Ineligible Households

(A) Residents of Commercial Boarding Houses. Residents of commercial boarding houses are not eligible to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. A commercial boarding house shall be defined as an establishment that is licensed as a commercial enterprise, and offers meals and lodging for compensation. In cities and towns without licensing requirements, a commercial boarding house shall be defined as a commercial establishment that offers meals and lodging for compensation with the intent of making a profit. The number of boarders residing in a boarding house shall not be used to determine if a boarding house is a commercial enterprise. The household of the owner of a boarding house may participate in SNAP as a household separate and apart from the residents of the boarding house, if the owner's household meets all SNAP eligibility requirements. (B) Residents of Institutions. Individuals shall be considered residents of institutions when the institution provides them with the majority of their meals as part of normal services. A majority of meals is over 50% of three meals daily. Residents of institutions are not eligible for participation in SNAP, with the following five exceptions: (1) Residents of federally subsidized housing for the elderly built under either Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 or Section 236 of the National Housing Act. Eligible residents do not have to be elderly to receive SNAP benefits; (2) Residents, with or without their children, of a drug or alcohol treatment center as defined in 106 CMR 365.610: Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers; (3) Residents of a group living arrangement (see 106 CMR 365.620: Group Living Arrangements) who are blind or disabled and receiving benefits under Title I, Title II, Title X, Title XIV, or Title XVI of the Social Security Act (see 106 CMR 361.210); (4) Residents of shelters for battered individuals and their children as defined in 106 CMR 365.550: Residents of Shelters for Battered Women and Their Children; and (5) Residents of public and private nonprofit homeless shelters, if otherwise eligible. (D) Boarders Who Are Not Residents of Commercial Boarding Houses. Boarders are defined as individuals or groups of individuals residing with others and paying reasonable compensation to the others for lodging and meals. In determining whether the individual is paying reasonable compensation, only the amount paid for meals shall be used, as long as the amount paid for meals is distinguishable from the amount paid for lodging. Reasonable compensation for meals is one of the following: (1) An amount equal to or above the maximum SNAP benefit for the appropriate boarder household size, if the boarder is provided with more than two meals a day; or (2) An amount that equals or exceeds b of the maximum SNAP benefit for the appropriate boarder household size, if the boarder is provided with only one or two meals per day. Individuals who pay less than reasonable compensation are not boarders and must be members of the household providing the lodging and meals. Boarders are ineligible to participate separately from the household providing lodging and meals. Boarders may participate as members of the household providing these services and at the request of the providing household. If the household providing lodging and meals has not requested that its boarders be included in its household, none of the income and resources of the boarders are to be considered available to the household except that the payment of the boarder to the household shall be treated in accordance with 106 CMR 365.200: Assistance Units with Boarders Who Are Not Household Members. (E) Strikers. (1) Definition. A striker is an individual involved in a strike or concerted stoppage of work by employees, including a stoppage by reason of the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, and any concerted slowdown or other interruption of operations by employees. The following individuals are not considered strikers: (a) An employee affected by a lockout. A lockout is the closing of a workplace by an employer to resist the demands of employees; (b) An employee not participating in a strike who is unable to work as a result of striking employees; (c) An employee who is not part of the bargaining unit on strike and who does not want to cross a picket line due to fear of personal injury or death; and (d) An individual who was, on the day before the strike, exempt from the Work Requirements described at 106 CMR 362.300: Work Requirements, on any basis other than employment as defined in 106 CMR 362.310(B)(10). (2) Eligibility. A household with a member on strike is ineligible unless all of the following are true: (a) the household was participating or was eligible to participate in SNAP on the day before the strike; (b) the household is otherwise currently eligible. The greater of the following two amounts shall be added to the nonstriking members' current income to determine if the household is currently income eligible: the striker's monthly income on the day before the strike; or the striker's current monthly income. A household containing a striking member shall not receive an increased allotment as the result of a decrease in the income of the striking member. Net income shall be determined on the basis of the household's current circumstances in accordance with 106 CMR 364.500: Determining Net Income; and (c) the striker complies with the Work Requirements described at 106 CMR 362.300: Work Requirements, unless exempt. (F) Foster Care Children and Foster Care Adults. Foster care children and adults are those placed in the home of relatives or non-relatives by a federal, state or local government foster care program. A foster care household provides foster care to these children and adults. Neither foster care children nor adults are required to be included in the foster care household's SNAP household. If foster care children and adults are not included in the household, the following shall apply: (1) no portion of the government based foster care payments shall be counted in determining the eligibility and benefit level of the foster care household; and (2) foster care children and adults are ineligible to participate as a separate SNAP household from the foster care household. The foster care household has the option of including the foster care children and adults in its SNAP household; however, the foster care payments shall then be counted as unearned income in determining the eligibility and benefit level of the foster care household.