Page 39

Title 7: SNAP Page 35 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter I: Specific Households and Participants Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents… Revised February 13, 2026 ABAWD Exemptions  A member of a SNAP household that includes a child under the age of 14. NOTE: This also applies when a child is in the home, but is ineligible for non-financial reasons, like not providing an SSN or having an ineligible alien status. When parents have shared or joint custody, and both parents have SNAP cases, only the SNAP household where the child receives SNAP benefits can be exempt from the ABAWD work requirements due to having a child under age 14 in the household. The exemption cannot apply to the other parent’s SNAP household. In the rare instance when a household can choose to include or exclude the child, and the household chooses to exclude the child, the household loses the opportunity to exercise this exemption because the exemption follows the child. If an exemption applies for at least one day in a month, the ABAWD is exempt for the entire month. Determine a person’s “fitness” for employment using the prudent-person principle or any reasonable evidence that supports your decision. The person’s condition does not need to be permanent for a determination of “unfitness” to be made. Households that are chronically homeless, as defined by the worker, are considered unfit for employment. Your own observation of the person or information obtained in conversation with the person is a sufficient basis to make a determination as to a person’s fitness for employment. In the rare occasion that you find it questionable that a person has a mental or physical limitation that would make the person unfit for employment, you may ask for verification. Because people who have no source of income or insurance are often not able to receive medical care or substance abuse or mental health treatment, you may need to identify these conditions. If a person is in treatment, you can get a statement from the person’s health-care professional or a social worker. If the person does not have the means to pay for or obtain a professional diagnosis, other evidence may be used. A prudent person can often identify these types of issues without the need for verification. For example, statements from former employers or other persons who know the person’s situation can be sufficient evidence of the person’s mental or physical limitations. When your judgment is the only basis for determining that a person is not “fit” for employment, you must document it as such in the person’s case record.