Are you exempt from the new SNAP work requirements? Here’s how to find out.

The rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – known as SNAP or “food stamps” – are changing, and an estimated 144,000 people statewide could lose their benefits according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. 

As of September 1st, people receiving SNAP benefits are required to work, volunteer, or be in an employment training program a minimum of 20 hours a week in order to continue receiving assistance. If they don’t comply and aren’t exempt, their benefits will terminate December 1st.

However, many people can keep their SNAP benefits if they meet certain exemption criteria. A Philadelphia-based nonprofit called Community Legal Services has been helping people navigate whether they are exempt, and how to inform the government about their status.

These are legal exemptions the state human services department should already have on file:

• Under 18 or over age 55 (or over age 65, starting November 1)
• Living with children under age 18 (or under age 14, starting November 1)
• Receiving SSI or SSD disability benefits

These are some exemptions you may have to notify the County Assistance Office about. If you fall within any of these categories, you should maintain your SNAP benefits:

• Pregnant
• In school or job training (half-time or more)
• Getting unemployment benefits
• Taking care of a sick family member
• In drug or mental health treatment
• Doing community service 20 hours/week
• Going back to work within 60 days
• Experiencing homelessness
• Living with a health condition that makes it hard to work (requires a medical form signed by your healthcare provider)
• Unable to work due to domestic violence 
• A veteran of any branch of the U.S. Military, National Guard, or reserves, regardless of type of discharge (exemption ends on October 31)
• Aged out of the foster care system and currently under age 25 (exemption ends on October 31)

Here’s the full exemption list, and a folder with other exemption forms you might need.

What to do if you’re exempt or working enough hours 

Human services employees have been reviewing all SNAP beneficiaries to see if they can keep their benefits. 

Those workers from the County Assistance Office (CAO), which is a part of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), are assessing SNAP recipients to find evidence that they meet exemption criteria, or documentation that they are complying with the work requirement, according to Community Legal Services (CLS) attorney Tue Ho.

If the office finds evidence that you should maintain your SNAP benefits, don’t do anything, said Ho. Your benefits will continue as usual.

If the office doesn’t find documentation that you’re complying with the work requirement or exempt, it will mail you a questionnaire that assesses whether you should keep your benefits. That form allows you to tell the CAO that you’re exempt or that you’re working, training, or volunteering for enough hours. 

Fill it out and submit it as soon as possible.

You can submit it online through COMPASS, or hand it in in person at your nearest CAO. If you submit it at the CAO, ask an employee for a physical receipt. Find your nearest CAO location on the list of offices by county. 

You can also mail the form to the CAO, but Ho warns there's a risk of it getting lost. You also won’t receive a physical receipt after you submit. Best practices are submitting online or in person, Ho said. 

“Sometimes you just pop documents in, and the risk there is that it gets lost and not processed,” Ho said. “You want to make sure you have a paper receipt of your submission.”

What if you haven’t received that form but meet an exemption or work requirement?

If you’re currently a SNAP recipient and you didn’t receive a form in the mail, the CAO found evidence that you’re complying with the work requirements or already exempt. That means you won’t lose your benefits. 

But if you want to make sure you can keep SNAP, call the DHS customer service line at (215)-560-7226 and ask for confirmation. 

If you haven’t received a form in the mail but you believe you meet the medical condition exemption, you can submit a medical condition exemption form to the CAO. Hand your medical exemption form to staff at your nearest CAO or submit online using COMPASS. 

The medical exemption form has to be signed by your health care provider, which is anyone whose services can be reimbursed by Medicaid. Providers can range from your physician and osteopath to your social worker or therapist. 

What if your benefits get terminated

If your SNAP benefits get terminated, you’ll receive a notice in the mail and have 30 days to appeal.

CLS can assist with an appeal. Visit their office at 1410 W. Erie Avenue on Monday or Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., or call CLS at (215)-981-3700 on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

You can also meet the work requirement by enrolling in a job training program or volunteering at a nonprofit for enough hours. CLS has more information online about what you can do to comply with the new work requirements.

What’s next?

Ho expects there will be bureaucratic hiccups.

“They were not given additional resources for this monumental task,” he said. “We can expect that with more work and not more resources there will be some administrative errors.”

More than a quarter of Philadelphia County residents received SNAP benefits in 2022, compared to just 12% of Delaware County residents and 6% of Montgomery County residents, according to the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. 

Kensington has a high concentration of poverty compared to other sections of the city, with a median income of between $20,000 and $40,000 per year in varying parts of the neighborhood.

Jacquelyn Saez, director of food systems at the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, recently described the change as “a war on Kensington families.”

“In a neighborhood where families face housing instability, addiction, and systemic disinvestment, removing essential safety nets strips residents of both access to food and the tools to sustain healthier lives,” Saez wrote in a recent blog post. “These cuts don’t just reduce resources, they compound generational harm, widen inequities, and undermine community resilience.”

SNAP-Ed, an education and outreach program that teaches people in Kensington how to access and stretch their SNAP benefits, is also ending due to federal cuts.

But CLS also offers workshops and training on SNAP. You can reach out to them to make a request. You can also watch their webinar and find written instructions on their website.

If you want help applying for benefits, counselors are available at BenePhilly Centers across the city. Counselors there can help you figure out what benefits you’re eligible for. 

The list of BenePhilly Center locations is available on the CLS website.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify instructions for SNAP beneficiaries.

Have any questions, comments, or concerns about this story? Send an email to editors@kensingtonvoice.com. Or call/text the editors desk line at ‪(215) 385-3115‬.