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 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 purpose of this memo is to highlight previously issued guidance on the disclosure of eligibility information between child nutrition programs, and to offer clarification on the application of this policy.
PL 109-163 made the Department of Defense’s Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance permanently available.
This memorandum provides guidance to state administrators in making household eligibility determinations in all nutrition assistance programs administered by FNS.
It has recently come to our attention that under PL 104-204 and 106-419, benefits paid by the Veterans Administration to the children of Vietnam veterans born with congenital spina bifida and certain other birth defects are excludable as income for food stamp purposes.
We have recently received questions regarding the child nutrition policy on the treatment of income from deployed military personnel engaged in long-term military campaigns overseas.
In accordance with the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, the housing allowance for military personnel living in privatized housing will be permanently excluded from income when determining household eligibility for free and reduced price meals or free milk in all of the child nutrition programs.