Executive Directors -2

DATE: December 4, 2015

OPERATIONS MEMORANDUM #15-12-02

SUBJECT: The Upcoming Reinstatement of Time-Limited Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) effective January 1, 2016

TO: Executive Directors

FROM: Inez Titus Director Bureau of Operations

PURPOSE

1. To inform County Assistance Offices (CAOs) of the reinstatement of time- limited SNAP benefits for ABAWDs was effective January 1, 2015.

NOTE: Pennsylvania will use 15 percent exemption for January and February 2016.

2. To inform CAOs that effective March 1, 2016 only certain areas across the state will continue to qualify for a waiver from ABAWD requirements.

3. To announce the new 36-month period for time-limited ABAWDs will run from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017.

4. To inform CAOs that effective March 1, 2016, certain SNAP recipients who meet exemptions from State Employment and Training (E&T) requirements, will be exempt under 15% exemption, will not be required to meet federal work requirement and will not have time-limited benefits.

BACKGROUND

Federal regulations at 7 CFR §273.24 require able-bodied adults age 18 through 49 with no dependents (ABAWDs) to meet an ABAWD work requirement as a condition of SNAP eligibility. The ABAWD work requirement includes:

 Working or participating in a work program (e.g., SNAP Employment and Training) at least 20 hours per week, averaged monthly; or

Department of Human Services | Office of Income Maintenance 433 Health and Welfare Building | Harrisburg, PA 17120 | www.dhs.state.pa.us Executive Directors -2-

 Participating in and complying with a workfare program (hours vary depending on the SNAP grant amount).

Failure to meet the ABAWD work requirement limits ABAWDs to three months of SNAP eligibility in a 36 month period, unless the individual is living in a waived area or meets an exemption from ABAWD requirements.

The ABAWD requirements were set by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). A state or area(s) within the state may qualify for a waiver of the ABAWD time limit if it has an unemployment rate over 10 percent or does not have a sufficient number of jobs. Due to the high unemployment rate in the past, Pennsylvania (PA) has qualified for a statewide waiver of ABAWD requirements since 2009. PA will not longer qualify for a statewide waiver after December 31, 2015. However, some PA counties and cities may continue to qualify for geographic waivers of the ABAWD time limit due to local unemployment rates.

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Pub L. 105-33, Section 1001) permits states to exempt up to 15 percent of the ABAWD population from the work requirement.

DISCUSSION

Pennyslvania will use the 15 percent exemption for all ABAWD individuals for the month of January and February 2016. ABAWD individuals who are not otherwise exempt will be required to participate in an ABAWD work requirement beginning March 1, 2016.

Beginning January 1, 2016 all SNAP applicants and recipients who:

 Are age 18-49 and do not meet an exemption by law; and  Do not live in a waived geographical area; and  Are not meeting an ABAWD work requirement (which can include participation in an allowable SNAP E&T component or workfare) for SNAP will be subject to the ABAWD time-limit of three months of SNAP benefits within a 36-month period.

To be exempt from the ABAWD requirements and time-limited benefits, a person must be meeting one of the following:

 Under 18 or over 49 years of age

 Living in a geographical waived area Executive Directors -3-

 Residing in a SNAP household with a SNAP household member under age 18, (a familial relationship is not a requirement to be considered a dependent under ABAWD requirements), even if the SNAP household member who is under age 18 in a Non-Eligible household member such as an NM.

Examples: o A residence contains a mother and her children under age 18 who do not receive SNAP benefits. The mother’s 24-year-old brother moves in with the family. The brother applies for SNAP as a separate household claiming to purchase and prepare meals separately. The brother does not meet an ABAWD exemption, because his sister’s child is not a member of his SNAP household. o A residence contains a mother, her child under 18 and the mother’s boyfriend. The mother, child and boyfriend apply and are found eligible for SNAP benefits. The boyfriend meets an ABAWD exemption and is exempt from ABAWD work requirement because his girlfriend’s child is under age 18 and is a part of the SNAP household. o An applicant household containing a father and his child under 18 applies for benefits in May. The mother has custody of the same child during the school year and has an active SNAP household in another county. The father has custody during the summer months. The father is claiming an exemption based on the age of the child. Since the child lives with his mother and receives benefits in another SNAP household, the father does not meet an ABAWD exemption.  Disabled or unfit for employment

NOTE: A person is disabled or unfit for employment if they are:

o Receiving temporary or permanent federal or state disability benefits issued by the government or private sources; or

o Obviously mentally or physically unfit for employment; or

o If the disability is not evident (or obvious) to a worker, a statement from a physician, physician’s assistant, nurse, nurse practitioner, designated representative of the physician’s office, a licensed or certified psychologist, social worker, or any other medical personnel will suffice as certification.

