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Determining

Income Eligibility

Student

Workbook

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook

Introduction:In this course the student will learn how to determine income eligibility for applicants on the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

Modules 1. Overview

2. Includable Income 3. Excludable Income

4. Family Size Determination 5. Data Validation

6. OPS002 Age and Income Eligibility Application or eForm 7. Case Study

8. Wrap up

At the end of this course you should be able to:

• Identify those forms of income that count towards the threshold of 125% poverty limit based on family size.

• Identify those forms of income or assistance that do not count for determining income eligibility

• Describe how family size and family income factors determine income eligibility

• Explain the process for determining a family of one due to disability

• Identify additional resources for determining income eligibility and supporting data validation requirements

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Determining Income Eligibility

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Module 1: Overview

Maria is 59 years old and lives with her daughter and grandson in her daughter’s home. Her daughter claims her as a dependent when filing income taxes. We have determined that Maria meets all of the requirements and has presented the acceptable forms of data validation to be a participant in the Senior Community Service

Employment Program. This includes age and employment status. Our next step is to determine if Maria meets the income requirement to become a program participant. Maria has a documented and validated disability.

References:

• Section 204 titled Computing Income of the Experience Works policy manual

• SCSEP Data Collection Handbook

• OPS002 Age and Income Eligibility Application Form

Case Study 1: Maria Colon

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Walt is 63 years old and lives alone. Walt has a son and a daughter who both live out of state. Upon initial intake into the program it looks like Walt will be a good candidate to become a participant. We have most of the upfront stuff out of the way but we have yet to determine if Walt will qualify based on his income status.

Case Study 2: Walt Williams

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Module 2: Includable Income

The learning objective for this module is for the student to be able to identify those forms of includable income that count towards the threshold of 125% of the poverty limit based on family size.

1. The income eligibility limit for the Senior Community Service Employment Program is established based on 125% of the poverty limit determined by the US Department of Labor.

2. This limit also factors in family size.

3. The federal poverty limit gets adjusted annually.

When we determine annual family income or the income for a single individual, we must use one of two methods to compute. The method that is more beneficial to the applicant is to be used. The two methods of computing countable family income are:

1. Compute the actual countable income for the 12 months preceding the date of application, or

2. Compute the actual countable income for 6 months preceding the date of application and then multiply by two to annualize the total income.

1. Wages and Salary:

• total money earnings received for work performed as an employee during the year;

• gross wages received by each member of the family who is counted in the family; and

• gross salary before deductions for such items as income tax, bonds, pensions, health insurance, FICA, union dues, etc. This category includes wages, salary, armed forces pay, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, and cash bonuses earned, before deductions are made for such items as taxes, bonds, pensions, and union dues

2. Self-Employment Income: The net money income (gross receipts minus operating expenses) from a business firm, farm, rent or other enterprise in which a person is engaged.

3. Social Security: For all applicants and persons included in the family, gross Social Security, i.e., 75%

of the SSA benefits, is counted and the remaining 25% is excluded. Benefits include social security pensions, survivors’ benefits, and permanent disability insurance payments made by the Social Security Administration prior to deductions for medical insurance. Do not include Medicare reimbursements for health services as social security benefits.

Types of Includable Income

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4. Survivors’ Benefits (excluding from Social Security Administration): Payments received by

participants or applicants from survivors’ or widows’ pensions, estates, trusts, annuities or any other type of survivors’ benefits, including those from private companies or unions; federal government (civil service); military; state or local governments; railroad retirement; Workers’ Compensation; Black Lung payments; estates and trusts; annuities or paid-up insurance policies; and other survivors’

payments.

5. Pension or Retirement Income: Payments participants or applicants receive from private

companies or unions; federal government (civil service); military; state or local governments; railroad retirement; annuities or paid-up insurance policies; individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Keogh or 401(k) payments; or other retirement income.

6. Interest Income: Payments participants or applicants receive (or have credited to accounts) from bonds, Treasury notes, IRAs, certificates of deposit, interest-bearing savings and checking accounts, and all other investments that pay interest.

7. Dividends: Income participants or applicants receive from stock holdings and mutual fund shares.

Do not count capital gains from the sale of stock holdings as income.

8. Rents, Royalties, Estates, and Trusts: Net income participants and applicants receive from the rental of a house, store, or other property; receipts from boarders or lodgers; net royalty income; and periodic payments from estate or trust funds.

9. Educational Assistance: Pell grants; other governmental educational assistance; any scholarships or grants; or financial assistance participants and applicants receive from employers, friends, or relatives not residing in the participant’s or applicant’s household.

10. Alimony: All periodic payments participants and applicants receive from ex-spouses. Alimony excludes one-time property settlements.

11. Financial Assistance from Outside the Household: Periodic payments participants and applicants receive from non-household members. This type of assistance does not include gifts or sporadic assistance.

