Health & Benefits

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a government benefits program that helps low-income families buy food. A SNAP unit can be an individual or  a group of people who need help with money to buy food. A unit is typically a family but does not have to be a family. Those included in a SNAP unit may not necessarily be the same people in a household unit for other benefits, like TANF or Medicaid. 

A SNAP unit can be:

• A person of any age who lives alone,
• A person who lives with others, but buys and makes his or her own food, or
• A group of people who live together and buy and make their food together.

The size of the SNAP unit helps the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) determine how much money a person should get. 

The following people must be included in a SNAP unit:

• A spouse that lives with the recipient,
• Any parent and their child under age 22, and
• Anyone under age 18 who is under the parental control of an adult SNAP unit member. This means they are dependent on the non-parent adult SNAP unit member), even if they eat separately. This person does not count in a SNAP unit if they live with their own spouse, child or children and purchases and prepares their meals separately.

In the case of parents who share joint custody of a child or children, the children can be included in a SNAP unit if they live at least 50% of the time with the parent who is applying for SNAP benefits. The children cannot also actively be part of a SNAP unit with the other parent.

You may choose to include or exclude any foster children in your SNAP unit.

Yes. It is possible for someone to live in the same house as their child and be considered a separate SNAP unit. People must be living in totally separate living quarters with no shared living space to be considered a separate SNAP unit. For example, if the child is living in a completely separate apartment in the basement of the parents’ home. The apartment must have its own kitchen, bathroom, etc. Then, the parent and child may be considered separate SNAP units. In some situations, college students living in a household may be excluded from the SNAP unit. Some qualifying members may be considered two separate SNAP units even though they purchase and make their food with the people they live with. A local IDHS office can help people figure out if they have separate SNAP units.

A person who meets "elderly disabled status" and lives with others can be a separate SNAP unit from any other people in the household. The person with elderly, disabled status, or their spouse, must be 60 or older. They must not be able to buy and prepare food due to a severe and permanent disability. The people the elderly disabled person lives  with must have income below limits set by IDHS. This limit is currently less than 165% of the federal poverty guideline.

Generally, a resident of an institution or shelter does not qualify for SNAP benefits because the institute provides meals as part of its normal service. Someone can still qualify for SNAP benefits if they are: 

• Homeless and their primary nighttime residence is a supervised shelter providing temporary lodging or a halfway house providing temporary residence for persons who will be institutionalized,
• A victim of domestic violence temporarily residing in a shelter for domestic violence survivors, or
• A resident of a
  • Drug or alcohol treatment center,
  • Group living arrangement facility, or
  • Federally subsidized housing for the elderly.