Or. Admin. R. 461-135-0493 - Eligibility and Benefit Amount for DSNAP
(1) To be eligible for emergency SNAP
assistance during a disaster, a household (see OAR
461-135-0491) must meet all the following criteria:
(a) At the time the disaster struck, the
household must have resided or a member of the
household must have worked within the geographical area
authorized by Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for disaster procedures. The
household may be certified for emergency SNAP assistance, even
if at the time of application it is occupying temporary accommodations outside
the disaster area. However, the representative of the
household must be present at the disaster certification site
to be certified for DSNAP assistance.
(b) The household must
purchase food during the disaster period authorized by FNS. A
household residing in a temporary shelter but not expected to
remain in the shelter for the entire benefit period is eligible for DSNAP
program benefits.
(c) The
household may not receive a food box under the Disaster
Household Distribution Program authorized under TEFAP during the DSNAP
application period.
(d) The
household may not receive benefits under Food Distribution
Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) during the DSNAP benefit period
authorized by FNS.
(e) The
household must have experienced at least one of the following
adverse effects due to the disaster:
(A) Loss
or inaccessibility of income involving a reduction or termination of income or
a significant delay in receipt of income. This effect could occur if the
disaster has caused a place of employment to close or reduce its work days, if
pay checks or other payments are lost or destroyed, or if there is a
significant delay in the issuance of pay checks or other payments. This effect
could also occur if the work location is inaccessible due to the
disaster.
(B) Inaccessibility of
liquid resources. The household is unable to reach its cash
resources and is not expected to be able to access its liquid resources for
most of the disaster benefit period authorized by FNS. This inaccessibility may
occur because the financial institutions where the household
has its resources are closed due to the disaster and there is no access to ATMs
or on-line banking .
(C) Loss of
food that is not eligible for a SNAP benefit replacement.
(D) Disaster-related expenses were paid under
subsection (2)(b) of this rule.
(2) To be eligible for emergency SNAP
assistance during a disaster, the take-home pay of the
household for the disaster benefits period authorized by FNS,
plus its cash resources (cash on hand and accessible funds in checking and
savings accounts), less disaster-related expenses, must be less than or equal
to the DSNAP income standard (see OAR 461-155-0180) for the size of the
household and the length of the disaster benefit period (see
sections (3) and (4) of this rule).
(a) For
DSNAP, take-home pay includes all of the following to the extent accessible
during the benefit period:
(A) The wages a
household actually receives after taxes and other payroll
withholdings are taken out.
(B) The
assistance payment or other unearned income a household
received.
(C) Self-employment
income earned after taxes for personal income and social security as well as
actual costs of producing the self-employment income are subtracted. Allowable
costs of producing the self-employment income are described in OAR 461-145-0920
and 461-145-0930.
(b)
For DSNAP, disaster-related expenses include expenses the
household has paid or is expected to pay for one of the
following expenses during the disaster benefit period authorized by FNS if full
reimbursement is not expected during this disaster benefit period. If the
household has received or reasonably anticipates receiving a
reimbursement for part or all of the expense during the disaster benefit
period, only the net expense to the household is deductible.
An expense charged to a credit card is not an allowable expense if the credit
card bill is paid after the disaster benefit period. No expenses are considered
other than the following:
(A) Expenses to
repair damages to the home or other property of the household
essential to the employment or self-employment of a household
member;
(B) Expenses for temporary
shelter during evacuation or if the home of the household is
not livable or if the household cannot reach its
home;
(C) Expenses related to
protecting property from disaster damage, including payment for the packing and
storage of the items;
(D) Expenses
to clean up the home or business following the disaster;
(E) Expenses related to replacing necessary
personal and household items, such as clothing, appliances, tools, and
educational materials;
(F) Medical
expenses for disaster-related injury to a person who was a
household member at the time of the disaster (including
funeral and burial expenses in the event of death);
(G) Expenses to repair a vehicle damaged in
the disaster;
(H) Pet boarding fees
when a pet must be placed in boarding due to a disaster; and
(I) Dependent care expenses incurred during
the disaster.
(J) Replacing fuel
damaged or destroyed by the disaster (including a wood supply used for
heat).
(3)
The disaster benefit period, including its beginning and end date, is
determined by the Food and Nutrition Service to be a full-month period or
half-month period.
(4) If the
disaster benefit period is a full-month:
(a)
For a household not already receiving SNAP benefits:
(A) Income over the full-month period and all
accessible resources are counted;
(B) Disaster-related expenses (described in
subsection (2)(b) of this rule) paid, or expected to be paid during the
full-month period, are deducted;
(C) The income limit is the DSNAP income
standard (see OAR 461-155-0180); and
(D) The benefit amount is equal to the full
month DSNAP payment standard monthly amount (see OAR
461-155-0190).
(b) For a filing group (see
OAR 461-110-0370) already receiving SNAP benefits, see OAR
461-135-0494.
(5) If the
disaster benefit period is for a half-month:
(a) For a household not
already receiving SNAP benefits:
(A) Income
over the half-month period and all accessible resources are counted;
(B) Disaster-related expenses (described in
subsection (3)(b) of this rule) paid, or expected to be paid during the
half-month period, are deducted;
(C) The income limit is one-half of the DSNAP
income standard (see OAR 461-155-0180); and
(D) The benefit amount is equal to one-half
of the full month DSNAP payment standard monthly amount (see OAR
461-155-0190).
(b) For a
filing group already receiving SNAP benefits, see OAR
461-135-0494.
(6) The
full amount of accessible cash resources must be counted, regardless of the
length of the disaster benefit period.
(7) No DSNAP program benefits are authorized
after the expiration of the period for which the Department is authorized by
FNS to process and approve applications for this emergency SNAP
assistance.
(8) A
household determined eligible must receive benefits no later
than three days after the date of application. If the third day falls on a
weekend or holiday, benefits must be issued on either:
(a) The second day; or
(b) The first day if the second day is also a
weekend or holiday.
Notes
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 409.050 & 411.816
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 409.010, 411.816 & 7 CFR 280.1
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