12. Other Income: All other payments participants and applicants receive regularly. Some examples are state programs such as military family allotments and income received from foreign government pensions.

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook Maria Colon:

o Maria receives Supplemental Social Security Income: $750 on the 1st of each month and she received the same amount on every month last year).

o Maria receives a small survivor’s benefit payment from her husband’s employer of $300 per month and she receives this check on the 15th of each month. She has been getting this check for the last 10 months.

Walt Williams:

o Walt has had a lot of jobs never staying too long at any one place so he receives a single pension payment of

$300 per month received on the 1st of each month. These payments started 3 months ago.

o He also has received Social security payments of $550 per month on the 15st day of the month for the last 2 months.

o Going back a full year Walt received $1000 per month in wages right up until 6 months ago.

Case Study: Part 2

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Module 3: Excludable Income

Excludable incomes are the forms of income that do not count towards the applicant’s income eligibility.

1. Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Federal, state, and local welfare agency payments to low- income people who are 65 years old and older or people of any age who are blind or have a disability.

2. Unemployment Compensation: Payments a participant or applicant receives from government unemployment agencies or private companies during periods of unemployment and any strike benefits received from union funds.

3. Social Security: 25% of the gross Social Security received by the applicant and/or persons counted in the family. Benefits include social security pensions, survivors’ benefits, and permanent disability insurance payments made by the Social Security Administration prior to deductions for medical insurance. Do not include Medicare reimbursements for health services as social security benefits.

4. Veterans’ Payments: Payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs for education and on-the-job training and means-tested assistance.

5. Public Assistance or Welfare Payments: Such cash public assistance payments as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and general assistance and emergency assistance received by or on behalf of the individual whose eligibility is being determined. Further, do not count income from other employment and training programs, including SCSEP.

6. Disability Benefits: With the exception of disability survivors’ benefits, do not count payments that participants or applicants receive as a result of a health problem or disability. Do not count disability payments received from the following sources:

•Workers’ Compensation;

• Private companies or unions;

• Federal government (civil service);

• Military;

• State or local governments;

• Railroad retirement;

• Accident or disability insurance;

• Black Lung payments;

• State temporary sickness; or

• All disability payments, including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

Types of Excludable Income

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7. Income from Other Employment and Training Programs, including SCSEP.

8. Title V Wages: The SCSEP program wages of the individual and other family members whose income is being determined for eligibility.

9. Child Support: Child support payments.

10. Workers’ Compensation: Payments participants or applicants receive periodically from public or private insurance companies for injuries received at work. Count if payments are survivors’ benefits.

11. Certain Payments to Native Americans: The first $2,000 of certain per capita fund distributions made to Native Americans pursuant to the Indian Claims Act, P.L. 93-134 and P.L. 97-458, Section 4.

12. Payment to Certain Volunteers: Payments to volunteers under the National Community Service Trust Act of 1993 or similar legislation, including payments to VISTA volunteers, Senior Companions, and Foster Grandparents (programs funded by the Senior Companions of the Corporation for National Community Service).

13. Sale of Property: Capital gains people receive (or losses they incur) from the sale of property, including stocks, bonds, a house, or a car (unless the person is engaged in the business of selling such property, in which case count the net proceeds as income from self-employment).

14. Other Income: Withdrawals from bank accounts, money borrowed, or tax refunds. Do not count lottery winnings that are collected in one lump sum.

15. Inheritances and Insurance Payments: Lump-sum inheritances and insurance payments from accident, health, disability, life, or casualty insurance policies.

16. Disaster Unemployment Assistance: Disaster Unemployment Assistance received as a part of a National Emergency Grant.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook Maria Colon:

o Maria has some bonds that have been paying $25 per month in dividends for the last 2 years. 3 months ago Maria sold those bonds for a hefty $5000 profit.

Walt Williams:

o As luck would have it Walt had a winning scratch-off lottery ticket that paid out a $10,000 lump sum.

o Walt’s children help out monthly with his living expenses by contributing $200 every month for his rent.

They have been doing this since Walt turned 60 years old.

Case Study: Part 3

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook

Module 4: Family Size Determination

The learning objective for this module is for the student to be able to describe how family size and family income factors into determining income eligibility.

Definition of Family

For the purpose of determining income level for eligibility in SCSEP, a “family” is defined as:

a husband, wife, and dependent children; or a parent or guardian and dependent children; or a husband and wife;

and who live in the same household.

A person with a disability may be treated as a Family of One for income eligibility determination purposes. (Also see Policy 203B, Responsibility for Documenting Eligibility.)

Exception to Above Definition of Family

If an applicant is claimed as a dependent on the federal income tax return of another family member with whom he/she resides, then the family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people are considered as members of one family, including related subfamily members.

