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• An individual living alone
• An individual living with others but who buys food and cooks meals separately
• A group of individuals living together who buy food and cook meals together
• Parents living with their children 21 years old or younger (married or unmarried, with their own children or not)
• Adult children (22 years or older) living with their parents can have a separate household as long as they buy and cook their meals apart from the parents
• Siblings living together can have separate households as long as they are 18 years or older and they buy and cook meals apart from each other
• A woman or a woman with children living temporarily in a battered woman's shelter

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Eligibility is determined basically by two things:

• The amount of your household's income, and
• The amount of your household's resources.

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The resource limit for food stamps is $2000 for most households. $3000 is allowed for households with at least one person who is disabled or age 60 or older.

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• Your home and lot
• Vehicles
• Cash surrender value of life insurance policies
• Cash value of certain pension funds
• Household goods and personal property
• Work-related tools and equipment
  

To be eligible, your monthly gross< income (before payroll deductions) must be the same or below the amount listed in the chart below for your household size

Allowable Deductions

• 20% of gross monthly earned income
• Standard deduction of $134, $157 or $179, depending on household size.
• Dependent care deduction of $200 maximum per dependent under two years of age and $175 maximum per dependent for all other dependents is allowed when necessary for the person to work, look for work, or prepare for work through training or schooling
• If housing costs are more than 50% of income after all other allowable deductions are considered, an excess shelter deduction of $400 is allowed. Homeless households that incur shelter costs are allowed a standard deduction of $143.
• Households may be allowed a Standard Utility Allowance of $223 if heating and cooling bills are paid separately from rent/mortgage.

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To qualify for food stamps, students (age 18 to 49) enrolled half-time or more must meet other criteria on the date of the Food Stamp interview, among which are:

• Working at least 20 hours per week
• Approved for state or federally funded work study for the current term
• Have parental responsibility for a child under age 6
• Be a recipient of CalWORKs

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You may get Expedited Services if you are otherwise eligible, and meet any of the following criteria:

• Your combined gross monthly income and liquid resources are less than your total rent/mortgage and utilities; OR
• Your gross monthly income is less than $150, and your total household liquid resources are $100 or less; OR
• You are a migrant or seasonal farm worker who is destitute and have liquid resources of $100 or less.

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All able-bodied persons (ages 18-49) without dependents must work 20 hrs per week (monthly average of 80 hrs) or participate 20 hrs per week in an approved work activity or do workfare, or else get only 3 months of Food Stamps out of a 36-month period. There are some exceptions to this work requirement.

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State law requires adult Food Stamp recipients to be fingerprinted. Your eligibility worker will tell you about this.

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If you are age 60 or over, or you are receiving Social Security Disability (not SSI/SSP), or Medi-Cal due to a disability, or a full VA pension: you may be eligible even though your income is over the gross income limits, if you pay very high rent and utilities and/or have medical expenses well over $35 per month. This must be computed on a case-by-case basis. Call our information number, (916) 874-2072, for more information.

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The size of your household and your monthly income determine how much you
get each month. The less monthly income you have, the more Food Stamps you
will receive.

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Customers are issued a plastic card called an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Card that they then use to make purchases from stores that accept Food Stamp benefits. The stores will have machines, called POS (point of sale) machines, through which the customers will swipe their EBT cards. The amount of the purchase will be automatically deducted from the Food Stamp EBT account.

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The United States Department of Agriculture pays all of the costs of the food stamps benefits issued, and one-half of the administrative costs of the program. The state and county share the other half of the administrative costs.

During May 2005, Sacramento County certified 43,665 households for the Food
Stamp Program; 113,000 individuals were aided during that month.

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Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance is responsible for certifying
eligible households and determining their monthly food stamp benefit amount. The
Department of Human Assistance administers the program under the supervision of the California Department of Social Services.

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Persons living in Sacramento County should call one of the numbers listed below to find out where to apply for food stamps benefits:

SACRAMENTO (916) 874-2072
GALT (209) 745-3484
ELK GROVE (916) 685-9273

If you cannot get to the office, someone who knows your circumstances, and is
authorized by you, can apply and be interviewed for you. If you are disabled and cannot get someone to apply for you, you may be able to apply by mail. Call our Information Number: 916-874-2072

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This Fact Sheet is not to be used as a substitute for state Food Stamp regulations. The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance has copies of the state regulations, which you may review.

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