Guidance Memo (62.32 KB)
| DATE: | Aug. 2, 2013 |
| SUBJECT: | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Able Bodied Adults without Dependents Waivers for Fiscal Year 2014 |
| TO: | All Regional Directors Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program |
This memo provides the list of states that are eligible to waive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation time limits for Able Bodied Adults without Dependents (ABAWDs) for fiscal year (FY) 2014. Under SNAP regulations at 7 CFR 273.24(f)(2), a state can qualify for a 12-month statewide ABAWD waiver if the Department of Labor (DOL) Unemployment Insurance Service determines that it qualifies for extended unemployment benefits. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) can approve a waiver if the state qualifies for extended benefits (EB), regardless of whether the state has elected the option to offer EB itself. States that meet the EB criteria can qualify for a 12-month statewide ABAWD waiver up to 12 months after the trigger date.
DOL Emergency Unemployment Compensation Trigger Notice 2012-47, effective Dec. 9, 2012, indicates that 42 states or geographic areas met the emergency unemployment compensation criteria:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Thus, the 42 qualifying states or geographic areas may suspend the time limits on ABAWD participation for FY 2014, from Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014. In addition, state agencies that appear on a different DOL Trigger Notice beginning no earlier than Oct. 1, 2012, also qualify for a FY 2014 ABAWD waiver. States must notify their FNS regional office of waiver implementation. We request that states provide written notification of their decision to adopt this waiver to their FNS regional office by Sept. 1, 2013.
A number of states have already submitted formal ABAWD waiver requests citing the trigger notice as the basis for approval. FNS will consider those requests as notification of the state's intent to implement an ABAWD waiver for FY 2014. For states that do not qualify for a statewide waiver under the EB trigger notice, SNAP regulations at 273.24(f) provide details about additional ways a state may qualify for an ABAWD wavier, either statewide or within certain areas of the state.
Lizbeth Silbermann
Director
Program Development Division