9 CCR 2503-6-3.605 - Income
The countable income equals gross earned income minus the employment disregard of $90, minus the maintenance or child support paid to others outside the assistance unit, minus the amounts actually paid by the individual to other individuals not living in the home and who could be claimed by the individual for federal income tax purposes, plus any unearned income received by the stepparent or non-participant parent. The needs of the stepparent or parent of the minor parent, and the needs of individuals living in the home for whom the stepparent or parent are responsible shall be deducted from the result to determine the amount attributed to the assistance unit.
The client may rebut the county department's determination that the income of the sponsor is available. If such a determination is made, the sponsor's income will not be deemed to the assistance unit.
Enforcement of duties under affidavit of support shall be the responsibility of the sponsored immigrant.
All countable income, including earned and unearned income received, or unearned income an assistance unit expects to receive in the application month and any month following shall be used to determine eligibility for the assistance unit.
Earned in-kind income shall be income resulting from the performance of services by the client for which he or she is compensated in shelter or other items in lieu of wages.
"Earned Income" is still considered when:
With the exception of contract employment, wages that are paid to an employee for a period for which services were rendered are considered available when paid rather than when earned, except that wages held at the request of the employee are considered income in the month they would otherwise have been paid.
Income received from short-term employment such as temporary employment (ninety days or less) and subsidized employment shall not be considered to determine eligibility as long as the client has not been terminated or has terminated the employment due to a fault of their own. This employment may be documented in the Individualized Plan.
Unless otherwise specified, any earned income is countable and the applicable earned income must be considered against the applicable needs standard.
The amount of wages, salaries, or commissions available to the client after the applicable disregards is considered the net earned income.
When a client is the care provider to another client for whom a Home Care Allowance (HCA) payment is made, the HCA payment is considered earned income to the client who is the care provider.
All earned income of dependent children who are not students or making satisfactory progress in an equivalent activity shall be considered in determining eligibility for Colorado Works.
All self-employment income that is received regularly shall be considered income in the month it is received.
If receipt of self-employment income is irregular or varies significantly from month to month, it shall be averaged over a twelve-month period.
Some different types of self-employment income and how they are considered include, but are not limited to, the following:
In-kind income received in exchange for employment is employment income and shall have the appropriate earned income disregards applied to the total value of the income. The amount considered as earned income when a client is paid in-kind is the value of the item supplied. The current market value of the item is used if the value of the item is not provided.
Unless otherwise specified, any unearned income is countable and together with all other countable income of the client it must be considered against the applicable assistance program need and/or grant standards specified in the regulations covering the different programs.
Countable unearned income includes, but is not limited to the following, as well as other payments from any source, which can be construed to be a gain or benefit to the client and which are not earned income:
The following types of periodic payments are countable unearned income:
For the purpose of determining eligibility for Colorado Works, the following shall be exempt from consideration as income:
Notes
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