There are several definitions of subfamily:

• Subfamily – a married couple with or without children or one parent with one or more of his/her own never- married children less than 18 years old. A subfamily does not maintain its own household, but lives in the home of someone else.

• Related subfamily – a married couple with or without children or one parent with one or more of his/her never-married children less than 18 years old, living in a household and related to, but not including, the person or couple who maintains the house hold. One example of a related subfamily is a young married couple sharing the home of the husband’s or wife’s parents.

• Unrelated subfamily (formerly called a secondary family) – a married couple with or without children, or a single parent with one or more of his/her own never-married children under 18 years old living in a household.

Unrelated subfamily members are not related to the householder. An unrelated subfamily may include such people as guests, partners, roommates, or resident employees and their spouse and/or children. An unrelated subfamily is not included in the determination of income eligibility for SCSEP.

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• In addition, a person with a disability may be treated as a Family of One. This means that a person with a documented and validated disability that is part of a family of 2 or more people, and does not qualify income wise for the Senior Community Services Employment Program because the family income exceeds the 125% poverty level for the family size, may be treated as a family of 1 and only have the applicant’s income considered for program eligibility.

Maria Colon:

o Maria lives with her daughter and grandson.

o She is claimed as a dependent on her daughter’s income tax return.

o Maria’s daughter works for a Fortune 500 company as a data analyst. She has been earning $5,800 per month for the last 12 months. Maria’s grandson is an exceptional student and has a partial academic scholarship at a nearby private university amounting to $500 per month.

Walt Williams:

o Walt lives alone.

o Both his son and daughter separately contribute $100 each to help with Walt’s rent. This is not on a regular basis.

Case Study: Part 4

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Module 5: Data Validation

Experience Works representatives we need to be able to demonstrate to the Department of Labor that the applicants we enroll in our program meet the eligibility requirements.

The Data Validation Handbook is loaded with information regarding the conditions required to determine both family size and income eligibility and the documentation required to validate that income.

The Data Validation also outlines the process for determining income based on the “look back date” (or date of application) for determining what calculation is most advantageous to the applicant:

Six months multiply by two, or Twelve months

The Data Validation Handbook is updated periodically, so always check to make sure that you are using the current version with up-to-date information.

Some examples of the information available to you in the Data Validation Handbook:

Documentation requirements for family size Definitions for family

Income exclusions

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ETC Workbook

Module 6: OPS002 Age & Income Eligibility Application Form (eForms)

The student will be able to complete the income worksheet using the online Age and Income Application or eForm.

Step by step process:

1. First determine family size and enter that into the “Number in family” field. The drop down menu for that field lists all of the forms of acceptable documentation for data validation of family size.

2. Next, select the “Go to Income Worksheet Dialog”. This link takes you out of the eForm into what is referred to as a wizard. What’s a “wizard” you ask? A wizard is a software application that guides you through the steps to complete a task. The task we want to complete is determining the applicant’s income eligibility.

References:

• The complete form is covered in the eForm Age and Income Application or OPS002 Training Guide.

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ETC Workbook

3. Indicate the last 12 months ending date (If 60 days or more has transpired since the original application date, the income information must be recalculated).

4. Next, you must choose whether you are using 6 months or 12 months of the household income in this determination.

5. Click on the box “Press to Set Date.” This sets the date for the “look back” period and is used for making calculations based on when checks are paid to the applicant.

6. When the “Next” link pops up, click on it to progress to the next page.

7. You will now be guided through the includable income types by the worksheet.

8. Select “no” if the includable income type does not apply or select “yes” if the includable income type applies to the applicant.

9. If you select “Yes” then select “Next” and you will be taken to the Income Worksheet for that type of

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ETC Workbook

10. Enter the income information into the worksheet. Notice in the upper right hand corner, there is a “On what day of the month is the check issued box?”. You will need the applicant to provide this information for the worksheet in order to properly calculate the corresponding form of income.

For example if you are taking the application on the 10th day of the month and the applicant receives the check on the 15th, that form of income for the current month will be “0”. Using the same day for taking the

application, if the applicant tells you the check is received on the 1st. day of the month, since this day occurs before the 10th of the month, the day you are taking the application on, you will need to make sure you include the income for the current month.

11. Work through each type of includable income selecting “yes” or “no” as applicable.

12. If it is determined that the applicant is a member of a family of 2 or more, you fill follow a similar series of questions to determine family income.

13. After completing all of the includable income types for the applicant and family that apply, you will be taken to a series of “yes” or “no” check boxes for excludable income.

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ETC Workbook

14. When you select “next” it will take you to the income worksheet with all of the forms of includable income listed across the top row. This worksheet adds all of the types of includable income together for both the applicant and all family members.

15. The right hand column has subtotals. The grand total is displayed in the bottom right corner. The system will calculate the lesser of 6 months times 2 or 12 months.

