The Matter of Tina Leggio v. Sharon Devine

CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 13, 2020
Docket9
StatusPublished

This text of The Matter of Tina Leggio v. Sharon Devine (The Matter of Tina Leggio v. Sharon Devine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Matter of Tina Leggio v. Sharon Devine, (N.Y. 2020).

Opinion

State of New York OPINION Court of Appeals This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York Reports.

No. 9 In the Matter of Tina Leggio, Appellant, v. Sharon Devine, &c. et al., Respondents.

Beth C. Zweig, for appellant Tina Leggio. Andrew W. Amend, for respondent Devine. Empire Justice Center, amicus curiae.

WILSON, J.:

In this CPLR article 78 proceeding, a parent challenges the determination of a local

social services agency, confirmed by a state agency, that child support payments she

receives, made for the benefit of five of her children living at home, including two college -1- -2- No. 9

students between the ages of 18 and 22, are included as “household” income when deciding

whether and to what extent the household is eligible for benefits under the federal

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as “food

stamps.” She contends that because her two children in college are ineligible for SNAP,

their pro rata share of the support funds should be excluded, lowering the household’s

income such that it would qualify to receive SNAP benefits. We confirm the agency’s

determination based on deference to its policy choice in administering a federal assistance

program.

I.

Congress created SNAP to provide food for people in need. SNAP is administered

by the states, in compliance with rules and regulations set by the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA). SNAP benefits are disbursed to “household” units based on a

formula that considers a household’s income and size.

At the relevant time, petitioner Tina Leggio was a single parent raising five children

under the age of 22. 1 The two eldest children were full-time college students who lived at

home. Because they did not satisfy any of the conditions for a student enrolled in higher

education at least half-time to be eligible for SNAP, as enumerated in 7 CFR 273.5(b), and

were not otherwise eligible for a federal exemption under the law, they were ineligible for

the program. The children’s father paid $593.75 per week to support all five children. The

1 Ms. Leggio’s sixth child was older than 22 at the relevant time and is not at issue in this appeal.

-2- -3- No. 9

household had been receiving SNAP benefits because Ms. Leggio’s income, including the

child support, had been below the applicable income limit.

In October 2014, upon Ms. Leggio’s application to recertify under SNAP, the

Suffolk County Department of Social Services (DSS) discontinued the household’s

benefits because its income exceeded the upper limit for a household of four (Ms. Leggio

plus her three younger children, excluding the two in college). Because the two older

children were ineligible for SNAP, DSS did not count them as household members.

Nevertheless, DSS included the full amount of child support in its calculation of household

income. Ms. Leggio challenged that determination, contending that because her two

children in college were excluded from SNAP benefits, their pro rata share of the child

support payment (two-fifths of $593.75, or $237.50 per week) should likewise be excluded

from household income, rendering the household SNAP-eligible. 2

After a hearing, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)

determined that DSS correctly discontinued Ms. Leggio’s benefits. OTDA held that child

support funds are “income given to the parent and [are] under the parent’s control” and

therefore, the total amount of child support was household income, even though a portion

of it was used “exclusively for [Ms. Leggio’s two college student] sons’ everyday

expenses, such as school, clothing, and food” (Decision After Fair Hearing, No. 6878939Z

[OTDA December 30, 2014]). OTDA’s analysis depended on the fact that the students

2 As of October 1, 2014, the limit on net monthly income for a household of four to receive SNAP benefits was $2,160.03 (A-150). The contested pro rata share of child support was $1,029.17, which, if excluded, would have lowered the household’s net monthly income from $2,917.26 to $1,888.09. -3- -4- No. 9

lived at home, as distinguished from “child support income for an ineligible student living

outside of the SNAP household” which must be excluded from household income.

Ms. Leggio brought this CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul OTDA’s

determination. Supreme Court transferred the matter to the Appellate Division, which

confirmed OTDA’s determination on a different rationale and dismissed the proceeding

(158 AD3d 803 [2d Dept 2018]). Although it held that the child support monies were

income of the children, not Ms. Leggio, the Appellate Division concluded that because the

college students were disqualified from SNAP, and did not work a minimum of twenty

hours per week or qualify for any other exemption that would make them SNAP-eligible,

their unearned income still qualified as income of the household pursuant to 7 CFR

273.11(c)(1). That section counts the income of persons disqualified from SNAP for failure

to comply with work requirements, among other program disqualifiers, against the

remaining SNAP-eligible household members.

We granted Ms. Leggio leave to appeal, and now affirm the Appellate Division

order on different grounds. The plain text of the statutes and regulations that bind OTDA

provide that income of ineligible college students, including child support income, must be

excluded from household income, contrary to the Appellate Division’s reading of the

governing law (see 7 CFR 273.5[d]; 273.11[d]). Consequently, if Ms. Leggio’s two eldest

children are the owners of their pro rata shares of the child support she receives, the

household would be eligible for SNAP benefits.3 Conversely, if child support funds are

3 OTDA agrees: it has consistently taken the position in this proceeding that if the child support payments are deemed to be the property of the children—for example, if paid -4- -5- No. 9

considered income of the custodial parent who received them (here, Ms. Leggio) they are

household income not subject to any exclusion, and Ms. Leggio’s household’s income

would be too high to receive SNAP benefits. Although the consequences of allocating the

income are clear, the threshold question, whether child support is income of the recipient-

parent or of the beneficiary-child for purposes of determining eligibility for SNAP benefits,

is unresolved by any federal or state statute or regulation or decision of this Court.

We conclude that OTDA’s interpretation of the federal statutes it administers was

not irrational and is entitled to deference and thus, for the purposes of SNAP, child support

directly received by a parent is household income, even if it is used for the benefit of an

ineligible college student living at home.

II.

A

In the context of SNAP, “household” is a term of art meaning “an individual who

lives alone or who, while living with others, customarily purchases food and prepares meals

for home consumption separate and apart from the others; or a group of individuals who

live together and customarily purchase food and prepare meals together for home

consumption” (7 USC § 2012[m][1]). USDA has adopted rules applying the household

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