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NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance- TA and SNAP Employment Policy Manual Section 385.3 - Page 22 Rev. 4/2025 The 36-Month Period New York State uses a fixed 36-month time period or “clock” for all ABAWDs. Having a fixed clock means all ABAWDs are subject to the same 36-month period or clock regardless of when they began to receive SNAP benefits. An ABAWD must work or participate in qualifying work programs to remain eligible for SNAP for more than three months during the fixed 36-month period. Countable Months Districts are responsible for monitoring compliance with the ABAWD work requirement by monitoring countable tracked months in the ABAWD Tracking Screen (WTRK31) in the Welfare Management System (WMS). For purposes of tracking an ABAWD’s three months of eligibility, a month does not count as one of the three months in the 36-month period under the following circumstances:  A calendar month during which an individual did not receive SNAP benefits for the full month, including the month of application. It should be noted that if the household applies on or after the 16th of the month and receives expedited SNAP benefits for the balance of the application month and the next calendar month, the full month of SNAP benefits would be tracked towards the 3-month limit, unless the ABAWD met the ABAWD requirement for the month, lived in a waived area during the month or was granted an ABAWD exclusion for the month;  A calendar month during which an individual is exempt from the ABAWD requirement for all or any part of the month;  A calendar month during which an individual resided in or received SNAP benefits from an area of the state covered by a waiver of the ABAWD requirement (see Waivers/ Exclusions section below). An individual who moves from a waived area (or from a county that excluded the individual) does not become subject to the ABAWD requirements until the individual applies for SNAP benefits in the new county; and  A calendar month during which an individual had good cause for missing some or all work/work assignment hours, as long as the absence is temporary, and the individual retains their job or otherwise resumes participation in an ABAWD qualifying activity. Good cause includes circumstances beyond the individual’s control, such as, but not limited to, illness of the individual, illness of a household member that required the presence of the individual, or a household emergency. When determining the number of months of SNAP benefits an ABAWD has used during the fixed 36-month period, districts are required to investigate whether an ABAWD has received SNAP in other states or any other districts within New York State. This information should be collected as part of the SNAP eligibility interview. The ABAWD tracking information on the