Section 247.9 - [Effective 12/30/2024] Eligibility requirements(a)Who is eligible for CSFP? To be eligible for CSFP, individuals must be at least 60 years of age and meet the income eligibility requirements outlined in paragraph (b) of this section.(b)What are the income eligibility requirements for CSFP applicants? The State agency must use a household income limit at or below 150 percent of the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines published annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Participants in households with income at or below this level must be considered eligible for CSFP benefits (assuming they meet other requirements contained in this part). However, participants certified before September 17, 1986 (i.e., under the three elderly pilot projects) must remain subject to the eligibility criteria in effect at the time of their certification.(1) The State agency may accept as income-eligible for CSFP benefits any applicant that documents that they are certified as fully eligible for the following Federal programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Low Income Subsidy Program, and the Medicare Savings Programs.(2) The State agency may accept, as evidence of income within the State agency's CSFP guidelines, documentation of the applicant's participation in State-administered programs not specified in this paragraph that routinely require documentation of income, provided that those programs have income eligibility guidelines at or below the State agency's CSFP threshold.(3) Applicants who are adjunctively income eligible, as set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section, shall not be subject to the income limits established under paragraph (b) of this section.(c)When must the State agency revise the CSFP income guidelines to reflect the annual adjustments of the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines? Each year, FNS will notify State agencies, by memorandum, of adjusted income guidelines by household size at 150 percent and 100 percent of the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines published annually by HHS. The memorandum will reflect the annual adjustments to the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines issued by HHS. The State agency must implement the adjusted guidelines immediately upon receipt of the memorandum.(d)How is income defined and considered as it relates to CSFP eligibility?(1) Income means gross income before deductions for such items as income taxes, employees' social security taxes, insurance premiums, and bonds.(2) The State agency may exclude from consideration the following sources of income: (i) Any basic allowance for housing received by military services personnel residing off military installations; and(ii) The value of inkind housing and other inkind benefits.(3) The State agency must exclude from consideration all income sources excluded by legislation. FNS will notify State agencies of forms of income excluded by statute through program policy memoranda. The income sources which must be excluded from consideration as income include, but are not limited to:(i) Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-646, sec. 216, 42 U.S.C. 4636 );(ii) Any payment to volunteers under Title I (VISTA and others) and Title II (RSVP, foster grandparents, and others) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-113, sec. 404(g), 42 U.S.C. 5044(g) ) to the extent excluded by that Act;(iii) Payment to volunteers under section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (SCORE and ACE) (Pub. L. 95-510, sec. 101, 15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(D) );(iv) Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United States which is held in trust for certain Indian Tribes (Pub. L. 94-114, sec. 6, 25 U.S.C. 459e );(v) Payments received under the Job Training Partnership Act (Pub. L. 97-300, sec. 142(b), 29 U.S.C. 1552(b) );(vi) Income derived from the disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians (Pub. L. 94-540, sec. 6);(vii) Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Pub. L. 100-241, sec. 15, 43 U.S.C. 1626(c) );(viii) The value of assistance to children or their families under the National School Lunch Act, as amended (Pub. L. 94-105, sec. 9(d), 42 U.S.C. 1760(e) ), the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-642, sec. 11(b), 42 U.S.C. 1780(b) ), and the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 95-113, sec. 1301, 7 U.S.C. 2017(b) );(ix) Payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation (Pub. L. 95-433, sec. 2, 25 U.S.C. 609c-1 );(x) Payments to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their members received pursuant to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-420, sec. 6, 9(c), 25 U.S.C. 1725(i) , 1728(c) );(xi) Payments under the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Act, as amended (Pub. L. 99-125, sec. 504(c), 42 U.S.C. 8624(f) );(xii) Student financial assistance received from any program funded in whole or part under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, including the Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, State Student Incentive Grants, National Direct Student Loan, PLUS, College Work Study, and Byrd Honor Scholarship programs, which is used for costs described in section 472(1) and (2) of that Act (Pub. L. 99-498, section 479B, 20 U.S.C. 1087uu ). The specified costs set