Background: On March 8, 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued a memorandum offering states the opportunity to participate in a demonstration project to exclude earned income from temporary employment in the 2020 Census. On April 1, 2019, Ohio was approved to participate in the 2020 Census Income Demonstration Project. Food Assistance Change Transmittal (FACT) #63 was issued on May 13, 2019 outlining that any income received from temporary employment in the 2020 Census is excluded from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) budget, through September 30, 2020.

Updated Policy: On September 30, 2020, FNS notified states participating in the 2020 Census Income Demonstration Project that a recent court order has directed the Census Bureau to continue operations through October 2020. Therefore, income received from temporary employment in the 2020 Census is excluded in the SNAP budget through October 31, 2020.

Implementation: Ohio Benefits (OB) functionality excludes Census income from both cash and SNAP budgets. Workers should enter Census income in OB by completing the following steps:

1.From the Eligibility tab, select Customer Information and access the Employment Screen.

2.a Census employment record for the customer.

3.Once the screen is complete, select “Save and Return” to save the employment record.

4.From the Eligibility tab, select Customer Information and access the Income Screen.

5.Enter “Earnings” as the Income Category and select “Add” to add the income record on the Income Detail Screen.

6.the Income Detail Screen, enter the Type as “Census Earnings – Decennial, Temporary.”

7.For Employment, select and link the Census employment record.

8.Once the Income Detail Screen is complete, select “Save and Return” to save the income record.