Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024
Pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Food Stamp Act, SNAP
benefits are an obligation of the United States within the meaning of 18 United
States Code (U.S.C.) 8. The provisions of Title 18 of the United States Code,
"crimes and criminal procedures," relative to counterfeiting, misuse, and/or
alteration of obligations of the U.S., are applicable to SNAP benefits. Any
unauthorized issuance, redemption, use, transfer, acquisition, alteration, or
possession of SNAP benefits may subject an individual, partnership,
corporation, or other legal entity to prosecution under Sections 15(b) and (c)
of the Food Stamp Act or other applicable federal, state, or local law,
regulation, or ordinance.
A.
General uses: SNAP benefits are used by participants to purchase
eligible foods, including seeds and plants, for home consumption. A household
may designate other individuals to use SNAP benefits to purchase food for them.
A household is not required to have cooking facilities or access to cooking
facilities to participate in the program.
B.
Special uses: Although SNAP
benefits were originally intended to be used by eligible households to purchase
food for home consumption, certain households are authorized to use SNAP
benefits to obtain prepared meals or to facilitate their obtaining food.
Authorized special uses for SNAP include:
(1)
Communal dining: Eligible household members 60 years of age or
over or SSI recipients and their spouses may use SNAP benefits to purchase
meals prepared at communal dining facilities authorized by FNS. Communal dining
facilities include senior citizen centers, apartment buildings occupied
primarily by elderly persons or SSI households, public or private nonprofit
establishments (eating or otherwise) that feed elderly persons or SSI
recipients, and federally subsidized housing for the elderly at which meals are
prepared and served to the residents. They also include private establishments
under contract with an appropriate state or local agency to offer meals at
concessional prices to elderly persons or SSI recipients.
(2)
Meals-on-wheels: Eligible
household members 60 years of age or over or members who are homebound,
physically handicapped, or otherwise disabled to the extent that they are
unable to adequately prepare all their meals, and the spouses of such members,
may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared and delivered to them by
a nonprofit meal delivery service authorized by FNS. A meal delivery service is
a political subdivision, a private nonprofit organization, or a private
establishment with which a state or local agency has contracted for the
preparation and delivery of meals at concessional prices to elderly individuals
and their spouses, and to the physically or mentally handicapped and
individuals otherwise disabled, and their spouses, such that they are unable to
adequately prepare all of their meals.
(3)
Addicts and alcoholics in treatment
programs: Members of eligible households who are narcotics addicts or
alcoholics who regularly participate in a drug or alcoholic treatment and
rehabilitation program may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared
for them during the course of such programs by a nonprofit organization or
institution or a publically operated community mental health center which is
authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.
(4)
Residents in group living
arrangements: Eligible residents of a group living arrangement may use
their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared especially for them at a group
living arrangement authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.
(5)
Residents of shelters for battered
persons: Residents of shelters for battered persons may use their SNAP
benefits to purchase meals prepared specifically for them at a shelter
authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.
(6)
Residents of shelters for the
homeless: Homeless households may use their SNAP benefits to purchase
prepared meals from homeless meal providers authorized by FNS.
C.
SNAP benefits as
income: SNAP benefits provided to an eligible household will not to be
considered income or resources for any purpose under federal, state, or local
laws, including but not limited to, laws on taxation, welfare, and public
assistance programs. No participating state or political subdivision may
decrease any other assistance provided to an individual or individuals because
such individuals receive SNAP benefits.