forth in section 472(1) and (2) of the Higher Education Act are tuition and fees normally assessed a student carrying the same academic workload as determined by the institution, and including the costs for rental or purchase of any equipment, materials, or supplies required of all students in the same course of study; and an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses for a student attending the institution on at least a half-time basis, as determined by the institution. The specified costs set forth in section 472(1) and (2) of the Act are those costs which are related to the costs of attendance at the educational institution and do not include room and board and dependent care expenses;(xiii) Payments under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended by the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1989 (Pub. L. 100-707, sec. 105(i), 42 U.S.C. 5155(d) );(xiv) Effective July 1, 1991, payments received under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, as amended by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act Amendments of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-392, sec. 501, 20 U.S.C. 2466d );(xv) Payments pursuant to the Agent Orange Compensation Exclusion Act (Pub. L. 101-201, sec.1) ; (xvi) Payments received for Wartime Relocation of Civilians under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-383, sec. 105(f)(2), 50 App. U.S.C. 1989b-4(f)(2));(xvii) Value of any child care payments made under section 402(g)(1)(E) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Family Support Act (Pub. L. 100-485, sec. 301, 42 U.S.C. 602 (g)(1)(E) );(xviii) Value of any "at-risk" block grant child care payments made under section 5081 of Pub. L. 101-508, which amended section 402(i) of the Social Security Act;(xix) Value of any child care provided or paid for under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, as amended (Pub. L. 102-586, Sec. 8(b)), 42 U.S.C. 9858q );(xx) Mandatory salary reduction amount for military service personnel which is used to fund the Veteran's Educational Assistance Act of 1984 (GI Bill), as amended (Pub. L. 99-576, sec. 303(a)(1), 38 U.S.C. 1411 (b) );(xxi) Payments received under the Old Age Assistance Claims Settlement Act, except for per capita shares in excess of $2,000 (Pub. L. 98-500, sec. 8, 25 U.S.C. 2307 );(xxii) Payments received under the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act, unless the income of the family equals or exceeds 80 percent of the median income of the area (Pub. L. 101-625, sec. 522(i)(4), 42 U.S.C. 1437f nt);(xxiii) Payments received under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, unless the income of the family increases at any time to not less than 50 percent of the median income of the area (Pub. L. 100-242, sec. 126(c)(5)(A), 25 U.S.C. 2307 );(xxiv) Payments received under the Sac and Fox Indian claims agreement (Pub. L. 94-189, sec. 6);(xxv) Payments received under the Judgment Award Authorization Act, as amended (Pub. L. 97-458, sec. 4, 25 U.S.C. 1407 and Pub. L. 98-64, sec. 2(b), 25 U.S.C. 117b(b) );(xxvi) Payments for the relocation assistance of members of Navajo and Hopi Tribes (Pub. L. 93-531, sec. 22, 22 U.S.C. 640d-21 );(xxvii) Payments to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, Arizona (Pub. L. 97-403, sec. 9);(xxviii) Payments to the Blackfeet, Grosventre, and Assiniboine Tribes (Montana) and the Papago (Arizona) (Pub. L. 97-408, sec. 8(d));(xxiv) Payments to the Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian community and the Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Montana) (Pub. L. 98-124, sec. 5);(xxx) Payments to the Red Lake Band of Chippewas (Pub. L. 98-123, sec. 3);(xxxi) Payments received under the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan Distribution of Judgment Funds Act (Pub. L. 99-346, sec. 6(b)(2));(xxxii) Payments to the Chippewas of Mississippi (Pub. L. 99-377, sec. 4(b));(xxxiii) Payments received by members of the Armed Forces and their families under the Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance from the Department of Defense (Pub. L. 109-163, sec. 608); and(xxxiv) Payments received by property owners under the National Flood Insurance Program (Pub. L. 109-64).(xxxv) Combat pay received by the household member under Chapter 5 of Title 37 or as otherwise designated by the Secretary.(4) The State agency may authorize local agencies to consider the household's average income during the previous 12 months and current household income to determine which more accurately reflects the household's status. In instances in which the State makes the decision to authorize local agencies to determine a household's income in this manner, all local agencies must comply with the State's decision and apply this method of income determination in situations in which it is warranted.(e)What other options does the State agency have in establishing eligibility requirements for CSFP?(1) The State agency may require that an individual be at nutritional risk, as determined by a physician or by local agency staff.(2) The State agency may require that an individual reside within the service area of the local agency at the time of application for CSFP benefits. However, the State agency may not require that an individual reside within the area for any fixed period of time. 85 FR 68721 , Oct. 30, 2020 85 FR 68721, 10/30/2020; 89 FR 87245 , 12/30/2024