Okla. Admin. Code § 340:50-5-100 - [Effective 9/14/2024] Able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) work requirements and time limits
(a)
ABAWD
work requirements. Per Section 273.24(a) of Title 7 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (7 C.F.R. §
273.24(a)) , an ABAWD meets
work requirements when he or she:
(1) works
continuously 20 hours or more per week, averaged monthly. Averaged monthly
means 80 hours per month. The employment may be paid, in-kind, unpaid, or
volunteer work with religious or community organizations;
(2) participates in and complies with the
requirements of a work program 20 hours or more per week, averaged monthly.
Work programs include:
(A) a program
assignment under Title 1 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(WIOA), Public Law (P.L.) 113-128;
(B) a program under Section 236 of the Trade
Act of 1974, Section 2296 of Title 19 of the United States Code (19 U.S.C. §
2296);
(C) an Oklahoma Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Works (OK SNAP Works) assignment, not including job search,
supervised job search, or job search training activities. However, job search,
supervised job search, or job search training activities, when offered as part
of other program components, are acceptable if those activities comprise less
than half the total required time spent in the components; or
(D) any employment and training program that
serves veterans operated by the Department of Labor or the Department of
Veterans Affairs;
(3)
works and participates in a work program for a total of 20 or more hours per
week, averaged monthly; or
(4)
meets an exemption from the work requirements per (d) of this
Section.
(b)
General rule. An ABAWD who is a member of an eligible household
receiving SNAP food benefits must comply with work requirements per (a) of this
Section or be exempt from work requirements per (d) of this Section to be
eligible to participate as a member of any food benefit household for more than
three countable months, consecutive or otherwise, during any 36-month or
three-year period. When the ABAWD meets work requirements per (a) or an
exemption per (d) of this Section, he or she is eligible to participate with no
time limits. An ABAWD subject to the three-month time limit may also regain
eligibility per (e) of this Section.
(1)
Countable months. Countable months are months when an ABAWD
receives SNAP benefits for the full benefit month while not:
(A) exempt from ABAWD work requirements per
(d) of this Section;
(B) fulfilling
the work requirement per (a) of this Section; or
(C) receiving benefits that are
prorated.
(2)
Countable months in another state. When there is an indication an
ABAWD subject to the time limits received SNAP food benefits in another state
in the last 12 months, the worker must verify the number of countable months
the person used in the other state per
7 C.F.R. §
273.2(f)(1)(xiv)(B).
(3)
Measuring the three-year or
36-month time period. Per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(b)(3), Oklahoma Human
Services (OKDHS) uses a 'fixed- individual clock' for each ABAWD subject to
time limits. This means the ABAWD clock starts at the initial application for
SNAP benefits when the person is not meeting ABAWD work requirements per (a) of
this Section. When the person meets ABAWD work requirements at initial
application, the clock starts the month the person uses the first countable
month per (b)(1) of this Section.
(4)
Worker responsibilities. It
is the worker's responsibility to:
(A)
determine the ABAWD status of each household member:
(i) at application, mid-certification
renewal, and certification renewal;
(ii) when a new person joins the household
during the certification period; and
(iii) when reported information indicates a
household member lost an exemption or no longer meets the work requirement;
(B) orally explain the
ABAWD rights and responsibilities of each household member during the SNAP
application and certification renewal interview, when a new person joins the
household during the certification period, and when a household member loses an
exemption. The system also generates a written notice to the household. The
explanation includes:
(i) ABAWD work
requirements, the household members subject to these requirements, and the ways
to fulfill these requirements;
(ii)
exemption and good cause criteria and how to claim an exemption or good
cause;
(iii) the ABAWD's limited
benefit eligibility when he or she does not fulfill work
requirements;
(iv) how to maintain
eligibility under the ABAWD work requirements, including what the household
needs to provide at certification and renewal and what happens when an
household member loses an exemption or a person joins the household;
and
(v) how to regain eligibility,
per (e) of this Section; and
(C) update the ABAWD status of an adult
household member any time he or she loses an exemption or no longer meets the
work requirement. The worker must 'look-back' to determine when the ABAWD lost
the exemption or stopped meeting the work requirement. The worker closes food
benefits for the person when he or she already used his or her countable months
for the 36-month period or corrects the ABAWD status to start the ABAWD's clock
per (3) of this subsection.
