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State of Wisconsin |
Release 24-03 |
7 CFR 273.3
Applicants for FoodShare benefits must live in or be temporarily absent from Wisconsin.
Guidelines for determining residency (see Section 1.2.3.5 Wisconsin Residency Verification):
| Note | Applicants already receiving other programs of assistance, such as BadgerCare, have already been determined to be living in Wisconsin. No further action is required to determine the applicant is living in Wisconsin. |
7 CFR 273.1(b)(1)(iii)
Children may only be included in one assistance group. Children are placed in the assistance group of the parent or caregiver that applied for benefits first.
If a child lives in a household without a caregiver or parent exercising parental authority, they may establish their own household for the purpose of applying for and receiving benefits.
Children may split their time in multiple different residences. There is no requirement for the amount of time children must reside with a caregiver or parent to be included in the assistance group.
| Example 1 | Steve applied for FoodShare for both him and his son, Mark. Steve reports that Mark lives with him three days per week and spends 4 days per week with Mark’s mother. Mark is included in Steve’s assistance group. |
| Example 2 | Betty’s parents have split custody. During the summer Betty alternates weeks, spending time with each parent. In June, Betty’s dad applies for FoodShare for himself and Betty. Betty is already receiving FoodShare on her mom’s case. Betty will continue to receive FoodShare on her mom’s case. |
| Note |
A person can be in more than one food unit but may only receive benefits in one FoodShare assistance group at a time. A person cannot be a member of more than one FoodShare assistance group in the same month (see Section 3.3.1 Food Unit/Assistance group/Relationships and Section 3.4.1 Dual Membership and Duplicate Benefits). |
Primary Caregiver or Parent
In most cases, children are included in the assistance group of the person who filed first. If this is not satisfactory, the parents or guardians must mutually decide which assistance group includes the children. This mutual agreement must be documented in the case file.
If there is a dispute regarding assistance group placement, then a primary caregiver or parent is determined by the IM worker. The children are then included within the primary caregiver or parent’s assistance group.
A court order a establishing a primary caregiver or parent should be followed. A court order may reference the person exercising parental control, the person with primary placement, or similar language.
When determining who the primary caregiver or parent is, compare activities and responsibilities against the list below. Eligibility workers are not required to address each question. They can be used to determine which parent or caregiver is exercising more parental control. This can be helpful in determining the primary caregiver or parent and FoodShare assistance group for the children.
| Example 3 | Mary and Aaron have shared custody of their child, Ryan. Aaron applied for and started receiving FoodShare benefits for himself and for Ryan. Three months later, Mary applies for FoodShare benefits for herself and Ryan. Mary confirms that both she and Aaron share custody of Ryan. However, Mary disagrees with Ryan being excluded from her FoodShare assistance group and included in Aaron’s FoodShare assistance group. Aaron and Mary cannot agree on a mutual arrangement. The worker must make a primary caregiver or parent determination. The worker reviews the details of the case and asks more questions of Aaron and Mary. This includes information about where Ryan goes to school and other responsibilities. Ryan spends days with Aaron and nights with Mary. However, Mary maintains a home for Ryan, he attends school in Mary's district, and Mary provides for most of Ryan’s needs. The worker determines that Mary is the primary caregiver or parent of Ryan. Ryan will receive FoodShare benefits as a part of Mary’s assistance group and leave Aaron’s assistance group. |
Nesting
“Nesting” or “bird's nest” custody is a joint custody arrangement where the children remain in the family home and the parents or caregivers take turns moving in and out of the family home. In other words, the parents are “visiting” the children instead of the children visiting the parents. The parents share financial responsibility for the home and the children. As long as the nesting agreement is in place and being followed, both parents and children will remain as one food unit and assistance group.
| Example 4 | Trudy and John have a nesting agreement in place. Trudy is staying the family home with the children Monday, Tuesday, and every other Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. John is staying in the family home with the children Thursday, Friday, and every other Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. The household bills such as mortgage, utilities, and child care expenses are shared between Trudy and John. As long as this agreement is in place and being followed, Trudy, John, and their children are all considered one food unit and assistance group. |
A FoodShare member is temporarily absent when they are out of the home for an extended period, with the intent of returning home. Multiple FoodShare members or an entire FoodShare household could be temporarily absent. There is no limit to the amount of time a member can be temporarily absent.
A member or household can stay in Wisconsin, out of state, or out of the country during their temporary absence. A member may be temporarily absent for various reasons. Examples of a temporary absence include, but are not limited to, illness or hospitalization, employment, caring for someone outside of one's home, child visitation schedules, and extended vacations.
