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24 Section 260 Change #02-2025 December 1, 2025 FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICES CERTIFICATION ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FNS 260 ABLE-BODIED ADULTS WITHOUT DEPENDENTS (ABAWD)

More Than A Job NC work experience Designed to improve the employability of participant through actual work experience and/or training; placements can be with private, for-profit companies. Placements at public and private sector employers. Can include for-profit employers. Activities must be described in the State SNAP More Than A Job NC Plan. 20 hours, alone or combined with other activities. Mandatory unpaid work hours equal to the result obtained by dividing a household’s SNAP allotment by the higher of the applicable Federal or State minimum wage.

1. Note: North Carolina currently has no counties operating in FNS Workfare program. Policy will be updated to reflect Workfare participation if any county initiates a FNS Workfare program in the future. D. Good Cause 1. For individuals subject to the ABAWD time limit who would have worked hours in a month but missed some hours of work or participation in a work program for good cause, the county must grant good cause and the individual shall be considered to have met the ABAWD work requirements if the absence from work or work program participation is temporary. The month shall not be counted as an ABAWD countable month. 2. Good cause shall include circumstances beyond the individual's control, such as, but not limited to, illness of the individual, illness of another household affecting the individual’s ability to work, a household emergency, or the unavailability of transportation. Refer to FNS Manual § 255 Voluntary Quit and Voluntary Reduction for good cause policy. 3. For additional guidance for eligibility workers on the application of good cause, eligibility workers should apply good cause liberally, recognizing that many circumstances beyond an individual's control can temporarily prevent work. Individuals subject to the ABAWD work rules must not be held to a stricter, more restrictive standard than other workers when navigating the complexity and uncertainty of circumstances that are beyond an individual’s control. Thus, good cause for the ABAWD work requirements also includes, a. A household emergency, including but not limited to: loss of housing due to an eviction proceeding, domestic violence