The caseworker should thoroughly explore irregular income situations. When the caseworker and the individual can arrive at a reasonable estimate of how much income will be received in a month, that amount of income is included in the estimate.
1. Examples of Countable Irregular Income:
Example #1:
Terry received child support during four of the last six months - $100
in February, $200 in April, $50 in May, and $250 in July. Totaling
the four payments ($600) and dividing them over the six-month period the
payments were received, the household received an average payment of $100.
The caseworker
discusses this with Terry and both agree it would be reasonable to expect
an average $100 per month.
Example #2:
Aina creates and sells craft items and a craft store carries the items
on consignment. She
receives income only after an item is sold. Sales
are irregular most of the year. However, during the summer tourist season,
sales pick up. After
paying expenses, she normally receives between $300 and $500 per month
from June - September. Based
on this previous sales history, the caseworker estimates Aina will receive
$400/month from craft sales during the months of June - September. Sales
are extremely sporadic during the rest of the year so no income is anticipated
from this source from October - May. If
Aina states that although sales are irregular during the off-season, she
usually receives at least $50 a month, $50 would be counted each month
from October - May. If
she states that income for most months is completely unpredictable except
around Christmas, the caseworker would explore the anticipated income
from Christmas sales, and include that amount in the estimate of income
for December.
2. Examples of Excluded Irregular Income:
Example
#1:
JoLynn applies for assistance in December. She
most recently received a child/spousal support check in November. Prior
to that, the last check she received was in May. She
tells the caseworker that she can never predict when the checks will arrive.
In this
case, payments cannot be reasonably anticipated so no child/spousal support
income is counted.
Example
#2:
Dave applies for assistance on November 5th. He
works on-call for the city shoveling snow during the winter, but has not
worked nor received any income in November. Since it cannot be reasonably
anticipated when snow will fall, when he will be called into work, or
when income from this source will be received, income from this source
cannot be included in the estimate of income.
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