{"id":5006,"date":"2025-10-17T01:13:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/5006\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T01:13:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:13:06","slug":"1000s-in-berks-county-face-food-aid-loss-under-new-snap-rules-heres-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/5006\/","title":{"rendered":"1000s in Berks County face food aid loss under new SNAP rules. Here\u2019s what you need to know."},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by the Berks County Bureau of Spotlight PA<\/a>, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org\/newsletters\/gooddayberks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READING \u2014 Thousands of people in Berks County are expected to lose their food benefits by the end of this year as more Trump-backed changes to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program go into effect.<\/p>\n

Beginning Nov. 1, the federal government will require SNAP recipients to comply with work requirements if they don\u2019t have a child younger than 14, are considered \u201cable-bodied,\u201d and don\u2019t qualify for an exemption. Pennsylvania previously qualified for a waiver that exempted all recipients in most counties, including Berks, and some municipalities, due to high unemployment.<\/p>\n

In addition, refugees, people granted asylum, and people who meet other immigration statuses will no longer be eligible for SNAP as of that date.<\/p>\n

About 14% of Berk County\u2019s population \u2014 61,338 people \u2014 depend on SNAP benefits<\/a>. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services projects that about 3,290 will lose them.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hoa Pham, deputy secretary for the Office of Income Maintenance at DHS, described the new requirements as \u201cunfunded mandates\u201d that states will have to implement without additional staff and resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time that we are in is rather unusual, that we\u2019re not getting a ton of help from the federal government on both additional resources or even clear information on the kind of things that they want us to do,\u201d Pham said.<\/p>\n

Pham said DHS staff is strategizing how it can deploy the resources it has to tackle the additional workload of screening for work requirements and SNAP-eligible immigration statuses. The department is working \u201caround the clock\u201d to fill vacant roles at county assistance offices and train caseworkers, she said. DHS also wants to simplify the process of applying for and maintaining benefits \u201cto alleviate administrative burden\u201d on existing staff.<\/p>\n

Berks County\u2019s assistance office currently has 187 total staff, 124 of whom are income maintenance caseworkers who work with benefit recipients.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about the recent changes, and where you can get help in Berks County.<\/p>\n

What are SNAP work requirements?<\/p>\n

There are two categories of work requirements for SNAP<\/a>: general requirements for those between 16 to 59, and tougher requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD).<\/p>\n

To comply with general requirements, SNAP recipients must be actively seeking a job or enrolled in an employment training program, and take a job if offered. Employed SNAP recipients must not voluntarily quit a job or reduce hours to less than 30 per week.<\/p>\n

The ABAWD work requirement applies to adults without young dependents who \u201care considered physically and mentally able to work.\u201d They must work, volunteer, or participate in job training for at least 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month. People who do not comply with these requirements are eligible for SNAP for only three months in a three-year period.<\/p>\n

Both categories allow for exemptions.<\/p>\n

How did Trump\u2019s \u2018big beautiful\u2019 law change SNAP work requirements?<\/p>\n

The SNAP program already had work requirements before the Republican-led Congress passed the Trump administration\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a> in July. But the law makes several changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of Nov. 1, the law raises the ABAWD age limit to 64 from 54. These requirements will also apply to people with children between 14 and 17, rather than children younger than 18, as it was previously.<\/p>\n

In addition, veterans and current and former foster youth between 18 and 24 will no longer be automatically exempt.<\/p>\n

The budget law also removed the blanket federal exemption for individuals experiencing homelessness. However, Pennsylvania has not finalized guidance on how it is going to handle that new rule.<\/p>\n

Pham of DHS said the state is exploring what it can do to support unhoused SNAP recipients.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort of that federal exemption that no longer exists as of the passage of this bill, we are evaluating our options on what we can do as a state to confer an exemption for maybe some subset of those individuals who may be experiencing homelessness,\u201d Pham said.<\/p>\n

