WSR 13-13-004

PERMANENT RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Economic Services Administration)

[Filed June 6, 2013, 10:42 a.m., effective July 7, 2013]

Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

Purpose: The community services division (CSD) is amending WAC 388-482-0005 How does being a student impact my eligibility for the Washington Basic Food program?, to remove references to the food stamp employment and training program and replace it with the Basic Food employment and training. CSD is also using this opportunity to edit rule language to provide more clarity of student status as it relates to Basic Food eligibility and improve accuracy in the Basic Food program.

The department seeks to avoid Basic Food payment errors and improve overall program access. This will help assure Washington state continues to receive federal funding for its supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) and avoid financial penalties.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-482-0005.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, and 74.08.090.

Other Authority: 7 C.F.R. § 273.5.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 13-09-026 on April 9, 2013.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: June 3, 2013.

Katherine I. Vasquez

Rules Coordinator

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 03-22-037, filed 10/28/03, effective 12/1/03)

WAC 388-482-0005 How does being a student of higher education impact my eligibility for the Washington Basic Food program?

(1) For Basic Food, we consider you a student of higher education if you are:

(a) Age eighteen through forty-nine;

(b) Physically and mentally able to work (we determine if you are unable to work); ((and))

(d) Enrolled in coursework considered to be higher education.

(2) An institution of higher education is:

(a) Any educational institution that requires a high school diploma or general education development certificate (GED);

(b) A business, trade, or vocational school that requires a high school diploma or GED; or

(c) A two-year or four-year college or university that offers a degree but does not require a high school diploma or GED.

(3) If you are a student of higher education, you must also meet one of the following conditions to be eligible for Basic Food:

(a) You have paid employment of at least twenty hours per week.

(b) ((Be)) You are self-employed, work, and earn at least the amount you would earn working twenty hours at the federal minimum wage;

(c) ((Be)) You were participating in a state or federal work study program ((at the time you applied for Basic Food benefits. For the purpose of being eligible for Basic Food, work study is:

(i) Working and receiving money from the work study program; and

(ii) Not turning down a work assignment)) during the regular school year.

(i) To qualify under this condition, you must:

(A) Have approval for work study at the time of application for Basic Food;

(B) Have work study that is approved for the school term; and

(ii) The work study exemption begins:

(A) The month in which the school term starts; or

(B) The month work study is approved, whichever is later.

(iii) Once begun, the work study exemption shall continue until:

(A) The end of the month in which the school term ends; or

(B) We find out you refused a work study assignment.

(d) ((Be)) You are responsible for more than half the care of a dependent person in your assistance unit (AU) who is age five or younger;

(e) ((Be)) You are responsible for more than half the care of a dependent person in your AU who is between age six and eleven, if we have determined that there is not adequate child care available during the school year to allow you to:

(i) Attend class and satisfy the twenty-hour work requirement; or

(ii) Take part in a work study program.

(f) ((Be)) You are a single parent responsible for the care of your natural, step, or adopted child who is eleven or younger;

(g) ((Be)) You are an adult who has the parental responsibility of a child who is age eleven or younger if none of the following people live in the home:

(i) The child's parents; or

(ii) Your spouse.

(h) You participate in the WorkFirst program under WAC 388-310-0200;

(i) You receive TANF or SFA benefits;

(j) You attend an institution of higher education through:

(i) The Workforce Investment Act (WIA);

(ii) The ((food stamp)) Basic Food employment and training (BF E&T) program under chapter 388-444 WAC;

(iii) An approved state or local employment and training program; or

(iv) Section 236 of the Trade Act of 1974.

(4) If you are a student of higher education and the only reason you are eligible for Basic Food is because you ((participate)) are participating in work study, you are only eligible while you work and receive money from work study. If your work study stops during the summer months, you must meet another condition to be an eligible student during this period.

(5) If you are a student of higher education, your status as a student:

(a) Begins the first day of the school term; and

(b) Continues through vacations. This includes the summer break if you plan to return to school for the next term.

(6) We do not consider you a student of higher education if you:

(a) Graduate;

(b) Are suspended or expelled;

(d) Do not intend to register for the next normal school term other than summer school.