To be considered temporarily absent, a person must have already been part of the food unit and receiving benefits before reporting the absence. A member or household's temporary absence status must be re-evaluated at renewal.
| Example 5 | Daniel applies for FoodShare on behalf of his roommate Grace and himself. Daniel says that Grace is currently receiving in-patient substance abuse treatment outside of Wisconsin and will return to the household sometime in the next few months. Grace is not considered temporarily absent since she was not a part of the household at the time of the application. She is not included in the assistance group. When Grace returns from treatment, she may be included in the assistance group if she passes all the non-financial and financial eligibility requirements. |
| Note | Do not require verification of Wisconsin residency for individuals or households claiming to be temporarily absent. |
A person is no longer considered temporarily absent, and ineligible for FoodShare in Wisconsin, when any of the following occur:
Additional Considerations
| Example 6 | John receives FoodShare but had to go to Georgia to take care of a sick relative. John will be returning to Wisconsin after alternative care has been arranged. John is temporarily absent and remains eligible for FoodShare. |
Someone absent solely for full-time service in the military is not considered temporarily absent but is part of the food unit. However, this individual would not be part of the assistance group. Income from this individual may be included in the FoodShare assistance group if it is available to the other food unit members.
If military income is direct deposited into an account jointly owned by the person in the military and a member of the FoodShare assistance group, it will be counted as unearned income, with the exception of combat pay. Military allotments paid to a spouse or dependent of the person in the military are budgeted as unearned income as long as the spouse or dependent is a member of the FoodShare assistance group. This includes cash sent directly from the person in the military to a FoodShare assistance group member.
See Section 4.3.4.3 Disregarded Unearned Income for the treatment of combat pay.
An individual who is incarcerated for more than 30 days is ineligible for FoodShare unless they meet all the Huber criteria listed below.
Some inmates may be allowed to leave jail for various reasons under the Huber Law, also known as the Huber Program. Huber Law prisoners who are released from jail to attend to the needs of their families can become or remain eligible for FoodShare if both the following are true:
Huber Law prisoners who are released for a purpose other than attending to the needs of their families are not eligible for FoodShare.
A Huber law prisoner released under a bracelet monitoring program who continues to live in the home is eligible for FoodShare.
The temporary absence policy (see Section 3.2.1.2 Temporary Absence) does not apply for Huber and those monitored under the bracelet program.
| Note | Under simplified reporting rules, a change in household composition is not required to be reported until SMRF or renewal. |
| Example 6 | A mother with three school age children has been sentenced to serve 90 days in a Huber facility. She is released at 8 a.m. to her place of employment and must report directly back to the Huber facility by 4:30 p.m. This mother is absent from the household and is not eligible for FoodShare benefits. |
| Example 7 | A father applies for FoodShare for himself and his two school age children. He is sentenced to serve 90 days in a Huber facility. Under the terms of his sentence, he is released each morning at 6 a.m. to report to his job; at 3 p.m. he is to leave his job and report to his home to care for his children, including fixing and eating dinner with them. He must report back to the Huber facility by 8 p.m. This father is temporarily absent from the FoodShare household and is eligible for FoodShare benefits. |
| Example 8 | A father is on a bracelet monitoring program under the Huber program, living with his wife and child at home and working full time. Some of his wages are intercepted by the county jail to offset incarceration and monitoring costs. Treat this case as a FoodShare assistance group of three and budget the gross amount of his wages. |
7 CFR 271.2
A homeless individual is someone who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or an individual whose primary nighttime residence is:
A supervised shelter designed to provide temporary accommodations (for example, a welfare hotel, congregate shelter, or transitional housing),
A halfway house or similar institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized,
A temporary accommodation for not more than 90 days in the residence of another individual, or
A place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (for example, a hallway, bus station, a lobby, or similar places).
| Note |
A homeless youth is someone, other than a foster child who is under 18 years of age, who is temporarily seeking accommodation in the residence of another individual other than their parent. A homeless youth under “parental control” must apply as part of the same food unit as the adult. A homeless youth under parental control is defined as someone who is financially or otherwise dependent on a member of the household, unless state law defines such a person as an adult. While some homeless youth may fall under the parental control of a non-parent household member, other homeless youth may not. Anyone who, under FoodShare policy, is considered an individual living alone, should be afforded the opportunity to apply as a one-person household. |
| Example 9 | Jack is a 16-year-old homeless youth who is working part-time and is not financially dependent on the adult with whom he is temporarily residing with. In this case, Jack can apply for FoodShare as a one-person household. |
Determine eligibility for a homeless shelter resident as if they are living independently (not residing in an institution or facility). Homeless shelters include transitional and temporary housing. An individual residing at a shelter for the homeless is homeless.
