FNS is issuing this memorandum in fulfillment of the commitment made in the preamble of the SNAP: Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 final rule to provide additional guidance for state agencies on how to carry out the exclusion of certain military combat-related pay from income for purposes of SNAP eligibility determinations.
This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions FNS has received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.
The purpose of this memorandum is to strongly encourage local educational agencies to accept eligibility determinations from a transferring student’s former LEA to minimize disruptions in meal benefits for low-income students and avoid student debt resulting from unpaid meal charges.
There has been confusion about how unpaid meal charges must be handled when all collection efforts have been exhausted. To help address these situations, this memorandum clarifies the processes of designating delinquent debt that has been determined to be uncollectable as bad debt and obtaining assistance to offset bad debt losses.
The purpose of this memorandum is to address the need for school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to institute and clearly communicate a meal charge policy, which would include, if applicable, the availability of alternate meals.
This memorandum clarifies how to apply an exemption from the SNAP time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents related to individuals receiving U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation.
Policy Memorandum FD-042, Pay Received by Military Personnel as a Result of Deployment to a Combat Zone, is cancelled.
This supersedes the Jan. 7, 2010, version of the policy memo, Exclusion of Military Combat Pay. In addition to combat pay and other income received by deployed service members, this memorandum addresses Deployment Extension Incentive Pay.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created the "Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund" for certain veterans and the spouses of veterans who served in the military of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. SNAP will exclude these payments from income and resources when determining eligibility and allotments, and for all other purposes.
In response to several requests and to assist state agencies and school food authorities in their compliance efforts, we are providing the following prototype contract language requiring the return of purchase incentives to SFAs.