How to Certify Households that Share Custody of Children

A household may report to you that its members include children who are part of a joint custody arrangement. That is, the children live part of the time with the household and part of the time with their other parent, who doesn’t live in the unit. For example, a household head may report that she has two sons who will be living in the unit during the week and with their father on weekends. When certifying or recertifying these households, you need to know whether to count the children as household members for purposes of determining eligibility, unit size, and household income.