Federal Veterans Benefits
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in conjunction with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), provide a variety of benefits and services to veterans and their families. These programs provide financial aid for living expenses and medical care to eligible veterans and their dependents who have limited income. VA benefit programs are often coordinated in partnership with local Veterans’ Service Officers (VSOs) and state, county, and local veterans’ service representatives.
In some instances, VSOs make vendor payments on behalf of a veteran for housing costs, utility costs, medical care costs, and other expenses. These vendor payments must be excluded from countable income for SNAP eligibility purposes once verified.
Important: EAEDC applicants and clients who are eligible for, or do receive state veterans’ benefits, are ineligible for EAEDC.
Federal Veterans’ Benefits
Federal veterans’ benefits are treated in the same manner for SNAP, TAFDC and EAEDC. If a client receives state veterans’ benefits, see State Veterans Benefits.
In most circumstances, compensation is paid to a veteran with service-related disability, while a pension is paid to a veteran with a non-service related disability.
When processing an application or recertification for a household that includes a veteran and reports that the household receives federal veterans’ benefits, you must explore what type(s) of benefit is received by the household. Below is a table of the most common federal veterans’ benefits.
| Type | Description | Countable for SNAP / TAFDC/EAEDC? |
|---|---|---|
| Veterans Disability Compensation | Available to certain veterans with a service-related disability. | SNAP: Yes TAFDC: Yes EAEDC: Yes For SNAP, see Unearned Income Overview For TAFDC, see Unearned Income For EAEDC, see Unearned Income |
| Veterans Disability Pension | Available to certain veterans with limited incomes and who are no longer able to work. | SNAP: Yes TAFDC: Yes EAEDC: Yes For SNAP, see Unearned Income Overview For TAFDC, see Unearned Income For EAEDC, see Noncountable Income |
| Veterans Pension for Veterans 65 Years or Older | Available to certain veterans with limited incomes and who are no longer able to work. |
SNAP: Yes For SNAP, see Unearned Income Overview |
| Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) | Available to eligible survivors of veterans who died in the line of duty or eligible survivors of veterans whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease. |
SNAP: Yes For SNAP, see Unearned Income Overview |
| Parents Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (Parents DIC) | An income-based monthly benefit available to the parent(s) of veterans who died in the line of duty or veterans whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease. | SNAP: Yes TAFDC: Yes EAEDC: Yes For SNAP, see Unearned Income Overview For TAFDC, see Unearned Income For EAEDC, see Unearned Income |
| Clothing Allowance | A single, annual benefit paid to veterans available to any veteran whose clothing is worn or damaged as a result of the veterans’ service-connected disability. | SNAP: No TAFDC: No EAEDC: No Clothing Allowance payments are considered noncountable reimbursements. For SNAP, see Noncountable Income For TAFDC, see Noncountable Income For EAEDC, see Noncountable Income Assistance from other social service agencies or organizations that do not duplicate assistance received under Transitional Cash Assistance are excluded. For more, see 106 CMR 704.250 (CC). |
| Post 9/11 G.I. Bill (Chapter 33) | A program providing benefits for veterans pursuing an approved education program at an approved degree-granting institution. |
SNAP: No Payments specifically allocated towards educational expenses and/or sent to the school on the student’s behalf are excluded.
|
| The Yellow Ribbon Program G.I. Bill Education Enhancement Program | A program that allows approved institutions of higher learning and the VA to partially or fully fund tuition and fee expenses that exceed the established thresholds under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. |
SNAP: No For SNAP, see 106 CMR 363.230(B) and 106 CMR 363.230 (D).
Reminder: Any Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is considered countable income unless verification is provided showing that funds are sent directly to the landlord, utility company, or other third party vendor. This must be explored with the client. For SNAP, see Noncountable Income. |
| Montgomery G.I. Bill– Active Duty (MGIB) | A program that provides aid to service members and veterans to meet their education and training costs with monthly benefit payments. |
SNAP: No For SNAP, see 106 CMR 363.230(B) and 106 CMR 363.230 (D).
Reminder: Any Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is considered countable income unless verification is provided showing that funds are sent directly to the landlord, utility company, or other third party vendor. This must be explored with the client.
|
| Montgomery G.I. Bill– Selected Reserve and National Guard (MGIB-SR) | G.I. Bill benefits available to certain Selected Reserve and National Guard members to help with education and training costs. |
SNAP: No For SNAP, see 106 CMR 363.230(B) and 106 CMR 363.230 (D).
