461-110-0210    Effective 04/01/11
Household Group

1. This rule describes who is included in the household group. The household group generally consists of the individuals who live together with or without the benefit of a dwelling. For homeless people, the household group consists of the individuals who consider themselves living together.

2. A separate dwelling is not recognized for the purpose of determining the members of a household group unless the living space has, separate from any other dwelling, an access to the outside that does not pass through another dwelling, a functional sleeping area, bathroom, and kitchen facility.

3. Each individual in the household group who applies for benefits is an applicant. The household group and applicants form the basis for determining who is in the remaining eligibility groups.

4. For all programs except the SNAP program, a separate household group is established for individuals who live in the same dwelling as another household group, if all the following subsections are true:
   1. There is a landlord-tenant relationship between the two household groups in which the tenant is billed by the landlord at fair market value (see OAR 461-001-0000) for housing.

   2. The tenant lives independently from the landlord.

   3. The tenant:
      1. Has and uses sleeping, bathroom, and kitchen facilities separate from the landlord; or

      2. Shares bathroom or kitchen facilities with the landlord, but the facilities are in a commercial establishment that provides room or board or both for compensation at fair market value.

5. Individuals who live with more than one household group during a calendar month are members of the household group in which they spend more than half of their time, except as follows:
   1. In the ERDC program, if a child (see OAR 461-001-0000) lives with different caretakers during the month, the child is considered a member of both household groups.

   2. In the MAA, MAF, and TANF programs:

      1. If a parent (see OAR 461-001-0000) sleeps at least 30 percent of the time during the calendar month in the home of the dependent child (see OAR 461-001-0000), the parent is in the same household group as the dependent child.

      2. A dependent child is included in the household group with the caretaker relative (see OAR 461-001-0000), who usually has the major responsibility for care and control of the dependent child, if the dependent child lives with two household groups in the same calendar month for at least one of the following reasons:
         1. Education.

         2. The usual caretaker relative is gone from the household for part of the month because of illness.

         3. A family emergency.

   3. In the SNAP program:
      1. The individual is a member of the household group that provides the individual more than half of his or her 21 weekly meals. If the individual is a child, the child is a member of the household group credited with providing the child more than half of his or her 21 weekly meals. A household group is credited with providing breakfast and lunch for each day the child departs that group's home for school, even if the child eats no breakfast or lunch at that home.

      2. During the month in which a resident of a domestic violence shelter (see OAR 461-001-0000) enters the domestic violence shelter, the resident may be included both in the household group he or she left and in a household group in the domestic violence shelter.

6. In the OSIPM program, individuals receiving waivered care or nursing facility care are each an individual household group.

7. In the QMB program, the household group consists of the client and the client's spouse (see OAR 461-001-0000), even if the spouse does not meet all nonfinancial eligibility requirements.

8. Individuals absent from the household for 30 days or more are no longer part of the household group, except for the following:
   1. In all programs except the SNAP program, an individual in an acute care medical facility remains in the household group unless the individual enters long-term care.

   2. In the CEC, CEM, ERDC, EXT, HKC, MAA, MAF, OHP, REF, REFM, SAC, and TANF programs:
      1. A caretaker relative who is absent for up to 90 days while in a residential alcohol or drug treatment facility is in the household group.

      2. A child who is absent for 30 days or more is in the household group if the child is:
         1. Absent for illness (unless the child is in a long-term care Title XIX facility), social service, or educational reasons;

         2. In foster care, but expected to return to the household within the next 30 days; or

         3. For the OHP program only, in a residential alcohol or drug treatment facility. If the household group of the child in a residential alcohol or drug treatment facility is ineligible because of income, the child is a separate household group.

   3. In the ERDC, HKC, and OHP programs, an individual in the household group who is absent because of education, training, or employment, including long-haul truck driving, fishing, or active duty in the U.S. armed forces.

   4. In the MAA, MAF, and REFM programs, in a two-parent household, a parent remains in the household group if the requirements of both of the following paragraphs are met:
      1. The parent is absent because of education, training or employment -- including absence while working or looking for work outside the area of his or her residence, such as long-haul truck driving, fishing, or active duty in the U.S. armed forces; and

      2. The other parent remains in the home.

   5. In the REF and TANF programs when a filing group includes more than one caretaker relative (see OAR 461-001-0000), a caretaker relative in the household group who is absent because of education, training, or employment -- including absence while working or looking for work outside the area of his or her residence, such as long-haul truck driving, fishing, or active duty in the U.S. armed forces.

9. In the OSIP-EPD and OSIPM-EPD programs, the household group consists only of the individual applying for or receiving benefits.

Stat. Auth.: ORS 411.060, 411.070, 411.404, 411.706, 411.816, 412.049, 414.231
Stats. Implemented: ORS 411.060, 411.070, 411.404, 411.704, 411.706, 411.816, 412.001, 412.049, 414.025, 414.231, 414.826, 414.831, 414.839

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