2520 Able-bodied
Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) - Able bodied adults aged 18
through 49 without dependents in the home, can only receive food assistance
for 3 months in a 36 month period while they are not meeting the work
requirement of items 1 or 2 below. For ease of administration and tracking,
the State is adopting a FIXED 36 month period for all person's identified
as ABAWD's in the State. The current 36 month period is 10/2019 through
9/2022.
NOTE: Months of ABAWD participation in another State count
against the 3-month limit in Kansas. If at application, the person indicates
receipt of benefits in another State during the Kansas fixed 36-month
period, part of the verification that the case is closed in the other
State must include verification of receipt of benefits as an ABAWD. These
months would be indicated on the system. See the KEES User
Manual for further information on system processing.
Examples: Joe ABAWD gets 3 months of food assistance while
not meeting the ABAWD work requirement from 7/2017 through 9/2017. Joe
ABAWD cannot receive food assistance again until 10/2019, unless he meets
the work requirement, qualifies for the one-time 3-month extension, or
becomes a non-ABAWD.
To receive food assistance past the 3 month period, the individual must
meet the following work requirement:
NOTE: Verification that
the individual is working an average of 20 hours a week is mandatory.
See 1322.1 (8).
Also see 9122.8 (2) regarding reported
changes in the number of hours worked to below 20 hours a week.
NOTE: An individual employed by VISTA an average of 20 hours
a week would meet this criteria even if the income is not countable.
In addition, in-kind income would also count for meeting the ABAWD
work requirement as long as the person is working an average of 20
hours a week.
NOTE: It will be important to verify that the person is participating in the training program for at least 20 hours a week. Failure on the part of the ABAWD to meet and or verify this requirement must be reported to the appropriate BPM team and will result in that month being counted against their 3-month limit.