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State Plan AR FY26 - Original Submission Page of 21 112 SCREENING FOR WORK REGISTRATION State agency eligibility staff must screen for federal exemptions from work registration, per 7 CFR 273.7(a). Describe how the State agency screens applicants to determine if they are work registrants. During the eligibility determination process, Office of Field Operations (OFO) staff collect detailed client information, including age, living arrangements, disability status, household composition, employment status, and other relevant non-financial data. This information is entered into the ARIES system, which uses established criteria to automatically identify applicants’ work registration status. Eligibility staff may also manually assign special characteristics during interviews or reviews, based on information provided by the applicant or household. The State Agency screens each applicant for the following exemptions to general SNAP work registration, as set forth in federal guidelines: Individuals under age 16, or age 60 and older (increasing to age 64 and older effective April 1, 2026 as per recent federal law); Persons unable to work due to physical or mental incapacity; Individuals aged 16 or 17 who live with a parent or attend school or training at least half-time; Recipients of Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) cash assistance; Caregivers for a dependent child under age 6 or for an incapacitated person; Individuals receiving unemployment benefits; Participants in alcohol or drug addiction treatment programs; Those already employed or self-employed full-time (30 hours or more per week); Students enrolled at least half-time in recognized education or training programs. Applicants not meeting any of these criteria are registered for work and are required to comply with the general SNAP work requirements as a condition of ongoing eligibility. All SNAP households are informed of employment and training requirements at the time of application, recertification, and during other interactions with eligibility workers. Staff screen household members for work registration status at each applicable touchpoint. How does the State agency work register non-exempt individuals? All eligible, non-exempt household members are automatically registered for work requirements upon signing the application. The household is notified of which members are subject to the general work requirements. Additionally, the household will be informed when an eligible, non-exempt individual joins a currently certified household or when a participating member loses an exemption due to a reportable change.