WAC 388-475-0820 SSI-related medical -- Child-related income exclusions

1. The department excludes an allowance from a person’s earned and /or unearned income for a child living in the home when:

   1. The minor child lives with an SSI-related parent; and 

   2. The minor child is not receiving a needs-based cash payment such as TANF or SSI; and

   3. The SSI-related parent is single; or

   4. The SSI-related parent lives with a spouse who has no income; and

   5. The individual applying for or receiving SSI-related medical benefits is the adult parent. The maximum allowance is one-half the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR) for each child. The child’s countable income, if any, is subtracted from the maximum child’s allowance before determining this allowance.

2. Foster care payments received for a child who is not SSI-eligible and who is living in the household, placed there by a licensed, non-profit or public child placement or childcare agency are excluded from income regardless of whether the person requesting or receiving SSI-related medical is the adult foster parent or the child who was placed.

3. Adoption support payments, received by an adult for a child in the household that are designated for the child’s needs, are excluded as income. Adoption support payments that are not specifically designated for the child’s needs are not excluded and are considered unearned income to the adult.

4. Earned income of a person under age twenty-two is excluded if that person is a student .

5. Child support payments received from an absent parent for a child living in the home are considered the income of the child.

6. One-third of child support payments received for a child are excluded from the child’s income.

7. Any portion of a grant, scholarship, fellowship, or gift used for tuition, fees and/or other necessary educational expenses at any educational institution is excluded from income for nine months after the month of receipt.

8. Gifts to, or for the benefit of, a person under 18 years old who has a life-threatening condition, from an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from taxation under section 501 (a) of that Code, is excluded as follows:

   1. In-kind gifts that are not converted to cash; or

   2. Cash gifts up to a total of $2,000 in a calendar year.

9. Veteran’s payments made to, or on behalf of, natural children of Vietnam veterans regardless of their age or marital status, for any disability resulting from spina bifida suffered by these children are excluded from income.

10. Unless it is specifically contributed to the client, all earned income of an ineligible or non-applying person under the age of twenty-one who is a student:

    1. Attending a school, college, or university; or

    2. Pursuing a vocational or technical training program designed to prepare the student for gainful employment.