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13244 PAST BENEFIT HISTORY (ABAWD)

If an applicant hasn’t received SNAP in South Dakota since the newest ABAWD clock started, we are not required to determine if they have received any time limited benefits in another state UNLESS we become aware of potential benefit history in another state. We may become aware of the benefit history through applicant’s report (on the 301) or during the interview process. If so, we must verify with the previous state the benefit history to determine if the applicant is eligible in South Dakota. Documentation of prior out-of-state benefit history is mandatory for these situations. If an individual has out-of-state countable ABAWD months, ACCESS help desk must be notified to add those months to the ABWD history panel.

13245 UNUSED BENEFITS (ABAWD) If an ABAWD, who received countable months benefits, fails to use all or any part of these benefits prior to expungement; they are not entitled to receive additional ABAWD months due to non-use of benefits. Their ABAWD clock cannot be updated to show non-countable months whether the non-use is by choice, mistake, carelessness, incarceration, etc. The ABAWD months will continue to count towards the 36 month time clock.

13300 FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH WORK REGISTRATION REGULATIONS

Individuals are required to comply with work registration regulations. Unless good cause is granted, individuals may not: 1. Refuse or fail to register for employment 2. Refuse to accept an offer of employment: Example 2: John received benefits January - March. He was not exempt from ABAWD time limits so received his initial 3 months during that time frame. He found employment in March and was ineligible for April based on prospective income. He quit his job on July 15 and applied for assistance. John did not have good cause for job quit and received the voluntary quit penalty. His job did not make him eligible for the 3-month extension because the voluntary quit penalty applied. If John would have applied for benefits September 30, he would have qualified for the 3-month extension because voluntary quit penalties could not be applied (quit was over 60 days from application date) and he had earned 80 hours of employment in a 30-day period after he received his initial 3 months of benefits. Example: Fred applied for South Dakota SNAP on 02/15/21. Fred stated he previously received benefits in North Dakota. When the Specialist contacts ND, they stated Fred received benefits in October, November and December 2020. The Benefits Specialist should request that the ACCESS help desk update the ABAWD clock for December 2020. October and November would not count in South Dakota since the new ABAWD clock started over in December 2020. Example 3: Jackie received benefits October and November. She was not exempt from ABAWD time limits so received 2 months of her initial 3 months. She started workfare December 1 and continuously worked at the workfare site for her required number of hours for December - March. The workfare site no longer needed Jackie’s assistance effective March 15. December - March did not count as ABAWD months because Jackie met the workfare exemption. Jackie is eligible for April benefits because April is her third initial ABAWD month. Jackie would not be eligible for benefits for May forward unless she became exempt from ABAWD or met one of the work exemptions. She was not granted the 3-month extension for May because she had to meet the work requirements after receiving her three initial three months.