Lottery/Gambling Disqualification – Basic Food

Created on: 
Jan 18 2020

Online Processing

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.

What is a lottery/gambling disqualification?

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published a final rule, effective June 14, 2019, to implement Section 4009 of the 2014 Farm Bill, which prohibits individuals with substantial lottery and gambling winnings from receiving Basic Food benefits until they meet allowable financial resource and income requirements.

“Substantial winnings” are defined as a cash prize won in a single game, before taxes or other amounts are withheld, that are equal to or greater than the SNAP resource limit for elderly or disabled households.

For more information about how resources affect eligibility, see EA-Z Manual – WAC 388-470-0005 How do resources affect my eligibility for cash assistance and Basic Food?

When does Basic Food terminate for a lottery/gambling disqualification?

When substantial winnings are entered for a household participating in Basic Food, a Lottery/Gambling (G) penalty is added to the client with the winnings on the Sanctions page, and the household terminates for Reason Code 402 - Lottery/Gambling Disqualification. This happens when all of the following are true about the client with the winnings:

  • The amount of an individual Lottery/Gambling Winnings entry is greater than or equal to the SNAP resource limit for elderly or disabled households.
  • The Date Received for the winnings falls within a month the client was active on a Basic Food AU with one of the following financial responsibility codes:
    • Recipient (RE)
    • FAP Recipient (RN)
    • FS E&T Disqualified (FD)
    • IPV/Drug Felon Disqual – FS (ID)
    • Non IPV Disqualified (ND)
  • The client was Active (A) on the Basic Food AU at the start of the day, or the AU is being reinstated.
  • The client does not have one of the following reason codes listed at the client level:
    • Living Arrangement – Food Assistance (206)
    • Failed Residency Requirement (210)
    • Death (244)

How does a household re-qualify for Basic Food after being terminated for a lottery/gambling disqualification?

When someone is disqualified for lottery/gambling winnings, then reapplies or is added to an active food AU, the household is no longer Categorically Eligible (CE). To re-qualify, the household must have income under 130% FPL and resources under the applicable resource standard:

  • If the total Gross household income is above 130% FPL, the household is denied or terminated for Reason Code 320 – Exceeds Gross Income Limit.
  • If the total household resources standards, the AU is denied or terminated for Reason Code 401 – Over Resources.

Once the household re-qualifies, the Penalty End Date is updated on the Sanctions page, and Basic Food is approved.

If a Lottery/Gambling disqualification was entered in error, or the household is not subject to the penalty because the household composition changed, the penalty can be manually deleted from the Sanctions page. For more information, see How do I manually delete a Lottery/Gambling disqualification?

Online Processing

How do I disqualify a household for lottery/gambling winnings?

To disqualify a household for substantial lottery/gambling winnings, take the following steps in ACES 3G:

  1. On the Resources page in ACES 3G, from the Action bar, click Add.
  2. In the Add dialog box, make the following selections and click Next:
  • Add Type menu – Select Lottery/Gambling Winnings.
  • Client menu – Select [the client with the winnings].
  1. On the Lottery/Gambling Winnings page, update the following fields:
  • Amount field – Enter the [amount of the lottery/gambling winnings].
  • Date Received field – Enter the [date the client received the winnings].
  1. On the Eligibility Details page, verify the following displays on the Eligibility Details page:
  • Financial Responsibility field –
    • The client with the lottery or gambling winnings and the AU terminate for Reason Code 402 - Lottery/Gambling Disqualification.
    • All other household members terminate for Reason Code 245 - No Eligible Household Members.
  1. On the Eligibility page, click Commit Changes.

When a lottery/gambling disqualification is entered for a historical month, ACES creates a Benefit Error Group (BEG). Determine if the BEG is appropriate and confirm or ignore the issuance as appropriate. For more information, see Benefit Error Group (BEG).​

How do I manually delete a lottery/gambling disqualification?

If a lottery/gambling disqualification was entered in error, or the household is not subject to the penalty because the household composition changed, the penalty can be manually deleted from the Sanctions page.

To manually delete a lottery/gambling disqualification, take the following steps:

  1. On the Sanctions page, in the Disqualification section, click the checkbox under the far right column.

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.