“ABAWD” SNAP Time Limits for Single Adults without Dependents

ABAWD stands for Able Bodied Adults without Dependents. It is an adult between 18 and 49 years old who is not disabled, not pregnant, not ill, and not living in a household with minor children. People under age 18 or age 50 or older are not ABAWDs.

If you are an ABAWD, you can only get 3 months of SNAP (food stamps) in a 36-month period unless you follow work rules or meet an exception. During the 3 months that you get SNAP, you need to meet with your SNAP employment and training counselor. During this period, you can take part in training programs, including GED, ESL or Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes.

You must be:

• working or doing volunteer work for 20 hours a week/80 hours a month OR

• doing SNAP employment and training or be in a workfare program for 27 hours a month  

The work rule and 3 month time limit DO NOT apply if you:

• are under age 18 or age 50 and older

• can't work 20 hours or more a week because of a physical or mental problem that is expected to last at least 30 days

• are caring for a child under the age of 18 (you do not have to be the child's parent)

• get General Assistance (GA), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability (SSDI), or Minnesota Supplemental Assistance (MSA)

• get Unemployment Benefits

• are pregnant

• take care of an ill or disabled person in your household

• are enrolled at least half-time in a recognized school or training program

• are in a drug or alcohol rehab program

• applied for SSI and your application is pending

• get rehabilitative services (DVR)

• get developmentally disabled services (DD)

If you lost your SNAP because you already got 3 months, you can get another 3 months of SNAP. Apply at your county agency and meet with the county employment and training counselor.

You can also get another 3 months of SNAP if you are in one of these groups:

• Homeless

• A victim of domestic abuse

• A veteran

• A young adult who recently became too old for foster care (“aged out”)

• Used to have MFIP, but now you don’t because your youngest child is now too old.
   

After that, you can get SNAP benefits if:

• you work or do volunteer activity for 80 hours in a month, or

• you are doing 27 hours a month of work activity in a workfare program run by your county or a community organization.
   

In this case, you might earn another 3 months of eligibility. The months of work activity do not have to be in a row.

• Aitken
• Becker
• Beltrami
• Carlton
• Cass
• Clearwater
• Cook
• Cottonwood
• Crow Wing
• Hubbard
• Isanti
• Itasca
• Kanabec
• Kittson
• Koochiching
• Lake
• Lake of the Woods
• Mahnomen
• Marshall
• Mille Lacs
• Morrison
• Norman
• Pennington
• Pine
• Red Lake
• Roseau
• St. Louis
• Todd
• Wadena
   

For the same reasons, the work rules and 3-month limit do not apply in any Indian Reservation in Minnesota.

You can choose which 3 months to get SNAP in the 36-month period (3 years). Any month that you get less than a full month of benefits does not count as one of your 3 months. This can happen if you applied after the 1st of the month or weren’t eligible for some days in the month.  If someone in a household loses SNAP because of the time limit, others in the household can still get SNAP.

If you lose SNAP because of the work rules, or because they say that you have used up your 3 months, but you do not agree, appeal right away. If you appeal within 10 days of the date of the notice, you can get SNAP during the appeal.

To appeal, give your worker a letter saying that you appeal and why. Date it and keep a copy.

Or, fill out and submit an appeal form  online.

Go to: www.LawHelpMN.org/resource/form-helper.

• Click on “Government Benefits”

• then on “Appeal a Decision for Denied, Reduced or Cut Off Benefits.”
   

See our fact sheet Welfare Appeals for more information. For help, call your legal aid office.