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• Households
• Citizenship/Alien status for federal or state-funded Basic Food
• Social Security Number
• Income
• Resources
• Work Requirements
• Eligibility Period
• Fair Hearings

NOTE: Effective 4/1/03 Food Stamps and Food Assistance Program are known as Washington Basic Food Program or Basic Food.

Households

Basic Food is granted to "households." A household may be a person who lives alone or a group of people living together who buy food and/or prepare meals together. They do not have to be related. A household does not have to have a home, a stove, hotplate, or other cooking facilities.

Citizenship/Alien status for federal or state-funded Basic Food

To get Basic Food, a person must be either 1) a U.S. Citizen, 2) a U.S. national, or 3) a "qualified immigrant."

NOTE: Persons who are not eligible for federal funded Basic Food because of their status in the U.S. may be eligible for the state funded Basic Food. For further information on this and on "qualified immigrant", see our publication Public Assistance for Immigrant Clients.

Social Security Number

To receive Basic Food you must show you either have a Social Security number or have applied for one. When you apply for a number at the Social Security Administration, that office will give you a receipt to show DSHS that you have applied. DSHS will not deny or delay giving you Basic Food while you are waiting for your social security number to be issued.

Income

DSHS will look at your household's total monthly income from all sources to see if you qualify for Basic Food. Some income will not be counted such as income of a student through age 17, Earned Income Tax Credit payments, energy assistance payments, bona fide loans, and most types of student financial aid.

If your countable income is within the guidelines allowed, DSHS will deduct some of your expenses from your income to determine how much Basic Food you will get. Deductions can include a standard deduction for each household, a portion of shelter costs, certain medical expenses, legally obligated child care payments, a portion of dependent care costs, and a 20% deduction from gross earned income.

Resources

RESOURCES:  Resources are things you own such as money in the bank, vehicles, or real property.  For DSHS to count the value of a resource, you must have title to it or be legally able to sell it for cash.  DSHS counts some resources but not others.  For example, DSHS will not count the home you live in and its surrounding property, personal items, and household goods.  But DSHS will count resources such as insurance settlements, refunds of damage deposits, and income tax refunds but excludes Earned Income Tax Credit.

The value of some vehicles is excluded altogether, if the vehicle is used to transport a physically disabled person, used as a home, etc.

For other vehicles, DSHS counts the higher of fair market value (what you can sell for it) or equity value (fair market less what you still owe on it) over $4,650. If your vehicle is worth less than $4,650, DSHS will not count it at all.

For your household to be eligible for Basic Food, all of your countable resources together can be worth $3,000 if your household has a person disabled or age 60 or over. All other households can have up to $2,000 in countable resources.

Work Requirements

Most persons who apply for Basic Food are required to register for work and may be required to participate in employment and training activities. This applies to able-bodied adults, ages 18 through 49 and without dependents, and to other persons who are ages 16 through 59 and who have dependents. Some persons are exempt from work and employment and training activities. Examples are persons physically or mentally unable to work, caring for a dependent child under 6 or for an incapacitated person, participating in WorkFirst, or participating in a drug or alcohol treatment and rehabilitation. DSHS will determine who is exempt.

Eligibility Period

Households determined eligible for Basic Food receive them for a set number of months at a time known as a certification period. Households can be recertified for additional months if they remain eligible. An eligible household will receive an Electronic Benefits Card (EBT) to purchase food. Households should immediately report any changes, e.g., income, resources, household members. If a household is determined ineligible for Basic Food, they can reapply in a later month when the reason they were denied has changed.

Fair Hearings

If your Basic Food benefits are denied or terminated, you may ask for a fair hearing by writing to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) at P.O. Box 42489, Olympia, WA 98504, by calling OAH at (360) 664-8717 or 1-800-583-8271, or by making a request at your local DSHS office. You may call the CLEAR intake line at 1-888-201-1014 for advice or for a copy of the publication Representing Yourself at a Fair Hearing, also available on our website at www.washingtonlawhelp.org or by contacting your local legal services office.