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.