Food Stamps And Other Nutrition Programs

Can you get food stamps?

To get food stamps, you and the other people in your household must meet certain conditions. (Your household includes everyone who buys and prepares food together.)

Everyone who is applying in your household must have or apply for a Social Security number and be either a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, an American Indian born in Canada or Mexico or have status as a qualified alien. The following qualified aliens are eligible for food stamps without a waiting period:

• Legal immigrant children under 18;

• Blind or disabled legal immigrants who receive disability assistance or benefits;

• Elderly individuals born on or before August 22, 1931, and who legally resided in the U.S. on August 22, 1996.

• Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) with a military connection (includes Hmong or Highland Laotian tribes that helped the U.S. military during the Vietnam era, veterans, active duty, or a spouse or a child of a veteran or active duty service member);

• Refugees admitted under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);

• Asylees under section 208 of the INA;

• Immigrants whose deportation or removal is withheld under section 243(h) or 241(b)(3) of the INA;

• Cuban or Haitian entrants under section 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;

• Amerasian immigrants under ­section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 1988.

The following qualified aliens are eligible if they have lived in the U.S. for five years from date of entry or if they have a sufficient work history (40 work credits) to qualify:

• LPRs;

• Parolees (paroled for at least one year under section 212(d)(5) of INA);

• Conditional entrants under 203(a)(7) of INA in effect prior to April 1, 1980;

• A battered spouse, battered child or parent or child of a battered person with a petition pending under 204(a)(1)(A) or (B) or 244(a)(3) of INA.

If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in California, you are not eligible for food stamps because the state includes extra money in the amount it adds to the federal SSI payment.

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Homeless people and food stamps

If you are homeless you can still get food stamps even if you do not have an address, a place to stay or a place to cook meals. You are considered homeless if you do not have a fixed regular nighttime residence or your primary nighttime residence is a temporary accommodation in:

• A supervised shelter;
• A halfway house;
• The residence of another person; or
• A place not designed for regular sleeping, such as a hallway, bus station or lobby.

Other nutrition programs available

The food stamp program is just one of many nutrition programs available. The federal government and many state and local government agencies sponsor numerous programs that provide people with information about, and access to, a more nutritious diet. Many of these programs also are set up to improve the health and eating habits of children.

Here are two examples:

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)

• The WIC program provides nutritious foods to supplement the diets of low-income pregnant, postpartum and breast-feeding women, infants and children up to five years of age. It also provides nutrition education and referrals to health services and other assistance programs.

• WIC is administered by the Department of Agriculture through state health departments. Eligibility is based on income and on nutritional risk as determined by a health professional.

Contact your state or local health department for more information about this program.

Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP)

• NSIP (formerly Nutrition Program for the Elderly or NPE) is a food program designed to help older people. It is run by the Department of Health and Human Services through the state agencies on aging. NPE is part of the Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging, which also authorizes in-home services for frail elderly people, support services and senior center operations. The nutrition services program provides elderly Americans with nutritious meals.

• If you are age 60 or older, you are eligible for the program and so is your spouse, even if he or she is not 60 years old. Age is the only factor used to decide if you are eligible. You do not have to meet any income limits to get meals through the program.

• Neighborhood centers for the elderly serve well-balanced, hot or cold meals at least once a day, five days a week. When possible, transportation is offered to and from the sites for those who need it. Home-delivered meals, usually called “Meals on Wheels,” are provided to elderly people who are homebound.

For more information about this program, contact your local Office on Aging or ask your local Social Security office.