 Exempt under federal employment and training regulations which include: Executive Directors -4-

o Needed in home to care for a disabled family member o TANF recipient o Applied for or is receiving Unemployment Compensation o Enrolled in school or training at least half time o Migrant / seasonal farm worker expected to work within 30 days  Pregnant

 Meeting an ABAWD work requirement

To meet the ABAWD work requirement and “stop” the ABAWD time clock, an ABAWD must be doing one of the following at least 20 hours per week, averaged 80 hours monthly:  Working; or  Participating in a Workforce Investment Act Program; or  Participating in a Trade Adjustment Assistance Act Program; or  Participating in an allowable SNAP Employment and Training Program; or  Participating in a workfare program (hours vary depending on the SNAP grant amount)

NOTE: Participation in a job search program or a job search training program does not qualify as meeting the ABAWD work requirement.

IMPORTANT: SNAP benefits received while meeting a work requirement do not count in calculating the three months in a 36-month period.

Regaining SNAP eligibility

An ABAWD who has exhausted their three-months of time-limited benefits in the fixed three-year period may regain eligibility at any time by:

 Working 80 hours in a 30-day period; or  Participating in a WIA, Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, or an approved SNAP Employment and Training program for 80 hours in a 30-day period; or  Participating in a workfare program for a 30 day period; or  Meeting an exemption or waiver from ABAWD work requirements; or  When their three-year period expires.

ABAWDs who regain eligibility are coded with the applicable SNAP Qualifcation Code.

NOTE: The ABAWD regains eligibility once 80 hours are worked, even if 80 hours are worked in less than 30 days. Executive Directors -5-

 There is no limit on how many times an ABAWD may regain eligibility if ABAWD requirements are met or if the ABAWD qualifies for an exemption or waiver.

 If after regaining eligibility, the ABAWD loses work, stops meeting the work requirement, or no longer qualifies for an exemption or waiver, the ABAWD may receive up to three consecutive months of SNAP benefits. This additional eligibility period is available only once within the fixed three-year period and is coded as an EB-21 in eCIS. This benefit may be made available the day of application, if the ABAWD has met the 80 hour requirement.

 The ABAWD must then comply with work requirements or become exempt by law during the three-year period to continue participation in SNAP.

Examples

 An ABAWD receives three months of time-limited benefits in March, April, and May. The benefits stop effective May 31. On June 2, the ABAWD starts a new job and works 80 hours during the first two weeks in June. The job ends on June 16. On June 20, the ABAWD applies for SNAP and verifies the full 80 hours worked. The benefits can be authorized because 80 hours was worked in a 30-day period. The ABAWD will receive three consecutive months of SNAP benefits under regained eligibility and will be coded as an EB21. This individual is not eligible for SNAP benefits again as an EB21 until after December 2018. This ABAWD could be eligible for SNAP benefits again if they start meeting the work requirement or an exemption.

 An ABAWD receives three months of time-limited benefits in March, April, and May, and has a renewal interview on May 21. At the interview, the ABAWD reports working 20 hours last week and expects to work 20 hours per week. The worker verifies the employment. The ABAWD may continue to participate because of meeting the work requirements. Should the ABAWD’s employment end after satisfying the 80 hours in the 30 day requirement, they would be eligible to receive three consecutive months of SNAP benefits under regained eligibility and would be coded as an EB21.

 An ABAWD receives three months of time-limited benefits in March, April, and May. Benefits are stopped effective May 31. The person worked 40 hours per week from June 14 through August 1, and was laid-off but is ineligible for unemployment compensation. The person applies for SNAP on January 15, of the following year, (but within the same three year period) and is unemployed. Eligibility has been regained because the ABAWD worked 80 hours in a 30 day period and benefits can be authorized for a consecutive three month period as an EB21. This individual is not eligible for SNAP benefits again as an EB21 until after December 2018. This ABAWD could be Executive Directors -6-

eligible for SNAP benefits again if they start meeting the work requirement or an exemption.

