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

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. Examples of good cause are described in FNS Manual § 260.04. ABAWD Work Requirements Time-limited participants can meet the ABAWD work requirements in several ways: • Working 80 hours a month. Work can be for pay, for goods or services (in kind), unpaid, volunteer work, or any combination; • Participating in a qualifying work program for 80 hours a month; or, • Working and participating in a qualifying work program for a total of 80 hours a month, as determined by the State agency. ABAWD requirements do not replace any other eligibility requirements, nor do they create eligibility where it does not otherwise exist. While ABAWD, Employment & Training, and Work Registration policies are related to each other, each are applied individually. Non-exempt FNS unit members will continue to be subject to the general work registration requirements described in FNS Manual § 240 Work Registration Requirements regardless of whether they are exempt from the ABAWD work requirements.

260.01 WHO IS EXEMPT FROM THE ABAWD TIME-LIMIT? All individuals must be screened for exemptions at certification and recertification as required by 7 C.F.R. § 273.24(k). When an individual meets multiple exemptions, apply the exemption that will be in effect the longest. An individual who meets at least one of the exemptions listed in this section is not subject to the ABAWD time-limit. If an individual is exempt for any part of the month, the individual is exempt for the entire month. A. Verification of Exemption Status (7 CFR § 273.24(l)) 1. Self-attestation must be accepted for verification of ABAWD exemptions, unless questionable. USDA promulgated 7 CFR 273.24(l) on December 17, 2024 clarifying that eligibility workers must accept an individual’s attestation that they, or another household member, meet an exemption from the time limit, unless it is questionable. In addition, eligibility workers must not consider information provided through self-attestation to be questionable without reviewing on a case-by-case basis. a. Consistent with this regulation and subsequent USDA guidance,