Younger than 18 or 55 years of age or older
^{— Effective October 1, 2024 (55 years of age or older) —}

Client’s statement of birthdate is sufficient. The IMS system will check the date with Social Security Administration (SSA). A data exchange error will occur if SSA has a different birthdate.
See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Determined by the agency to be medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment.

When it is not obvious that a person is unfit, the person must provide verification from medically-qualified sources to substantiate the medical exemption.
See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Parent, Natural, Adoptive, or Step of a Household Member Younger than 18 Years of age.

All parents, who are included in the SNAP household with a member under age 18.

See Frequently Asked Questions↓

Children in Household Exemption – Living with Minor Children

All adults who are included in the SNAP household with a child under age 18, are exempt. No requirement to be “caretaker”.
See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Pregnant

There is no extent of pregnancy required. Need verification of pregnancy unless worker can physically see.
See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Veterans

A veteran is a person who served in the United States Armed Forces, including the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Space Force, and the National Guard. This also includes a person who served in a reserve component of the Armed Forces, and who was discharged regardless of the conditions of the discharge or released regardless of the conditions of the discharge or release.
See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Homeless Person

To be homeless, a person must meet the homeless definition in OAC 340:50-5-29(b): “homeless person means a person who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or a person whose primary residence is any of the following:

• Supervised shelter designed to provide temporary accommodations;
• Half-way house or similar institution;
• Temporary accommodation in the residence of another person of not more than 90-calendar days from the application date
• Place not designed for, or ordinarily used, as a regular sleeping accommodation such as hallway, bus station, lobby, car, etc.

See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Ex-Foster Care Individuals

A person who aged out of foster care must be

• 24 years of age or younger and
• Who was in foster care under the responsibility of a state, district, territory, or Indian Tribal organization on the date of attaining 18 years of age or the later date the state has chosen.

See Frequently Asked Questions ↓

Otherwise Exempt from Work Registration

Refer to article SNAP: Work Registrant Exemptions

EXEMPTIONS FAQ’S

Younger than 18 or 55 years of age and older ↑

Q1. A client’s 17 year old child turns 18 on March 15th. When does the age exemption end for this child?

The birthday month of March is an exempt month. It doesn’t matter when the birthday date occurs, ABAWD work requirement determination begins the month following the birthday month or April.

Q2. A client turns age 55 on October 15^th.  When does this person become ABAWD exempt?

A person that turns 55 at any point during the birthday month becomes exempt during that month. It doesn’t matter when the birthday date is, the person is exempt beginning the birthday month.

Determined by the agency to be medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment ↑

Q1. Rick, age 42, works 15 hours a week, at an employment placement agency. He is considered to be 50% disabled from the VA. Can Rick be exempt from ABAWD under the medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment category?

Yes. Any individual that is considered to be disabled from the VA can be exempt from ABAWD under the medically or mentally unfit for employment category no matter the percentage of disability.

Q2. Client in the interview declares that they are physically unable to work. Upon observance the client seems to have no physical limitations, so that the exemption cannot be given based on worker observation. Which verification is needed?

In the absence of physical evidence, the information may come from a medically qualified source, such as a statement from a doctor or other medical professional. The statement does not need to say the client is unable to work. It must only establish impairment in ability to work.

Parent, Natural, Adoptive, or Step of a Household Member Younger than 18 Years of age ↑

Q1. John applies for SNAP for himself, his wife, and two step-children. The wife and step-children are currently undocumented and are ineligible for SNAP, so they are coded as S/O on the case. Is John exempt from ABAWD?

Yes – since they are household members, John can be exempt from ABAWD due to children in the household even if they are ineligible.

Q2. Ryan applies for SNAP for himself and his 3-year-old daughter. He does not have a SSN for the daughter so she cannot be added for benefits at this time. Is Ryan exempt from ABAWD?

Ryan’s daughter is coded as S/O on the case as part of the household and Ryan is exempt.

Children in Household Exemption-Living with Minor Children ↑

Q1. Divorced parents of a child both receive SNAP benefits for their own household. Mom includes the child in her SNAP household. The child stays with Dad every other weekend. Can Dad be exempt because his child resides in his household every other weekend?

No. Dad can only be exempt if the child is included in his SNAP household.

Q2. A client lives with his sister and her children. He declares separate household status from his sister and receives SNAP benefits for himself only. Can he be exempt because he resides in the same household (under one roof) with children under age 18?

No. He cannot use this exemption because the children are not included in his SNAP household.

Q3. Same household situation as #2, however, the client, his sister and her children are one SNAP household. Can he be exempted because he lives in the home with children under age 18?

Yes. The children, under age 18, are included in the SNAP household

Q4. SNAP household consists of a 19 year old man, his 16 year old wife and his parents, both under age 50. Can the 19 year old and his parents be exempt because they reside in the home with a 16 year old (wife/daughter-in-law)?

Yes. Marriage is not a factor with this exemption. When there is a person under age 18, all adults in the SNAP household can be exempt.

Q5. A SNAP client watches her next door neighbor’s two children, ages 6 and 7, after school until their Mom gets home from work. Can the client be exempt because she provides after-school care for the two neighbor children?

No. The neighbor’s children are not included in her SNAP household.