Reminder: Any Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is considered countable income unless verification is provided showing that funds are sent directly to the landlord, utility company, or other third party vendor. This must be explored with the client. For SNAP, see Noncountable Income. |
| Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) | A program that provides education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of certain veterans. The program offers up to 45 months of education benefits. | SNAP: No TAFDC: No EAEDC: No Payments specifically allocated towards educational expenses and/or sent to the school on the student’s behalf are excluded. For SNAP, see 106 CMR 363.230(B) and 106 CMR 363.230 (D).
|
Important: The table above is not a complete list of federal veterans’ benefits and may be subject to change.
If a client reports a federal veterans’ payment type that is not covered by the table above, staff are advised to contact the Procedural Mailbox.
Clients inquiring about possible eligibility for these benefit programs should be encouraged to contact their local VSO or visit https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/Applying.asp.
A list of VSOs can be found at https://massvetsadvisor.org/
Case Manager Responsibilities
When processing an application or recertification for a household that includes a veteran who reports that s/he receives federal veterans’ benefits, ask the individual if a VSO makes a vendor payment directly to the veteran’s landlord and/or utility company.
If the answer is yes, the vendor payments must be verified prior to being excluded from countable income for SNAP and TAFDC eligibility purposes. Vendor payments made on behalf of a veteran may be verified by completion of the Veterans Vendor Payment Form by a VSO DVS, or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or by submission of a letter from any federal, state, or local veterans’ service organization.
For more, please see Noncountable Income and Vendor Payments.
All federal veterans’ vendor payments must be re-verified at recertification.
Verifying Federal Veterans’ Benefits
All federal veterans’ benefit payments must be verified in accordance with established procedures. For more see Unearned Income Overview and Verification Chart.
Verifying Federal Veterans’ Vendor Payments
The VSO must provide verification of vendor payments. Vendor payments are most commonly verified by an Explanation/Approval of Benefits letter provided by the VSO. Vendor payments may also be verified by completion of the Veterans Vendor Payment Form by a client’s local VSO.
When a client reports vendor payments are made on their behalf, the Veterans Vendor Payment Form must be sent to the client as a supplement. Clients may use this form or may submit a letter from the VSO or other person/agency making the payment on their behalf stating the amount of vendor payment(s) and to whom it is paid.
Important: When speaking to clients regarding the verification of federal veterans’ benefits, you must remind the client that the local VSO is able to assist in completing the Veterans Vendor Payment Form and that this arrangement may help to increase SNAP benefit amounts.
A list of VSOs can be found at https://massvetsadvisor.org/
Reported vendor payments that are not verified must be included in the client’s countable income until they are verified. In these circumstances, you must include a detailed narrative detailing why the vendor payment has not been excluded from the client’s income.
Entering Federal Veterans’ Benefits in BEACON
In most circumstances, compensation is paid to a veteran with a service-related disability, while a pension is paid to a veteran with a non-service related disability.
Entering veterans’ income for clients receiving federal veterans’ benefits:
- subtract the total amount of vendor payments, if any, from the total amount of the Veterans’ Benefits
- enter the resulting income amount on BEACON as VA Federal Non Service Related or VA Federal Service Related in the Other Income Status window in the Assessed Person Income and Expenses workflow
Entering shelter expenses for clients receiving federal veterans’ benefits:
- subtract the amount of any vendor payment for shelter from the veteran’s full shelter cost and enter the remainder, if any, as the veteran’s shelter amount in the Housing Expenses window
Entering utility expenses for clients receiving federal veterans’ benefits:
- select the appropriate SUA based on the utility expense(s) that the veteran incurs
- create a detailed narrative identifying the vendor payments made on the veteran’s behalf and the verification provided to confirm the vendor payment, and
- wrap up the case
Luis, a retired US Army veteran, applies for SNAP and verifies that his only source of income is a federal veteran’s pension of $1120 per month. This amount includes a basic benefit for a single individual with no dependents.
Luis’s rent is $750 per month, not including heat.
The VSO makes vendor payments of $650 directly to the landlord for Luis’s rent and $150 to a utility company for heating/cooling.
Entering this information into BEACON:
- subtract the Vendor Payment amounts from the client’s income:
$1120 pension income
$ 650 vendor payment for rent
-$ 150 vendor payment for utilities
$ 320 countable income
- enter $320 as VA Federal Non Service Related in the Other Income Status window
- For shelter expenses, subtract the Vendor Payment amounts from the client’s shelter expense:
$750 rent
-$650 vendor payment paid directly to the landlord
$100 Allowable shelter expense
- enter $100 for the allowable shelter expense in the Shelter Expenses page
- answer ‘yes’ to the “Pay/Share heating cost question on the Standard Utility Allowance page
- Follow all other application processing guidelines. For more, please see SNAP Application Processing.