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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 3000 3500 The SNAP Requirement to Work (RTW)

3500 The SNAP Requirement to Work (RTW) cause. See SNAP 3412 for applying sanctions if a SNAP participant fails to comply with these requirements. Unless exempt from the RTW, discussed in SNAP 3502, Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs), or able-bodied adults, are ineligible to receive SNAP benefits if, during a designated three-year period, they received SNAP benefits for at least three (3) months (consecutively or otherwise) while they did not: • Work at least twenty (20) hours per week (or an average of eighty (80) hours a month). Work can be for pay, for goods or services (for something other than money), unpaid, or as a volunteer; or • Participate in and comply with a Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) Program (see Note 1 below); or • Participate in a SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) Program twenty (20) hours per week (or an average of eighty (80) hours a month unless the individual is assigned to Work Experience (see Note 2 below); Participate in an Employment and Training Program for Veterans that is operated by Department of Labor or Department of Veterans Affairs; or • Participate in an Employment and Training Program, other than a job search or job search training program, operated or supervised by the State or political subdivision of the State that meets standards approved by the Governor. The program may contain job search or job search training as a subsidiary component as long as such component is less than half the requirement; or • Participate at least half-time (as defined by the program) in a recognized refugee training program approved, funded, or operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under section 236 of the Trade Adjustment Act of 1974 NOTE 1: WIOA is a qualifying component for an Able-Bodied Adult, therefore if the individual is participating in any WIOA component, they are considered to meet the RTW. NOTE 2: For E&T Work Experience Programs, the household’s obligation of work hours required to meet the RTW will be calculated by dividing the household’s authorized monthly SNAP benefit amount (before recoupment) by the current state or federal minimum wage, whichever is greater. Fractions are rounded down. An individual who is self-employed and works at this enterprise for an average of eighty (80) hours per month or more, meets the RTW. There is no requirement that the self-employment enterprise show a profit. The decision of whether an individual is self-employed will be made on a case-by-case basis. See SNAP 5600 for general explanation of what a self-employment enterprise is. When an individual declares that they are self- employed but maintains no records of their income and expense, the eligibility worker may ask for some type of collateral verification. These verifications could include collateral contact, Odd Job Income/Expense Record (DCO-0096) or Schedule C. For example, if an individual claims to be self-employed collecting and selling cans, the household may be asked to furnish a collateral contact from the company or person who buys the cans. The definition for working to meet RTW means: • Work in exchange for money