Department of Social Services (765)

337 (language only)

A. The amount for the Food Stamp program shall be expended under regulations of the Board of Social Services to reimburse county and city welfare/social services boards pursuant to §63.2-401, Code of Virginia, and subject to the same percentage limitations for other administrative services performed by county and city public welfare/social services boards and superintendents of public welfare/social services pursuant to other provisions of the Code of Virginia, as amended.

B. Pursuant to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, the Department of Social Services shall, in cooperation with local departments of social services, maintain a waiver of the work requirement for food stamp recipients residing in areas that do not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for such individuals, including those areas designated as labor surplus areas by the U.S. Department of Labor.

C. To the extent permitted by federal law, food stamp recipients subject to a work requirement pursuant to § 824 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, as amended, shall be permitted to satisfy such work requirement by providing volunteer services to a public or private, nonprofit agency for the number of hours per month determined by dividing the household's monthly food stamp allotment by the federal minimum wage.

D. The Department of Social Services shall, to the extent permitted by federal law, disregard the value of at least one motor vehicle per household in determining eligibility for the food stamp program.

E. The Department of Social Services shall develop a multi-lingual outreach campaign to inform qualified aliens and their children, who are United States citizens, of their eligibility for federal food stamps and ensure that they have access to benefits under the food stamp program. To the extent permitted by federal law, the department shall administer the food stamp program in a way that minimizes the procedural burden on qualified aliens and addresses concerns about the impact of food stamp receipt on their immigration sponsors and status.