16. After you have entered all of the includable and excludable income, select “Back to form” and we will see that the calculated income is populated on page 9 of the eForm Age and Income Application.

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ETC Workbook

17. Next, using the check boxes, select the type of documentation used to verify the types of includable income.

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ETC Workbook

Module 7: Case Study

To complete this case study it is recommended that the student use the OPS002 income worksheet in the eForms test site to do the calculations. Participant assistants should use an OPS002 Age and Income Application offline template.

1. To access the eForms test site go to the Experience Works Homepage (www.experienceworks.org ).

2. Select eForms-Test.

3. Log in using your eForm User name and password.

Make sure that you are in the test site.

4. Then select OPS002 (for staff) or OPS003 (for participant assistants) to complete the case study.

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook Go to page 9 to complete the case study calculations.

Complete this section and then select “Go to Income Worksheet Dialog”.

Case Study 1: Maria Colon

Maria is 59 years old and lives with her daughter and grandson in her daughter’s home. Her daughter claims her as a dependent when filing income taxes.

We have determined that Maria meets all of the

requirements and has presented the acceptable forms of data validation to be a participant in the Senior Community Service Employment Program. This includes age and employment status.

Our next step is to determine if Maria meets the income requirement to become a program participant.

Maria has a documented and validated disability.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

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Determining Income Eligibility

ETC Workbook The income that Maria receives each month:

o Supplemental Social Security Income: $750 on the 1st of each month (she received the same amount last year).

o She receives a small survivor’s benefit payment from her husband’s employer of $300 per month. She receives this check on the 15th of each month. She has been getting this check for the last 10 months.

o Maria has some bonds that have been paying $25 per month in dividends for the last 2 years. 3 months ago Maria sold those bonds for a hefty $5000 profit.

o Maria is claimed as a dependent on her daughter’s income tax return.

o Maria’s daughter works for a fortune 500 companies as a data analyst. She has been earning $5,800 per month for the last 12 months.

o Maria’s grandson is an exceptional student and has a partial academic scholarship at a nearby private university amounting to $500 per month.

Now lets move on to Walt:

o He receives a single pension payment of $300 per month received on the 1st of each month. These payments started 3 months ago.

o He receives Social security payments of $550 per month on the 15st day of the month for the last 2 months.

o Going back a full year Walt received $1000 per month in wages, right up until 6 months ago.

o Walt had a winning scratch-off lottery ticket that paid out a $10,000 lump sum a few months ago.

o And finally, Walt’s children also help out with his living expenses by contributing $200 per month towards his rent. They have been doing this since Walt turned 60 years old.

Your mission is to answer the following questions that will be in the knowledge check for this module:

1. What are Maria’s and Walt’s total includable income? Calculate total family income if the situation applies.

2. Based on family income, determine if they qualify for the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

3. If either Maria or Walt fail to qualify based on family income is there another process that can be used to

Case Study 2: Walt Williams

Walt is 63 years old and lives alone. Walt has a son and a daughter who both live out of state.

Walt is a recent retiree and has elected to begin his social security payments.

The income that Walt receives each month:

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ETC Workbook

Module 8: Wrap Up

Review of the course objectives:

Identify those forms of income that count towards the threshold of 125% poverty limit based on family size. You have had the opportunity to see all 12 categories of includable income as they are defined in the Experience Works Senior Community Service Program Policy Manual.

Identify those forms of income or assistance that do not count for determining income eligibility. There are 16 categories of excludable income that we reviewed. All of these categories are excluded from the applicant’s income eligibility determination.

Describe how family size and family income factors into determining income eligibility. We looked at how family size can affect an applicant’s income eligibility for the program.

Explain the process for the determination of a family of 1 due to disability. Given that family income may exceed income eligibility limits for an applicant in the case where there is a documented and validated disability, the applicant may still qualify if we use only the individual applicant’s income.

Identify additional resources for determining income eligibility and supporting data validation requirements. We briefly looked at the Experience Works Senior Community Service Employment Program Policy Manual, the Data Validation handbook and the eForm Age and Income Eligibility Application or OPS002, these are excellent resources to use when determining and applicant’s income eligibility.

Complete the income worksheet using the Electronic Age and Income Eligibility Application or (OPS002).

We walked through the Income Worksheet wizard feature of the electronic application and saw how this facilitates the income eligibility determination process.

Reminders:

If in doubt about how to treat any form of income, or determination of family size, consult the resources that we covered in this course. If you still have questions contact your supervisor for assistance.

Remember, program eligibility can only be determined by the Employment and Training Coordinator. Participant Assistants can gather the information, documentation, and complete the Income Worksheet but cannot determine whether an applicant is eligible for the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

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ETC Workbook

Appendix 1: Includable and Excludable Types of Income

References

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