Up to 80,000 More Marylanders Must Report Work Hours to Keep SNAP, and Those Who Miss the Rule Get Only Three Months of Benefits

Until the federal H.R. 1 law took hold, a Maryland SNAP recipient who was a veteran, who was homeless, or who had aged out of foster care before turning 24 did not have to show work hours to keep food benefits. Neither did a 60-year-old with no children at home, or a parent whose youngest child was 15. Maryland’s Department of Human Services (DHS) says all of those groups are now inside the rules, and that up to 80,000 additional Marylanders must report work hours to keep SNAP.

Anyone who cannot meet the requirement and has no exception gets SNAP for only three months, according to DHS. The rules took effect Nov. 1, 2025, and current recipients become subject to them at their next recertification, so many households are meeting them for the first time as their renewal dates come up.

Who Was Exempt Before and Who Is Not Now

DHS describes the change in two sentences. Before H.R. 1, adults ages 18 to 54 without a child under 18 in the home had to follow the work rules. Now the rules cover adults 18 to 64 without a child under 14 in the home.

The state’s Action Transmittal 26-09, issued Oct. 16, 2025, spells out which exemptions were removed: homelessness, veteran status, and former foster youth ages 24 and younger. It lists one new exception, for members of Indian, Urban Indian and California Indian groups.

The law itself is Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025. Its section 10102 rewrites the list of people excused from the work rule, and the new list leaves out veterans, homeless people and foster youth. The text sets the dependent-child exception at a child under 14.

The federal agency has been slower to catch up in writing. USDA’s work requirements page still shows the older 18-to-54 range and the under-18 child exemption, and says the agency is preparing guidance on how the 2025 law changes the exception and waiver criteria. Maryland’s own pages and transmittal describe the rules recipients face today.

Twenty Hours a Week, or $217.50, Meets the Rule

DHS says recipients subject to the rules must work at least 20 hours a week, or 80 hours a month, or earn at least $217.50 a week from work. At Maryland’s minimum wage, the department notes, that works out to about 14.5 hours a week.

Work is not the only way to count. DHS’s H.R. 1 work requirements FAQ says volunteering and job search or training programs, such as SNAP Employment & Training, also count toward the requirement. Maryland Hunger Solutions, an advocacy group that tracks the changes, describes the same 20-hour test and lists the options as work, volunteering, job training, or enrollment in a SNAP Employment and Training program.

The people the department says may be excused are a longer list than the new ones added to the rule. According to DHS, an exception applies to anyone who:

• is under 18 or over 64;
• is a parent or caregiver of a dependent child under 14;
• receives disability benefits such as SSDI, SSI, VA disability or Temporary Disability Assistance;
• receives Temporary Cash Assistance, or receives or has applied for Unemployment Insurance;
• is in an alcohol or drug treatment program;
• is caring for an incapacitated person of any age;
• is physically or medically unfit for employment, as documented by a medical professional on DHS Form 500.

Pregnancy is also listed as an exception in the FAQ.

How Three Months Becomes the Limit

The three-month cap is the part of the rule with the sharpest edge. DHS says a person who cannot meet the requirements and does not qualify for an exception can receive SNAP for only three months. The transmittal puts the cap in federal terms: able-bodied adults without dependents can receive SNAP for only three months within a 36-month period unless they meet the work requirement or have an exemption.

The cap does not start until the state has screened the person. Under the transmittal, countable months cannot be assigned until a person has been screened and no exception applies, and screenings happen at certification, redetermination and interim changes, including Maryland Benefit Reviews.

The FAQ says the rules took effect on Nov. 1, 2025, and apply to new applicants right away. Current recipients who were already on SNAP before that date become subject to them at their next recertification. Redeterminations that began in November 2025 already use the new rules, according to the transmittal.

Losing benefits is not permanent. DHS says a person can reapply at any time, but must then either qualify for an exception or meet the work requirements.

Reporting Hours and Reaching DHS

The FAQ says a caseworker screens each household for exemptions at the application or recertification interview and explains how to show the requirement is met. The transmittal adds that customers must tell the agency if their participation falls below 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month, and that a quick reference guide sets reporting at recertification or within 10 days of the change.

The state points customers to myMDTHINK for updates, program information and forms. Maryland Hunger Solutions lists benefits.maryland.gov, the DHS Customer Service Call Center at 1-800-332-6347 (TTY 1-800-735-2258), or a local Department of Social Services office as the ways to update a case.

The stakes are large in a program of this size. DHS says SNAP feeds more than 680,000 Marylanders each month, including nearly 270,000 children, at an average benefit of $180 per person per month. The department’s 80,000 figure covers adults added to the work rules by the law, not the full caseload.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Ken Hammond – Public domain/Wikimedia Commons