Transitional housing helps homeless people move to independent living in a reasonable amount of time. It includes housing designed to serve deinstitutionalized homeless individuals, homeless people with mental disabilities, and homeless families with children.
Temporary housing includes housing commonly known as a "rooming house."
The homeless person may use FoodShare benefits to purchase prepared meals from authorized shelters, some restaurants, and grocery stores.
A shelter authorized to accept FoodShare benefits may not also be the person's authorized representative.
7 CFR 273.1(b)(7)
An institution is any establishment that provides care and/or services above and beyond meals and lodging.
A resident of an institution is anyone who receives the majority of their meals as part of the institution's normal operations (greater than 50% of three meals daily).
Residents of institutions are ineligible for FoodShare.
Some facilities appear to be institutions but are not. Persons living in the following licensed or authorized facilities may be eligible for FoodShare:
7 CFR 273.11(f)
A Residential Care Apartment Complex (RCAC) is a place where five or more adults reside that consists of independent apartments, each of which has an individual lockable entrance and exit, a kitchen, including a stove or microwave, an individual bathroom, sleeping, and living areas.
Residents of RCAC facilities that offer optional meal services, separately from the cost of care, can be treated as single apartment dwelling residents and be non-financially eligible for FoodShare.
Residents of these facilities that do not have meal services separate from the cost of care may be eligible if the resident is not considered a resident of an institution. A resident of an institution is anyone who receives the majority of their meals as part of the institution's normal operations, more than 50% of their daily meals. Residents would be eligible for FoodShare if they choose a meal plan provided by the facility that provides less than 50% of their daily meals.
Every tenant has a signed “Service Agreement” with the RCAC provider, which lists the services the tenant is to receive from the facility (including meals) and the fees charged for those services. Charges for meals should be separately identified in this agreement. Both the resident and the facility are provided copies of the service agreement (contract). However, most RCAC’s do not have a separate lease for individual tenants.
The name and address of the facility on the service agreement can also be used to verify that the residence is an RCAC by checking against DHS's Residential Care Apartment Complex Directory.
The meal situation must be provided for each RCAC resident who requests FoodShare. Verification must be requested if the meal situation is unclear, or the member’s statement is questionable. Failure to provide verification when questionable will result in FoodShare closure or denial.
| Example 10 | Maria lives in an RCAC. Her service agreement shows she has no meals included in her cost of care, but she does have the option to select from various meal plans. She has opted to prepare all of her meals herself and not purchase any meal plan from the RCAC. She would be non-financially eligible for FoodShare. |
| Example 11 | John also lives in the same RCAC. He has opted to purchase one of the dinner meal plans from the RCAC. Because the meal plan is purchased separately from his cost of care and the plan provides less than 50% of his daily meals, he would also be non-financially eligible for FoodShare. |
| Example 12 | Francis lives in an RCAC that does not offer the option to buy meal plans separately from the cost of care. Her meals are included in the monthly cost of care. She does not meet the non-financial eligibility criteria for FoodShare. |
7 CFR 273.11(f)
A group living arrangement is a public or private nonprofit residential setting serving no more than 16 residents. It must be certified by the appropriate state or local agencies.
Any resident of a group living arrangement who is elderly, blind, or disabled may be eligible for FoodShare.
The resident may purchase meals from the group living arrangement when the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) authorizes the facility to accept and redeem FoodShare (see Section 3.22.1 Designated Representatives).
Determine the resident's eligibility as a one-person food unit (see SECTION 3.3.1 FOOD UNIT/FOODSHARE ASSISTANCE GROUP/RELATIONSHIPS) when the facility applies as an authorized representative. If the resident applies on their own behalf, determine the group size according to food unit rules.
Residents of a group living arrangement who move out before the 16th of the month should have half of their FoodShare allotment for the month returned by the authorized representative.
| Note | A group living arrangement or facility authorized representative must not be listed as an authorized buyer for anyone living in the facility. |
An Adult Family Home (AFH) is a type of group living arrangement where care and maintenance above the level of room and board, but not including nursing care, are provided in a private residence by the care provider whose primary domicile is this residence. The residence may have three or four adults, or more adults if all of the adults are siblings, each of whom has a developmental disability. A residence that meets these criteria can be considered an AFH regardless of whether it is licensed to be an AFH.
