Frequently Asked Questions About Food Stamps and Child Support

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, formerly food stamps, and the Child Support program improve the health and well-being of millions of low-income families every year.

They do this by providing vital nutrition through food stamps and child support by ensuring that children receive financial support from both parents, if possible. The overlap between the two programs is critical. 

The food stamps and child support

The Child Support program serves the majority of qualified low-income families. However, some children with a parent living outside the household do not receive child support from their non-residential parents. Usually, parents are poor, not because they are not willing to provide support to their children. 

Any household may qualify to receive support such as food stamps and child support if their income and resources are low enough. Families may be if you live alone or live with others but buy food and cook meals separately. 

You can also be a group of people that live together who buy food and cook meals together. Parents living with their kids who are 21 years old or younger, adult children who are 22 years old or older, and a woman - with or without kids - who live in a battered women's shelter are also considered households.

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How to qualify for food stamps and child support?

To qualify for food stamps, the organization will determine your household's gross income and household resources. 

To apply for food stamps in person, go to SF Department of Human Services, 1235 Mission St. (Btw. 8th and 9th Streets). The office is open from Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. If you cannot get to the office, someone that knows your situation and is authorized by you can apply and be interviewed for your instead. If you are disabled and cannot get someone to use it for you, you may apply through mail. You may also call the Outreach Hotline with the numbers 558-1001.

If you are applying online, visit www.benefitssf.org or www.benfitscalwin.org. 

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For parents who are trying the determine the best approach when it comes to public assistance and child support, you should be mindful of these things: 

• You can continue to receive public aid without your child on the case
• You may decide to stop your child's public assistance case if you determine that the child support funds are enough
• General assistance may reduce or cancel your case if the child support funds are enough to support the child
• Without public assistance funds, you may still receive other services for your children, such as medical benefits and food stamps. 

Suppose you are a parent, and your public assistance case is canceled, or you canceled it yourself. In that case, you will begin to receive child support payments directly instead of the amounts being diverted to the government agency. 

Understanding the difference between food stamps and child support may be difficult and hard for some. For more information and a better understanding of child support, parents should visit their respective state's child support guidelines or speak with a qualified attorney. 

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