N.M. Admin. Code § 8.139.610.11

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 21, November 5, 2024

Section 8.139.610.11 - USE OF SNAP BENEFITS

Pursuant to Subsection D of Section 15 of the Food Stamp Act, SNAP benefits are an obligation of the United States within the meaning of 18 United States Code (U.S.C.) 8. The provisions of Title 18 of the United States Code, "crimes and criminal procedures," relative to counterfeiting, misuse, or alteration of obligations of the U.S., are applicable to SNAP benefits. Any unauthorized issuance, redemption, use, transfer, acquisition, alteration, or possession of SNAP benefits may subject an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity to prosecution under Subsections B and C of Section 15 of the Food Stamp Act or other applicable federal, state, or local law, regulation, or ordinance.

A. General uses: SNAP benefits are used by participants to purchase eligible foods, including seeds and plants, for home consumption. A household may designate other individuals to use SNAP benefits to purchase food for them. A household is not required to have cooking facilities or access to cooking facilities to participate in the program.

B. Special uses: Although SNAP benefits were originally intended to be used by eligible households to purchase food for home consumption, certain households are authorized to use SNAP benefits to obtain prepared meals or to facilitate their obtaining food. Authorized special uses for SNAP include:

(1) Communal dining: Eligible household members 60 years of age or over or SSI recipients and their spouses may use SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared at communal dining facilities authorized by FNS. Communal dining facilities include senior citizen centers, apartment buildings occupied primarily by elderly persons or SSI households, public or private nonprofit establishments (eating or otherwise) that feed elderly persons or SSI recipients, and federally subsidized housing for the elderly at which meals are prepared and served to the residents. They also include private establishments under contract with an appropriate state or local agency to offer meals at concessional prices to elderly persons or SSI recipients.

(2) Meals-on-wheels: Eligible household members 60 years of age or over or members who are homebound, physically handicapped, or otherwise disabled to the extent that they are unable to adequately prepare all their meals, and the spouses of such members, may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared and delivered to them by a nonprofit meal delivery service authorized by FNS. A meal delivery service is a political subdivision, a private nonprofit organization, or a private establishment with which a state or local agency has contracted for the preparation and delivery of meals at concessional prices to elderly individuals and their spouses, and to the physically or mentally handicapped and individuals otherwise disabled, and their spouses, such that they are unable to adequately prepare all of their meals.

(3) Addicts and alcoholics in treatment programs: Members of eligible households who are narcotics addicts or alcoholics who regularly participate in a drug or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared for them during the course of such programs by a nonprofit organization or institution or a publicly operated community mental health center which is authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.

(4) Residents in group living arrangements: Eligible residents of a group living arrangement may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared especially for them at a group living arrangement authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.

(5) Residents of shelters for battered persons: Residents of shelters for battered persons may use their SNAP benefits to purchase meals prepared specifically for them at a shelter authorized by FNS to redeem SNAP benefits.

(6) Residents of shelters for the homeless: Homeless households may use their SNAP benefits to purchase prepared meals from homeless meal providers authorized by FNS.

C. SNAP benefits as income: SNAP benefits provided to an eligible household will not to be considered income or resources for any purpose under federal, state, or local laws, including but not limited to, laws on taxation, welfare, and public assistance programs. No participating state or political subdivision may decrease any other assistance provided to an individual or individuals because such individuals receive SNAP benefits.

N.M. Admin. Code § 8.139.610.11

02/01/95; 8.139.610.11 NMAC - Rn, 8 NMAC 3.FSP.614, 5/15/2001, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 14, July 24, 2018, eff. 7/24/2018, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXV, Issue 13, July 16, 2024, eff. 7/16/2024