 An ABAWD received three months of time-limited benefits in March, April, and May. Benefits are stopped effective May 31. The person reports in July that they have moved to a new county. This county has a geographical waiver and ABAWD time limits do not apply. Eligiblity has been regained because the individual now lives in a geographically waived county. Should the invidiual move, they would need to be reviewed again to determine if they are meeting the work requirement or an exemption.

The ABAWD Clock

 The months of SNAP ABAWD eligibility is tracked on an individual level, based on the Eligibility Status Code and/or SNAP Qual Code, by the system using ABAWD clocks.

 EB-20 is the only Eligibility Status that is subject to the three-month ABAWD clock. All other combinations of Eligibility Status and Qual Code are NOT subject to the ABAWD clock.

 ABAWD Clocks have values of 0,1,2, or 3 and equal the amount of countable months the ABAWD has received SNAP within the fixed three-year period.

 After an entire month of benefits are issued, the ABAWDs clock increases by one.

 Countable months refers to the months during which an individual receives SNAP for the full benefit month while not:

• Exempt from ABAWD requirements; • Covered by a waiver; • Meeting the work requirements; or • Receiving benefits that are prorated.

 Partial months are not included in the three months of time limited benefits for ABAWDs.

ABAWD 15% Exemption Starting March 1, 2016

Starting March 1, 2016 Pennsylvania will use the 15 percent exemption for individuals who meet state employment and training exemptions:

 Full Time VISTA volunteer (Title I DVSA)-ETP Status code 06  Expected to return to work within 60 days- ETP Status code 15 Executive Directors -7-

 Homeless- ETP Status code 16  Travel time is two or more hours from employment or training site – ETP Status code 19  Receiving Expedited SNAP only and meet no exemption code – ETP Status code 23

NOTE: Specific waived counties and areas will be posted in a separate OPS Memo when approval is received from the Food and Nutrition Service.

Expedited SNAP

There is a two step process to ensure the correct ABAWD clock count when opening SNAP for an ABAWD who is both eligible for Expedited SNAP and ongoing at the time of opening. The caseworker must first process the case using a combination ETP code of 23 with a SNAP Qualification code of 9 on the Individual Attributes screen and commit the case. This will only code the initial OTI as an Expedited Issuance. The worker must go back into maintenance and update the ETP code to 30 and SNAP Qualification Code to 20 on the Individual Attributes screen to start the ABAWD clock for the ongoing time period.

NOTE: An individual must be eligible for SNAP benefits in order to receive Expedited SNAP benefits. Therefore, when an ABAWD has exhausted it’s 3 months of time limited benefits, they are no longer eligible for SNAP and may not receive expedited SNAP benefits.

Renewals

ABAWD only households will be set to have a recertification at three months. This will be automatically set once the SNAP ABAWD budget is created. If the ABAWD does not complete the renewal process the SNAP budget will automatically close.

For mixed households the recertification date will be set to the non-ABAWD household members recertification date (meaning the recertification period will be six or twelve months depending on the household situation). In these situations an ABAWD alert will be generated on the workload dashboard upon issuing the final month of the three months of SNAP ABAWD benefits. The ABAWD must be reviewed to determine if they are meeting the work requirement, have an exemption, or living in a waived area. If none of those criteria are met, the individual must be changed to an non-eligible member with exclusion code 61 and eligibility must be run. Running eligibility will clear the ABAWD alert and update the eligibility for the remaining household members.

Applications/Renewals received in November 2015 Executive Directors -8-

Any SNAP applications or recertifications processed after December 15, 2015 will include the first month of ABAWD determinations in the eligibility decision. It is essential to review all individuals and explain the ABAWD requirements to those individuals that do not meet an ABAWD exemption during the SNAP interview. Explain that starting March 1, 2016 they will only be eligible for three months of SNAP benefits within the three year period if they do not meet an ABAWD work requirement, exemption, or geographical waiver. When processing the case, caseworkers are to ensure the correct SNAP qualification code is being used as the SNAP qualification code is tied to the ABAWD time-clock.

See the attachment for SNAP Eligibility Status, Qualification, and ETP Codes.

NEXT STEPS

1. Share and review this information with appropriate staff members.

2. Direct questions regarding this Operations Memorandum to your Area Manager.

3. This Operations Memorandum will become obsolete when the SNAP Handbook has been updated.

Attachment