Department of Health and Human Resources Announces Changes to SNAP

The West Virginia Department for Health and Human Resources announced a change today (Monday) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As of January 1, 2016, able-bodied adults without dependents in nine West Virginia counties must meet a work or education requirement in order to continue receiving SNAP benefits.

To avoid losing their benefits, SNAP recipients ages 18-49 with no dependent children need to either work or be in an educational program for 20 hours a week, every week.

Or, they must qualify for an exemption, which includes participating in an addiction treatment and rehabilitation program, being responsible for an incapacitated adult, or currently being at least a half-time student, among other things.

The change affects adults in Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan, and Putnam counties – the nine counties with the lowest unemployment rates in West Virginia, according to a DHHR news release.

SNAP participants can go to the WorkForce Investment Boards in Charleston, Huntington, White Hall and Martinsburg to find work or be placed in a work-related training program.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.