PERMANENT RULES
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: Amend WAC 388-450-0045 How do we count income from employment and training programs?, to comply with requirements of the Domestic Volunteer Services Act of 1973, Titles I and II, as amended regarding treatment of income for the food stamp program.
Payments under these titles including Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and Americorps VISTA must be counted as earned income if the VISTA participant did not receive food stamp benefits at the time they entered the service program. The department will exclude payments under these titles as income if the person already received Washington Basic Food program benefits at the time they join the service program.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-450-0045.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, 74.08.090.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 06-13-089 on June 20, 2006.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.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: August 1, 2006.
Andy Fernando, Manager
Rules and Policies Assistance Unit
3774.1(1) We treat payments issued under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) as follows:
(a) For cash assistance and medical programs for families, children, and pregnant women, we exclude all payments.
(b) For Basic Food:
(i) We exclude OJT earnings for children who are eighteen years of age or younger and under parental control as described in WAC 388-408-0035.
(ii) We count OJT earnings as earned income for people who are:
(A) Age nineteen and older; or
(B) Age eighteen or younger and not under parental control.
(iii) We exclude all other payments.
(2) We exclude all payments issued under the National and
Community Service Trust Act of 1993. This includes payments
made through the AmeriCorps ((and AmeriCorps VISTA))
program((s)).
(3) We treat payments issued under Title I of the Domestic Volunteer Act of 1973, such as VISTA, AmeriCorps Vista, university year for action, and urban crime prevention program as follows:
(a) For cash assistance and medical programs for families, children, and pregnant women, we exclude all payments.
(b) For Basic Food, we count most payments as earned
income. We exclude the payments if you ((got)):
(i) Received Basic Food or cash assistance at the time you joined the Title I program; or
(ii) ((You)) Were participating in the Title I program
and ((got)) received an income disregard at the time of
conversion to the Food Stamp Act of 1977. We ((will))
continue to exclude the payments ((you get)) even if you do
not get Basic Food every month.
(4) We exclude all payments issued under Title II of the Domestic Volunteer Act of 1973. These include:
(a) Retired senior volunteer program (RSVP);
(b) Foster grandparents program; and
(c) Senior companion program.
(5) We count training allowances from vocational and rehabilitative programs as earned income when:
(a) The program is recognized by federal, state, or local governments; and
(b) The allowance is not a reimbursement.
(6) When GAU clients receive training allowances we allow:
(a) The earned income incentive and work expense deduction specified under WAC 388-450-0175, when applicable; and
(b) The actual cost of uniforms or special clothing required for the course as a deduction, if enrolled in a remedial education or vocational training course.
(7) We exclude support service payments received by or made on behalf of WorkFirst participants.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510. 03-03-071, § 388-450-0045, filed 1/15/03, effective 3/1/03. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090 and 74.04.510. 02-03-019, § 388-450-0045, filed 1/4/02, effective 2/1/02; 99-16-024, § 388-450-0045, filed 7/26/99, effective 9/1/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 98-16-044, § 388-450-0045, filed 7/31/98, effective 9/1/98.]