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Title 7: SNAP Page 41 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter I: Specific Households and Participants Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents… Revised February 13, 2026 Tracking Use reasonable judgment when considering granting good cause. Good cause reasons include circumstances beyond the person’s control such as, but not limited to:  A household emergency.  The unavailability of transportation.  Illness of the person or another household member requiring the ABAWD’s presence. Document the good cause reason in the ABAWD’s case record whenever an ABAWD has good cause for not meeting the work requirement. Months in which good cause is granted do not count towards the three-month limit. If the ABAWD is not meeting the work requirement at the next recertification, you must review their circumstances to determine if good cause still exists.

1. Ms. A meets the work requirement with her job at the grocery store. Ms. A’s car breaks down and she does not live in a town with public transportation. She can’t get to work and she loses her job. Ms. A states that she is looking for a job closer to home so she can walk to work. Ms. A has good cause for not meeting the work requirement and she plans to continue working. If Ms. A is not meeting the work requirement at her next recertification, the worker must reassess her good cause. 2. Mr. X meets the work requirement with his job at the factory. He loses his job at the factory because he does not meet the production quota. He states he does not plan to look for another job right now. Mr. X does not meet good cause because he does not plan to continue to participate in work, the activity that met the work requirement. Determine Mr. X’s countable ABAWD months per normal procedures. Reporting and Verifying Hours The actual number of hours an ABAWD works in a month must be reported and verified to ensure that the person is meeting the work requirement. The number of hours actually worked in a calendar month is the determining factor for meeting the ABAWD work requirement, not the hours for which the person was paid in the month. Use any reasonable means to determine and verify the actual number of hours worked in a calendar month. Use caution if using pay stubs to verify hours of work, because pay periods often overlap calendar months and do not reflect the number of hours actually worked in the month in which the person received the pay.