BASIC FOOD STAMP GUIDELINES
To be eligible for food stamps, your
household must meet income and resource limits (see bottom of the page for
income limits). Most households who apply find out if they are eligible
within 30 days after they apply. Households that have very little income
and/or high housing costs may be eligible for emergency food stamps and will
hear back from DHS within 7 days after they apply.
If you have left the Families First
program, you can still get food stamps if you meet food stamp eligibility
requirements. The following information briefly describes food stamp rules
for people with special circumstances.
Resources
To be eligible for food stamps, your
household must be within certain income and resource limits. Resources
include the cash you have on hand or in the bank, stocks and bonds, and
vehicles. When calculating eligibility, the food stamp office will not count:
- Up to $2,000 worth of resources owned by a
household without an elderly or disabled member.
- Up to $1,000 of the equity value of a
vehicle (the equity value is the fair market value of the car minus the
amount you owe on it) for a household without an elderly or disabled
member.
Elderly and Disabled Household members
To be considered elderly, you must be
at least 60 years old.
To be considered disabled, you must receive Supplemental Security Income
(SSI), Social Security Disability or Social Security Blindness checks.
Other types of payments that may make you able to be considered disabled
include Public Disability Retirement Pensions and Veterans
Benefits.
If there is at least one elderly or
disabled person in your household and you are figuring out if you can apply
for food stamps, you can:
- Subtract all non-reimbursed medical
expenses over $35 in a month for that person.
- Subtract all shelter costs (rent,
utilities, other shelter-related expenses) that are more than 50 percent
of the household's income.
- Have up to $3000 in resources (like cash or
stocks and bonds).
- Have a vehicle with an equity value of
$1,500. If you use the vehicle to transport a disabled member of the
household, the food stamp office will not count any value of that
vehicle.
If your household is made up completely
of elderly or disabled members, you may:
- Ask for a telephone interview
- Have recertification appointments only once
a year.
Able-Bodied Adults without Dependents
If you are between the ages of 18 and
50, have no children, are not disabled, and are unemployed, you can get food
stamps for only five months in every three years.
Important News for Immigrants
More Immigrants are now
eligible for food stamps!
Who May be Eligible?
