entitled to food stamp
benefits for the month of application even if the processing of its application
results in the food stamp benefits being issued in a subsequent month.
Similarly, a household may be ineligible for the month of application, but
eligible in the subsequent month because of anticipated changes in
circumstances. Even though benefits are denied for the month of application,
the household does not need to reapply in the following month. The same
application will be used for the denial of the month of application and the
determination of eligibility for subsequent months.
(7) Varied benefit amount: As a result of
anticipating changes, a migrant or seasonal household's food stamp benefit
amount for the month of application may differ from its food stamp benefit
amount for subsequent months. The ISS must establish a certification period for
the longest possible period over which changes in circumstances can be
reasonably anticipated. The food stamp benefit amount will vary from month to
month within the certification period, unless the household chooses to have its
income averaged.
E.
Income averaging: Destitute migrant or seasonal farmworker households may
choose to have income averaged. Income will not be averaged for destitute
households, unless the household so chooses, because averaging would result in
assigning to the month of application income from future periods which is not
available to the destitute household for its current needs. If the income
averaging option is chosen, it cannot be changed during the certification
period.
F. Deductible expenses: For
migrant or seasonal households in the job stream, deductible expenses are
determined prospectively in accordance with the following procedures (see
8.139.500.11 NMAC for more
information).
(1) Anticipating expenses: A
household's expenses will be calculated based on the expenses for which the
household expects to be billed during the certification period. Anticipation of
these expenses will be based on the most recent month's bills, unless it is
reasonably certain a change will occur. The ISS will not average past expenses,
such as utility bills, for the last several months, as a method of anticipating
utility costs for the certification period. When the household's actual costs
for utilities, including a heating or cooling cost, are anticipated to be less
than the state's standard utility allowance (SUA), the SUA is applied.
Similarly, when more than one household shares utility expenses, and a
household's share of the billing for heating or cooling costs is less than its
prorated share of the SUA, the household will be given its prorated share of
the SUA.
(2) Averaging expenses:
Migrant households may choose to average anticipated expenses as follows.
(a) Households may choose to have fluctuating
expenses averaged.
(b) Households
may choose to have one-time only expenses averaged over the certification
period in which they are billed.
(c) Households may choose to have expenses
that are billed less often than monthly averaged forward over the interval
between scheduled billings, or, if there is no scheduled interval, averaged
forward over the period the expense is intended to cover.
G. Certification periods:
(1) A household will be assigned the longest
certification period possible based on the predictability of the household's
circumstances. Because of the uncertainty of income and the likelihood of
frequent and significant change in income or household circumstances, migrant
or seasonal households usually are certified for one month. A two- or three-
month certification period may be assigned if income and circumstances are
stable and the household chooses to average income and expenses.
(2) Expedited migrant households: A migrant
or seasonal household eligible for expedited service and assigned a
certification period of longer than one month, will receive the first month's
benefits. If verification is postponed, the household will be notified in
writing that postponed verification from sources within and out-of-state must
be provided before food stamp benefits for the second month are issued.
Migrants will be entitled to postpone out-of-state verification only once each
season. If a migrant or seasonal household requesting expedited service has
already received this consideration during the current season, the ISS will
grant a postponement of out-of-state verification only for the initial month's
issuance and not for the second month's issuance. The notice to the household
will state that if the verification results in a change in the household's
eligibility or food stamp benefit amount, the ISS will act on the change
without advance notice of adverse action.
