PM 08-04-04-v.

The following are exempt by federal law:

  • Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policy Act of 1970:
    • payments to persons displaced as a result of the acquisition of real property;
    • relocation payments to a displaced homeowner toward the purchase of a replacement dwelling. Such payment may only be to a displaced owner who purchases and occupies a dwelling within one year after the displacement; and
    • replacement housing payments to displaced persons not eligible for a homeowner's payments.
  • Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funded earnings.
    1. Require verification of the WIA funding level and length of time the job will be funded.
      1. Client obtains verification from the employer or WIA Coordinator.
    2. Exempt on-the-job training funds if:
      • it is under the Summer Youth and Training Program (Title II-B) or
      • the person is under age 19 and under the parental control of an adult FS unit member.
    3. Contact the WIA Coordinator for information on the source of funding.
  • Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS).
    1. Complete Discrepancy Referral (Form 1925) to exclude the person who gets money from PASS from central budgeting.
    2. Send Form 1925 to SSA Programs Control.
    3. Deduct the amount of PASS payment when budgeting the income.
  • Disaster Relief Payments

    Included in exempt disaster relief payments are special unemployment benefits to persons who became unemployed due to a disaster and who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance. These benefits are called Disaster Unemployment Insurance and do not appear on the Wage Verification File Inquiry (AWVS). 

  • Additional payments received by military personnel for serving in a combat zone.

    When a FS unit reports that they are receiving money from a member of the military, take the following steps: 

    1. Ask if the service member is deployed to a combat zone. Accept the FS unit's statement that the member is deployed to a combat zone.
    2. Verify the service member's pay that was actually available to the unit before deployment to a combat zone. If the military person was part of the unit for food stamp purposes before deployment to a combat zone, this amount would be the net military pay. If the military person was not part of the unit for food stamp purposes before deployment to a combat zone, it is the amount actually made available to the family before deployment to the combat zone.
    3. Verify the amount of military pay that the deployed service member is making available to the family currently.
    4. Any portion that is more than the amount the unit was receiving immediately before deployment to a combat zone is exempt as combat pay.

      Example: Mrs. W and her children receive FS. Prior to deployment to Iraq, her husband's pay of $1500 was deposited monthly in the joint checking account and budgeted as a contribution for food stamps. After deployment, the amount deposited monthly into the joint checking account was $1600. $100 is exempt as combat pay.

      The amount of the service member's pay made available to the family may be verified by bank records or Leave and Earnings Statements (LES).