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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 3000 3414 Applying Sanctions for Failure to Comply with Arkansas Workforce Connections (AWC)

3400 Mandatory Employment & Training (E&T) Work Requirement. The system will only close the household’s SNAP case if all individuals are sanctioned. To sanction an individual household member, the system must recalculate the household’s budget. 3414 Applying Sanctions for Failure to Comply with Arkansas Workforce Connections (AWC) SNAP Manual 07/01/2026 NOTE: This policy will not apply in situations where AWC benefits are denied or suspended because a household member’s employment was terminated by the employer. This policy will apply when a household member has failed or refused to meet an AWC requirement such as, but not limited to, failure to complete the mandatory job search. When a worker becomes aware that entitlement to unemployment benefits have been denied or terminated or that Transitional Employment Assistance has been reduced or terminated, the following steps will be taken: Step 1: Determine if the member was exempt solely due to receipt of unemployment benefits or Transitional Employment Assistance. If the member is otherwise exempt from the General Work Requirements, no action will be taken. (For example, a member responsible for the care of a dependent child four (4) years of age fails to comply with a Transitional Employment Assistance work requirement. Since the member is exempt under the dependent care provisions, no sanction will be applied to the SNAP household.) If not, go to step 2. Step 2: If the member was exempt solely due to receipt of unemployment benefits or Transitional Employment Assistance, determine if the individual had good cause for failure to comply with the General Work Requirement. (See SNAP 3411 for an explanation of good cause.) If the member had good cause for failure to comply, no action will be taken. If not, go to Step 3. Step 3: If the member did not have good cause, sanction the member. See SNAP 1623.2 3420 When to Impose a Sanction SNAP Manual 07/01/2026 At application, the sanction will be imposed effective with the month of application regardless of whether the application is approved or denied. For a participating household, a Notice of Action (DCO-0001) must be issued to the household at least ten (10) days prior to the imposition of a sanction (see SNAP 3430), giving the household adequate notice of an adverse action. Unless the household is in the last month of certification and has not been recertified, the sanction will be imposed beginning the month following the month in which the ten (10) day notice period expires. EXAMPLE: A household is certified from July through December. On August 16th, the eligibility worker becomes aware of a voluntary quit. On August 23rd, the worker authorizes a budget with a sanction for the household member who violated the General Work Requirement. Ten (10) days from this authorization date is September 2nd. The system will begin the disqualification period October, as October is the month following the month in which the ten (10) day notice period expired. If the household is in the last month of certification and an application for renewal has not