My wife is on section 8 housing, food stamps, and WIC. Can she get all that assistance plus child support?

Q) I am still married attempting to get a divorce, my wife is on section 8 housing, food stamps, and WIC, she just had a 4th child from another man. She is contested our divorce filing and had it thrown out because i have not been in the state long enough due to deployment. She states i can never see my kids again and she is going to the office to make me child support, When she moved home the military took out money from each check for separation pay for the 3 kids . Can she do that? Can she get all that assistance plus money from my pay check?

A) Yes, your wife can receive both child support and public assistance benefits like Section 8 housing, food stamps, and WIC. Child support payments are not considered income and therefore will not affect her eligibility for these benefits. However, the child support payments may be taken into account when determining the amount of public assistance she is eligible to receive. It’s important to note that child support is meant to support the child, not the custodial parent, so it’s important to use the child support payments for the child’s needs.

It is possible for a mother to get public assistance while getting child support. As the amount of food stamps a family receives depends on its size and income. When the custodial parent’s household receives food stamps, cash child-support payments are treated as unearned income.’O The more support received, the lower is the family’s food stamp allotment.