Assistance Payments SR 96-51, 09/96 (FSM-A)

Amount of a financial assistance grant paid by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Treatment: Unearned Income.

Exceptions:

• Payments are excluded income when they go beyond normal assistance grants and are vendor payments made directly to a third party for a household expense.

• One-time grant adjustments are excluded income.

• Recoupment money withheld for non-fraud reasons from an assistance payment, earnings, or other income source. Withheld money is used to repay a prior overpayment from the income source.

Treatment: Excluded Income

Money withheld as recoupment from an assistance payment for reasons of fraud: that is, a member of the household has been convicted of fraud by a court.

Money withheld from an assistance payment because of a penalty for failure to comply with state, federal, or local means-tested public assistance programs. Examples of such programs include TANF (NHEP/FAP), APTD, OAA, ANB, and SSI.

Treatment: Unearned Income. Count the financial grant the household would have received had no recoupment been applied.

Exception: This policy does not apply to applicants denied financial assistance for failure to meet program requirements, because they do not receive a grant.