(5)
ABAWD responsibilities. It
is the ABAWD's responsibility to:
(A) verify
his or her work or participation hours, a combination of work and participation
hours, or exemption status at application, mid-certification renewal, and
certification renewal per
7 C.F.R. §
273.2(f)(1) and (f)(8);
and
(B) report when his or her work
or participation hours or a combination of work and participation hours drop
below 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month within 10-calendar days of the
month the hours dropped.
(i) When the ABAWD
reports his or her work or participation hours or a combination of work and
participation hours dropped below 20 hours per week, the worker determines if
the ABAWD is eligible for three countable months. When the ABAWD is:
(I) eligible for three countable months, the
worker tracks the months to determine when to close benefits for the ABAWD if
he or she does not regain eligibility per (e) of this Section; or
(II) not eligible because he or she received
three countable months within the three-year period, the worker closes food
benefits for the ABAWD.
(ii) When an ABAWD subject to time limits
received SNAP food benefits in error within the most recent three-year period,
the benefits are considered as countable months unless the ABAWD pays the
benefits back in full per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(b)(5).
(c)
Good cause for
failure to meet the ABAWD work requirement. When an ABAWD would have
fulfilled the work requirement, per (a) of this Section, but missed some hours
for good cause, the ABAWD meets the work requirement if the absence is
temporary. Per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(b)(2), good cause
includes circumstances beyond the person's control, such as, but not limited
to:
(1) illness;
(2) illness of another household member
requiring the presence of the ABAWD;
(3) unavailability of transportation; or
(4) a household emergency.
(d)
Exemptions
from the ABAWD work requirement. Per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(c), a person is
exempt from ABAWD work requirement and eligible to participate without time
limits, when the person is:
(1) younger than
18 years of age or 50 years of age and older;
(2) medically-certified as physically or
mentally unfit for employment. A person is medically-certified as physically or
mentally unfit for employment when he or she:
(A) receives permanent or temporary
disability benefits issued by governmental or private sources;
(B) is obviously mentally or physically unfit
for employment. When it is not obvious that he or she is unfit, the person must
provide documented evidence from medically-qualified sources to substantiate
the medical exemption.
(i)
Medically-qualified sources may include, but are not limited to, a:
(I) licensed or certified psychologist,
therapist, counselor, or social worker;
(II) physician or physician's assistant;
(III) nurse or nurse practitioner;
or
(IV) designated representatives
of a physician's office.
(ii) The documented evidence must indicate
the person has a physical or mental condition that limits the person's ability
to work.
(iii) When the medical
exemption is temporary, the person is required to comply with work requirements
when released by a medically qualified source to return to work; or
(C) is chronically homeless;
(3) pregnant;
(4) a parent, natural, adoptive, or step, of
a household member younger than 18 years of age, even when the minor child is
not eligible for food benefits;
(5)
an adult residing in a household with a household member younger than 18 years
of age and included in the food benefit household, even when the minor child is
not eligible for food benefits; or
(6) otherwise exempt from work requirements
per
7
C.F.R. §
273.7(b) and
Oklahoma Administrative Code
340:50-5-86.
(e)
Persons who regain
eligibility. Persons whose food benefits were denied or closed because
they received three countable months of food benefits may regain eligibility by
meeting work requirements per (a) of this Section for 30-consecutive days.
(1)
Regained eligibility by meeting
work requirements. When a person regains eligibility, he or she
maintains food benefit eligibility without time limits provided he or she
continues to meet work requirements per (a) of this Section. Per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(d)(3), there is no
limit to how many times a person may regain eligibility by meeting work
requirements. The person's food benefits are prorated from the application
date. When the person applies before meeting work requirements for
30-consecutive days, the application is denied.
(2)
Regained eligibility and then
stopped meeting work requirements. When a person regains eligibility and
then stops meeting work requirements, he or she is eligible for SNAP food
benefits for three-consecutive countable months only. The person may only
receive the additional three-countable months once during the 36-month period.
After receiving these three-consecutive months, the person is not eligible for
SNAP food benefits in his or her 36-month time period unless he or she regains
eligibility by meeting the work rule or becomes exempt per (d) of this
Section.
(f)
ABAWD
work requirement waiver prohibition. Per
7 C.F.R. §
273.24(f), states are
allowed to request an ABAWD work requirement waiver in certain instances.
Effective October 1, 2013, Section
241.3
of Title 56 of the Oklahoma Statutes prohibits OKDHS from requesting an ABAWD
work requirement waiver from the United States Department of
Agriculture.
Notes
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