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47. Example 1 – household with an elderly or disabled member

Ms. Smith lives with her daughter Jane, age seven, and her Uncle Walter, age 60. All three purchase and prepare food together. Uncle Walter is physically disabled. Ms. Smith earns $850 per month. Uncle Walter receives $450 per month in benefits, including $200 in SSI. Uncle Walter has a bank account with a balance of $3,000. Ms. Smith owns a car with a fair market value of $7,000, which she uses to take Walter to the doctor. She also has a bank account with a balance of $1,700. Their rent is $750; Uncle Walter and Ms. Smith pool their income to pay the rent. She also pays $100 per month for someone to watch Jane after school. Uncle Walter has $50 per month in non-reimbursed medical expenses. The Smiths apply for food stamps on April 16, 2008. They want to receive food stamps as one household.

Answer to Example 1

Because Uncle Walter receives SSI, he is not eligible for food stamps in California, and his income and resources are not counted towards the household limits. The food stamp household consists of Ms. Smith and her daughter.

Ms. Smith’s car is completely excluded as a vehicle necessary to transport a physically disabled person. (See the section explaining that vehicles don’t count for food stamps in California.) Ms. Smith’s bank account of $1,700 falls under the $2,000 limit for non-elderly or disabled households. The $3,000 limit does not apply, since Uncle Walter is excluded from food stamp eligibility.

Income and allotment:

  • Step A – Ms. Smith’s gross monthly earned income is $850.
  • Step B – there is no other income to add — SSI recipients’ income is exempt.
  • Step C – gross monthly income is $850. This falls under the maximum of $1,579 for a household of 2.
  • Step D – gross monthly earned income is $850.
  • Step E – the earned income deduction is $170 (20% of $850).
  • Step F – net earned income is $680 ($850 – $170).
  • Step G – there is no additional income to add – SSI recipient income is exempt.
  • Step H – subtract the $142 standard deduction. So far the total is $538 ($680 – 142).
  • Step I – subtract dependent care costs. $100 for Jane’s child care provider. Now the total is $438.
  • Step J – there is no child support payment to deduct.
  • Step K – there is no medical cost to deduct, even though Uncle Walter has medical costs beyond $35 per month. (If he were not on SSI and therefore eligible for food stamps, the deductible medical expense would be $15 ($50 – $35.)
  • Step L – the adjusted income is $438.
  • Step M – the family’s shelter cost is $750, not including utilities. The get the standard utility allowance (SUA) of $320. Since Uncle Walter and Ms. Smith pool their money to pay for rent, the shelter cost is pro-rated. Per person, the shelter cost each month is $250 ($750÷ 3). The housing cost for the food stamp household (Ms. Smith and her daughter) is $500 (2 x $250).
  • Step N – the separate telephone allowance does not apply, as it is included in the SUA.
  • Step O – the total shelter cost is $820 ($500 housing plus $320 SUA).
  • Step P – half of the adjusted income is $219 ($438 ÷ 2).
  • Step Q – the excess shelter cost is $601 ($820 – $219). However, there is a cap on the excess shelter cost of $458. (If Uncle Walter were in the food stamps household, they could use the full $735 excess shelter deduction, since he is aged/disabled.)
  • Step R – Total countable income is $20 [Adjusted income ($438) minus shelter deduction ($458).]
  • Step S – multiply the Bakers’ net monthly income of $20 by 0.3 to determine the adjusted countable income. (Food stamps presumes that 1/3 of your income is available to pay for food). The result is $6. The household has $14 to pay for food ($20-6).
  • Step T – The family’s allotment is $361. (Maximum of $367 – $6 in countable income.)
Note: If the family had not already met the maximum shelter deduction, it could have maximized it’s food stamps if Uncle Walter contributed a specific amount towards the rent that exceeded his 1/3 pro-rated share. If paying a specific amount, Food Stamps does not pro-rate.