How New SNAP Work Requirements Affect LRCD Residents

By Melissa Shadden-Cyr, LRCD Resident Services Coordinator
 
On November 1, 2025, the state of New Hampshire began to implement new work requirements for the SNAP program. Under these new rules, any person deemed an ABAWD (Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents) receiving SNAP benefits (also known as Food Stamps) would be required to demonstrate that they are working, volunteering, or participating in a work program for at least 80 hours per month. The work rules themselves are not new, however under new regulations, more people are being considered ABAWDs.
 
Prior to November of 2025, work requirements were imposed upon people between the ages of 18-54 without dependents under the age of 18. Exemptions were given to those who were veterans, aging out of foster care, or experiencing homelessness. Under new federal legislation, the defined age of an ABAWD expanded to 18-64, and the age of eligible dependents dropped from 18 to 14. Moreover, the important exemptions were removed.
 
Many LRCD residents are eligible for SNAP. Our community is made up largely of working families, seniors, and people with disabilities. While some of our residents will be exempt from these new work rules, many will not.
 
One resident, a 63-year-old with a disabling back condition, learned that he will need to document these hours to continue receiving around $150 per month in food assistance. He tried for many years to get SSDI benefits (“disability”), but as anyone who has been through the application process can testify, it’s nearly impossible to get approved without an attorney.
 
After receiving a denial notice, he ultimately decided he would just wait to be retirement age and make do with SNAP, working side jobs when his body would allow. When he learned that he would need to start documenting 20 hours per week of work activities, he was optimistic. “I’d like to volunteer,” he told me, but then explained that most of the places he could volunteer have waitlists, and cannot offer a consistent 20 hours per week.
 
Due to his disability, as well as transportation issues, it will be difficult to find a job that is manageable, and flexible enough to allow him to attend doctors’ appointments. Some work programs that might help him develop new job skills, such as Operation Able (formerly known as CSEP) have also been under federal fire recently, and their future is somewhat unknown. Others are notoriously difficult to enter due to high demand, and limited resources.
 
Work requirements have been demonstrated to be ineffective at increasing employment or earnings, because they do not address barriers to employment. For LRCD tenants who are not working but are also considered “ABAWD”, transportation is a major barrier. Jobs are often too far from residential areas for those who would have to walk, public transportation is virtually non-existent, and the price of a vehicle is prohibitive for someone without steady income.
 
Work requirements, are, however, good at causing people to lose food assistance. These new regulations will shift the burden to our already strained network of food pantries and charitable organizations. Ultimately, they will result in more members of our community struggling to access food, opting instead to ration or go hungry.

Melissa Shadden-Cyr, MSW, LICSW