The individual in an AFH who is receiving foster care or paying board may be in their own FoodShare assistance group. This is true regardless of whether the care provider prepares the individual’s meals as part of the care that is received in the AFH.
The individual providing care for an individual(s) in an AFH can choose to include an individual(s) in their group or they can be separate. However, the care provider would be required to include their spouse and/or any children under the age of 22 in their group.
7 CFR 271.2
7 CFR 273.11(e) and (f)(6)
DHS 75.03 General requirements
Residential alcohol and drug treatment facilities are defined as: private facilities, nonprofit organizations or institutions, community-based residential facilities, hospitals, or publicly operated community mental health facilities. These facilities are not institutions.
The Department of Health Services (DHS) certifies these facilities according to DHS 75.03 General requirements. State certification of these facilities should not be confused with state licensing of drug and alcohol treatment facilities. Such licensing is not required for FoodShare eligibility.
For an individual of a residential treatment facility to be certified to receive and use their FoodShare benefits to purchase meals, the facility must either be:
Title XIX list of facilities for substance abuse and for mental health.
An individual residing in a treatment facility may voluntarily apply for FoodShare. If an individual will be using FoodShare to purchase meals, the facility or an employee of the facility must be designated as an authorized representative with the Appoint, Change, or Remove an Authorized Representative form (F-10126B, Organization). The authorized representative must apply on the individual’s behalf (see Section 3.22.1 Designated Representatives).
If the individual is the primary person on an existing case, the facility or employee will need to be added as an authorized representative. All other household members will need to re-apply on their own to continue to receive benefits. Individuals residing in the facility must receive or have access to their notices, access to their case information and be allowed to file a fair hearing.
The resident is the QUEST cardholder and the primary person on the case. The QUEST cardholder or the authorized representative, if granted permission by the resident, may purchase meals prepared and served by the facility, food purchased from another authorized retailer, or both.
Reminder: The authorized representative cannot also be the authorized buyer.
Determine the eligibility of an individual residing in a treatment facility as a one-person FoodShare food unit, unless the resident is a parent whose child(ren) resides with them at the facility. Include any child(ren) residing with their parent(s) at the facility, whether or not the facility provides the majority of the child(ren)'s meals, when determining eligibility.
| Note | Faith-based treatment and rehabilitation facilities are not required (by law or FNS regulation) to allow residents to opt-out of religious programming or activities in order to participate in the FoodShare program. |
When a household is discharged from the treatment facility, the facility must perform the following:
If a member from an existing FoodShare case is residing in a drug or alcohol treatment facility and is not using FoodShare benefits to purchase food and meals, the member is considered temporarily absent from the home. In this case, the member does not need to appoint an authorized representative.
Outpatient treatment centers offering communal meals must meet both of the following criteria to be eligible to accept FoodShare benefits:
7 CFR 273.11(g)
A shelter for victims of domestic violence is a public or private nonprofit residential facility serving this population.
Shelters for victims of domestic violence may act as the authorized representative for FoodShare applicants and members. Document the basis that the facility is eligible to participate. Any shelter for victims of domestic violence authorized by FNS to redeem FoodShare benefits at wholesale stores is eligible.
A shelter resident may be a member of an eligible FoodShare assistance group before entering the shelter. Although in most cases an individual may not be a member of two FoodShare assistance groups in the same month, a resident of a shelter for victims of domestic violence may be eligible for dual benefits as a separate FoodShare assistance group while living at the shelter. This occurs when the earlier food unit contains the person who allegedly abused the resident.
They are food units separate from:
Residents of shelters for victims of domestic violence should have financial eligibility determined solely on the basis of the income and expenses of the individuals in the food unit now residing in the shelter, and they may count shelter room payments as shelter expenses.
Review the former FoodShare assistance group's eligibility and allotment. Re-test the former group and include the change in FoodShare assistance group composition.
Exempt residents of any federally subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled from the "residents of institutions" policy.
HUD funds some housing units primarily for the aged and disabled. This housing is called Section 202, Section 221(d)(3), and Section 236 housing. These housing units provide meals if the resident cannot get them without help.
Residents of 202/236 housing may still be eligible for FoodShare benefits. If you are unsure if a residence is an institution or 202/236 housing, contact the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority at 608-266-7884 to verify.
This page last updated in Release Number: 24-02
Release Date: 08/22/2024
Effective Date: 08/22/2024
Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.
Publication Number: P-16001