questions & answers

Question: I'm trying to help my mom get food stamps and cash assistance. She is age 56 and gets 480 dollars a month for retirement benefits. However; she has no car and doesn't work. She lives in a trailer. Her bills cost more than what she earns each month. So, I pay the remainder for her. My question is; does she qualify for food stamps and cash assistance without having to work a job at this point? She has no GED and has raised 8 kids and is now divorced. She gets half of her ex husbands retirement, and that's it. I would appreciate any help? I sent in her paperwork by fax.

Answer:

The eligibility guidelines for cash assistance can be found on the Department of Economic Security's website under Cash Assistance.  The guidelines state the following individuals may be eligible:

• Parents with dependent children under age 19 who are in their care.
• Specified relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) with dependent children under age 19 who are in their care (Kinship Care).
• Pregnant women in their last trimester. The last trimester begins with the third month before the expected delivery date.
• Parents of a child who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• Individuals in the Kinship Foster Care Program. Participants in this program are referred by the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), which shares information with the Family Assistance Administration (FAA) to expedite an eligibility determination.

 The Nutrition Assistance program, formerly known as food stamps, has separate guidelines that can also be found on the Department of Economic Security's website under Nutrition Assistance Program.  These guidelines are established by the United States Department of Agriculture which calls the program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.  Here are the SNAP Eligibility guidelines. 

Once a person applies for benefits from a program they have a set amount of days to determine if a person qualifies for the applied benefits.   A person applying for Nutrition Assistance has 30 days, while Cash Assistance is given 45 days to determine if the applicant will receive benefits.