Q6. A SNAP client receives benefits for himself only and watches his young grandchildren in his own home when their babysitter can’t watch them. Can he continue to be exempt as caretaker for his grandchildren?

No. The grandchildren are not included in the client’s SNAP household. NOTE: The grandchildren would not be allowed to be added to the SNAP household as they are visitors to the home.

Q7. Can both a mother and father be exempt if they just have one child?

Yes. Caretaker status no longer applies to this particular exemption. The exemption is redefined to state ‘children in household exemption – living with a minor child’. When there is a person under age 18 living in the SNAP household, all adults in the SNAP household are exempt.

Q8. We have clients whose children are currently in state custody. The foster parents receive SNAP food benefits and have included the foster children in their SNAP household. The children have planned visitations with their biological parents each month. The biological parents are also receiving SNAP food benefits. Can the biological parents be exempt because their children have planned visitation stays in their home each month?

No. The biological parents do not have their children included in their SNAP household. They cannot be exempt just because their children have planned visitations in their home each month. They must also be included in their biological parents’ SNAP household.

Q9. SNAP benefits are active for a household of 1 adult and 1 child. Adult reports a change that their child is no longer in the home, and they would like to remove the child from the household. How would this affect ABAWD?

Worker would need to review all ABAWD exemptions to see if the adult meets any of the ABAWD exemptions. If no ABAWD exemptions exist, worker would then check to see if meeting work applies or if eligible for free months.

Q10. Betty and her 3-year-old son are receiving benefits. Betty is working for their room and board 20 hours a week. Betty reports to the customer service line that her son has moved out of state to live with his grandparents and request that he is removed from the SNAP benefit. How would this affect ABAWD?

After reviewing work registration requirements and documenting Betty’s agreement to register to work, Betty’s ABAWD status would need to be updated to W – meeting the work rule. W is used because Betty continues to work 20 hours a week for room and board.

Q11. Tim and his 3-year-old daughter are receiving food benefits. Tim is not employed. Tim calls the customer service line that his daughter moved out of state to live with the mother of the child and request that she is removed from the SNAP benefit. How would this affect ABAWD?

After work registration is addressed and Tim agrees to register to work, all ABAWD exemptions are explored to see if Tim meets any of them. Tim’s ABAWD status would be changed to K-countable months as he does not meet any other ABAWD exemptions. He would be eligible for 3 full K months.

Q12. Scott visited the local Human Services center to report a household change on his SNAP case. He no longer meets any ABAWD exemptions as his girlfriend and son (in-common) moved out of the residence and he requests that they be removed from the SNAP benefit. He is currently unemployed. This change occurred effective the 4th month of the certification. Which action is taken considering the timing of the change?

Scott is eligible for his 3 full K months that will be the 4th, 5th, & 6th months of the certification. ABAWD status will be addressed again if he provides his MCR (mid-cert renewal).

If the change was made effective the 5th month of the certification, at the MCR Scott would still have one Full K month remaining. If the MCR is provided and no changes reported, worker would process the MCR for Scott to receive the last K month. During the 7th month of certification, worker would need to contact Scott to see if anything has changed. The case would be closed if Scott is not meeting the work rule or an exemption.

Pregnancy ↑

Q1. How pregnant must a person be to be exempt?

There is no time requirement.

Veterans ↑

Q1. Does the exemption apply to individuals that are currently active military?

Current active members do not qualify. They would need to have been discharged or released.

Homeless Person ↑

Q1. Do we need to ask clients if they have access to shower and clean clothes when they report they are homeless?

No, clients no longer need to be chronically homeless to be exempt. They only need to meet the definition of homeless in policy 340:50-5-29.

Q2. Do we need to track or pend cases with a due date of 90 days when the homeless exemption is given for the individual because they have temporary accommodation in another residence of not more than 90 days?

No, the case does not need to be tracked or pended. The homeless exemption is reviewed when the case is up for renewal. Sometimes the address that is used is simply a mailing address for the client. Every time a client “moves” from a residence, the 90 days starts over.

Q3. Do residents of sober living or transitional living arrangements fulfill the definition of homelessness for the ABAWD exemption?

The sober living home or transitional home would need to meet the criteria that it provides “temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized”. As a general rule, they usually are not the same, but would need to be addressed on a case by case basis.

Ex-Foster Care Individuals ↑

Q1. Which types of verification can be used regarding the foster care exemption if the information is questionable?

Verifications can include collateral contact from other social service workers or agencies, such as the agency administering the foster care program, information from independent living coordinators who administer programs for supporting youth, or information from Medicaid.

Miscellaneous ↑

Q1. If client meets multiple exemptions, which do we use?

The choice is up to the worker when more than one exemption can be used. It’s recommended case notes be updated explaining there’s more than one exemption that applies and indicate which exemption was used.

Q2. My client is currently coded “K” and certified for three full months. The client contacted me to report he has started work. He has also provided a statement from the employer which gives an estimate of the number of hours per week he works and his hourly pay rate. Based on this estimate, the client will be over income for SNAP. Do I need to wait until the client has received at least his first full paycheck before closing the SNAP benefits (like we would for a benefit reporting household)?

Yes, in this example, there is no difference between the action you would take for a benefit reporting household and a non-reporter household. The client must provide us with a copy of at least his/her first full paycheck before we can close the SNAP benefits.