NCLEJ Brief Opposes Counting Food Stamps as Income in Determining Child Support

In a case that will have a big impact on low-income New York parents, NCLEJ filed an amicus brief with the New York State Court of Appeals in Lattuca v. Lattuca. The case addresses the issue of whether food stamps should be counted as income in calculating child support obligations.

Our brief, which was joined by a number of legal aid and hunger advocacy organizations, argues that both state law and the federal Food Stamp Act expressly prohibit counting these subsistence benefits, which were meant to serve nutritional needs of low-income households, as income for purposes of setting child support amounts. Resolution of this issue will be critical to the administration of New York’s food stamp and child support programs. We are awaiting the court’s decision.

NCLEJ thanks volunteer attorney J. Kelley Nevling, Jr. for providing pro bono assistance on this matter.