A destitute household with liquid resources of $100 or less has the right to get expedited service. Expedited service allows a household to get SNAP benefits faster than usual. All household members must be migrant or seasonal farm workers to be considered destitute.
7 CFR § 273.2(i)(1)(ii)
All expedited service rules in Chapter 506 apply to migrant or seasonal farm worker households that are entitled to expedited service. The CAO must make sure that households eligible for expedited service receive their first SNAP benefits within five calendar days of the application receipt date.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)
A household is destitute if its only income during the month of application is:
From a terminated (ended) source, received before the application date;
Not more than $25 from a new source received within 10 days of the application; or
A combination of terminated and new sources of income.
The grower, not the crew chief, is the migrant or seasonal farm worker's source of income. A farm worker who travels with the same crew chief from one grower to another is considered to have moved from a terminated source of income.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(vi)
The crew chief is the source of income if the crew chief pays a migrant or seasonal farm worker for work done directly for the crew chief, such as bookkeeping or cooking.
If a seasonal farm worker changes job locations but still works for the same employer, the source has not changed. For example, if a worker picks apples for Knouse Fruitland in October and then goes to work in their processing factory in November, the household is not destitute. The source of income has not terminated.
The CAO must evaluate all income sources to determine destitution if the migrant or seasonal farm worker's household has more than one source of income.
A terminated source of income is income that stopped before the application date and is not expected again from the same source, no matter the amount of the terminated income.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(i)
The CAO must count the actual amount of any terminated income received in the month of application when determining eligibility and benefit amount.
Income is considered from a “terminated source” in these two ways:
The household receives income monthly or more frequently and does not expect income from the same source from the application date through the next month.
Example: A migrant farm worker reports at application on July 16 that work with a local grower ended in early July and that he got his last weekly pay on July 15. He will not be paid by his new grower until August. The only income for the month is from a terminated source, because he will get no further income from the first grower in July or August. The household is destitute.
The household receives income less often than monthly and does not expect income from the same source in the next payment month.
Example: Quarterly income last received in April would not normally be received again until July. If a payment is not expected in July, the income is from a terminated source, and the household is destitute in July.
If the migrant or seasonal farm worker will receive more than $25 from a new source of income within ten days after the application date, the household is not destitute.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(ii)
The CAO must not expect income if neither an amount over $25 nor receipt within ten days can be reasonably predicted.
Example: A migrant farm worker household applies on September 5. The only income expected for the application month is pay from a job with a new grower. Work began on September 1, and the first pay is expected on September 10. The CAO contacts the grower and verifies the pay date and a gross amount of $67. The household is not destitute. The CAO must determine whether the household meets other criteria for expedited service.
Income is from a new source if it is:
Received monthly or more frequently, and not more than $25 from that source was received in the 30 days before the application date.
Examples:
A migrant farm worker applies on April 10 and reports he will start work for a new employer the next week. The first pay date is April 23. The income is from a new source, because he received no money from the new employer in the past 30 days. The household is destitute, because the income is from a new source and is not expected to be over $25 within 10 days.
A farm worker applies on July 10 and reports that he began work for a new grower on June 24 and received $25 on July 1. He expects a second payment from the same grower on July 28. The farm worker is destitute.
Received less often than monthly, and not more than $25 from that source was received within the last normal payment interval.
Example: A household reports at application that it received quarterly income last January and will not receive it in April. It received no income since the January payment. The income is from a new source, and the farm worker's household is destitute.
A travel expense paid by a new employer as reimbursement must not be counted when determining destitution. However, travel expenses given under written contract as a pay advance must count as income when determining destitution.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(v)
The contract may be a written agreement signed by both parties, or it may be a written statement from the employer addressed to the employee at the time of or before the worker receives the advance. The agreement must state that the advance will be deducted from future pay.
A migrant or seasonal farm worker household may receive income from a terminated source before the application date and from a new source after the application date and still be considered destitute. (See Section 516.22 and Section 516.23.)
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(iii)
Example: A migrant household applying on July 10 is part of a crew that moved from one grower to another to harvest different crops. The household received its last pay from the previous grower on July 8 and will receive its first pay from the new grower on July 21. The household is destitute, because its only income for the application month is from both new and terminated sources and it will not receive any income from the new source within ten days after the application date.
The CAO must count only income received between the first of the month and the application date when determining the benefit amount for a destitute migrant or seasonal farm worker.
7 CFR § 273.10(e)(3)(iv)
The CAO must disregard any income anticipated from a new source after the application date.
NOTE: This also applies if the farm worker meets destitution criteria for the first month of a new certification period.
The CAO must not average income for destitute migrant or seasonal farm worker households and must not count any income expected after the application date when calculating the first month's benefit.
Reissued March 1, 2012, replacing August 20, 2008