118. Can DTA suspend or stop my SNAP benefits if I committed an IPV or fraud?

Also in

Listen

Show Endnotes

SNAP Advocacy Guide

By

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Reviewed

January 2024

Text

If you are found guilty of an IPV by a court of law or by a DTA hearing officer – or you waived your right to an IPV hearing or signed a consent agreement in court – you will not be eligible for SNAP benefits for yourself for

one year for the first violation,
two years for the second violation, and
permanently for the third violation¹

DTA can only stop SNAP benefits for the person who committed the intentional program violation. The IPV disqualification does not affect children or other people who are in the same household with the person who committed the IPV². However, any income of the disqualified member will count against the rest of the household. The household also has a lower gross income test than other SNAP households. See counting income of an ineligible immigrant.

DTA has to follow special notice and hearing rules if it has charged you with an IPV³.

Widgets

When the disqualification period starts

The disqualification period must start the month following the date that you received written notification of a hearing decision where the hearing officer made an IPV determination⁴. If DTA misses that date, or starts the disqualification late, you should not be disqualified for additional months that DTA missed.

Even if you are no longer getting SNAP at the point of the notification or during the disqualification, the SNAP disqualification period still starts the month following the month of the hearing decision. DTA cannot initiate a disqualification at some later date or suspend the disqualification until you reapply. Contact Legal Services if this is an issue.

Example

On July 15, 2016, a hearing officer found that Rachel committed an IPV and disqualified her for 12 months. DTA then sent her a notice of the disqualification on July 17th. Rachel was not getting SNAP at the time of the IPV disqualification. Her 12 months start August 2016. She can reapply in September of 2017. If Rachel has another family member, such as a child, she can still get SNAP for that child during the disqualification period, even though she is ineligible.

The disqualification penalties are more severe for people found guilty, in court, of trading SNAP benefits for drugs or firearms, trading more than $500 in benefits, or getting multiple benefits with a fake identity or address⁵^,⁶.

DTA should contact SNAP households when the sanction period is ending to evaluate whether the sanctioned individual can be added back onto the SNAP case.

Troubleshooting

If you received SNAP in another state and you were found to have committed an IPV in that state, DTA can continue that disqualification in Massachusetts. The length of the disqualification period starts with the date you were notified of the original IPV.

Example

Philip was disqualified from SNAP in Montana in January 2022 for 1 year. His SNAP disqualification ends January 2023, even if he moved to Massachusetts in March of 2022.

Expand All

When the disqualification period starts

The disqualification period must start the month following the date that you received written notification of a hearing decision where the hearing officer made an IPV determination⁴. If DTA misses that date, or starts the disqualification late, you should not be disqualified for additional months that DTA missed.

Even if you are no longer getting SNAP at the point of the notification or during the disqualification, the SNAP disqualification period still starts the month following the month of the hearing decision. DTA cannot initiate a disqualification at some later date or suspend the disqualification until you reapply. Contact Legal Services if this is an issue.

Example

On July 15, 2016, a hearing officer found that Rachel committed an IPV and disqualified her for 12 months. DTA then sent her a notice of the disqualification on July 17th. Rachel was not getting SNAP at the time of the IPV disqualification. Her 12 months start August 2016. She can reapply in September of 2017. If Rachel has another family member, such as a child, she can still get SNAP for that child during the disqualification period, even though she is ineligible.

The disqualification penalties are more severe for people found guilty, in court, of trading SNAP benefits for drugs or firearms, trading more than $500 in benefits, or getting multiple benefits with a fake identity or address⁵^,⁶.

DTA should contact SNAP households when the sanction period is ending to evaluate whether the sanctioned individual can be added back onto the SNAP case.

Troubleshooting

If you received SNAP in another state and you were found to have committed an IPV in that state, DTA can continue that disqualification in Massachusetts. The length of the disqualification period starts with the date you were notified of the original IPV.

Example

Philip was disqualified from SNAP in Montana in January 2022 for 1 year. His SNAP disqualification ends January 2023, even if he moved to Massachusetts in March of 2022.

DTA Online Guide

Endnotes

1:

106 C.M.R. § 367.800(A)

2:

106 C.M.R. § 367.800(F)

3:

106 C.M.R. §§ 367.600-367.750

4:

106 C.M.R. § 367.625

5:

106 C.M.R. § 367.800(B)