There’s good news for people receiving food assistance in Delaware. The Trump Administration’s recent move to tighten work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is not likely to have an impact here.
The Trump Administration’s stricter work requirements for recipients of SNAP apply to adults betwee 18-to-49, childless and not disabled.
“So this simply means that individuals who were receiving…..”individuals” are what we call abled-bodied adults without dependents; and that’s the long-term for what we typically refer to as “a-bawds”but the acronym is able-bodied adults without dependents,” said TakeyaPerez, the chief policy administrator with Delaware’s Division of Social Services.
She says currently, able-bodied adults without dependents can receive SNAP benefits for three months during a 36th month period even if they are not participating in employment and training activities or working and are otherwise technically and financially eligible.
“A lot of other states requested and received waivers for some of this population to be exempt from participating in employment and training,” said Perez.
Perez notes Delaware did not request a waiver because she says the First State has a fairly “robust” employment and training program in place. When the waiver option was made to states, Delaware had a very robusy in-house EBT program and many other states did not. This allowed Delaware to continue to fully serve SNAP participants who were really interested in employment and training services and finding work.
The bottom line, according to Perez, is no one in Delaware will lose SNAP benefits.
Division of Social Services’s executive director Thomas Hall emphasizes that SNAP remains a critical benefit and the agency is fully committed to getting those who are eligible enrolled.
As of this month (December), almost 120,000 Delawareans are receiving SNAP benefits.