Who still qualifies for exemptions from work requirements?<\/p>\n

People who meet one of the following are still exempt after Nov. 1:<\/p>\n

17 or younger or older than 64
\nPregnant
\nHave a dependent younger than 14
\nAble to provide medical documentation of a mental or physical disability<\/a>
\nParticipating in a drug or alcohol treatment program
\nUnemployed but expects to work again in the next 60 days
\nSurvivor of domestic violence
\nTaking care of someone ill or incapacitated
\nHomeless, living in a shelter or halfway house, or staying with family or friends for no more than 90 days<\/p>\n

DHS says some of these statuses may require verification. You can find a full list of the exemptions here.<\/a><\/p>\n

How do the changes affect new versus existing SNAP recipients?<\/p>\n

DHS will screen<\/a> new applicants to determine whether they must meet work requirements, which go into effect Nov. 1.<\/p>\n

For people who already receive SNAP, DHS will determine whether they must meet work requirements during their next renewal period (SNAP benefits renew every six months).<\/p>\n

If they must, they will have three months to find a job or volunteer opportunity before their benefits run out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that people don\u2019t feel like, \u2018Oh my gosh, Nov. 1, the whole world changes.\u2019 Yeah, it does, but it will be unique to your circumstance,\u201d Pham said.<\/p>\n

How do I prove I\u2019m working or volunteering?<\/p>\n

Case workers in DHS county assistance offices<\/a> work with SNAP applicants and recipients to verify work requirements are being met.<\/p>\n

SNAP recipients can upload pay stubs and volunteer work verification documents<\/a> onto the COMPASS<\/a> website. DHS verifies work hours every six months during the renewal period.<\/p>\n

Those fulfilling work requirements through an employment and training program must fill out a weekly employment and training activity form.<\/a><\/p>\n

DHS has a video<\/a> explaining how to use COMPASS to upload SNAP work requirement documents.<\/p>\n

How will some foreign nationals and immigrants be impacted by SNAP changes?<\/p>\n

People with the following statuses are no longer eligible for SNAP under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:<\/p>\n

Refugees
\nPeople granted asylum
\nSurvivors of human trafficking granted T nonimmigrant status<\/a>
\nVAWA self-petitioners <\/a>(people eligible for permanent status through an abusive spouse or family member, but who are self-petitioning under the Violence Against Women Act)
\nPeople protected by withholding of removal orders
\nPeople on humanitarian parole
\nAfghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa holders
\nAfghans paroled July 31, 2021-Sept. 30, 2023, and Ukrainians paroled Feb. 24, 2022- Sept. 30, 2024.
\nGreen-card holders who have been in the country for fewer than five years (the time rule does not apply to some<\/a>).<\/p>\n

People under these statuses still qualify for SNAP, although they are also subject to work requirements:<\/p>\n

Maripat Pileggi, supervising attorney at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, said she is concerned that understaffed county assistance offices will not have the capacity to adequately screen immigrant SNAP recipients and applicants, especially because immigration status is often difficult to understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many complexities and ways for people to misunderstand at the county assistance office,\u201d Pileggi said. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019m telling everybody is there will be mistakes made. File an appeal. If you get a termination notice in the mail, file an appeal. Appeals are by far the best and fastest way to fix mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important for refugees getting SNAP, who now have permanent status, to make sure their county assistance office has a copy of their green card, Pileggi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county assistance office has never before today had any reason to ask a refugee if they have their green card. It just never made any difference before. Now it does,\u201d Pileggi said. \u201cI\u2019m sure there are refugees who are getting SNAP now that the county assistance office doesn\u2019t know they have their green cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can SNAP recipients connect with jobs, training, or volunteering opportunities in Berks County?<\/p>\n

There are state-run job training and education programs<\/a> that a county assistance office will refer people to. They include:<\/p>\n

PA Careerlink in Berks County<\/a> has online and in-person resources for job seekers, while Connections Work<\/a> helps formerly incarcerated people reenter the workforce.<\/p>\n

Who can help Berks County residents apply for or manage their SNAP benefits?<\/p>\n

If I lose SNAP benefits, where can I get other food assistance in Berks County?<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was produced by the Berks County Bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-5006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}