HOUSTON \u2013 An organization that feeds one million people in the Houston area each year is warning that some could lose SNAP benefits because of new work requirements. <\/p>\n
Under the program\u2019s new work requirement, people 18-64 without dependents under 14 must work, volunteer, or train to work for at least 80 hours a month to keep their benefits. Previously, the work requirement\u2019s age range stopped at 54, and applied to people without dependents under 18. <\/p>\n
The rule changed as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act President Trump signed into law last July. <\/p>\n
According to the Houston Food Bank, \u201cmany households face an immediate risk of losing benefits due to individualized \u2018rolling deadlines\u2019 and strict Employment and Training (E&T) rules.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dr. Katherine Byers with the Houston Food Bank said the change won\u2019t hit everyone at the same time. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis will go into effect for folks when they apply for SNAP for the first time, or when they re-certify, and folks are re- certifying at different times,\u201d said Dr. Byers. <\/p>\n
Dr. Byers worries some people will lose benefits simply because they don\u2019t know the rules have changed. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf their address isn\u2019t updated, they may not get a letter,\u201d said Dr. Byers. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the Houston Food Bank is urging anyone on SNAP to stay connected and keep their benefits up to date with the state\u2019s Health and Human Services Dept<\/a>. <\/p>\n You can verify the status of your benefits through 211<\/a>, Your Texas Benefits<\/a>, or the Houston Food Bank<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cDo not assume – give us a call,\u201d said Dr. Byers. <\/p>\n \u201cI need this program,\u201d said Lisa McWashington. <\/p>\n McWashington is legally disabled and the sole caregiver for her 36-year-old daughter, who is blind and has cerebral palsy. They rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table. McWashington told KPRC 2 that making the call is worth it. <\/p>\n \u201cYou got to get out there and fight. And I\u2019m fighting,\u201d said McWashington. <\/p>\n SNAP recipients face another change in the near future: starting in April, they won\u2019t be able to use their benefits to buy candy or sugary drinks.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 An organization that feeds one million people in the Houston area each year is warning that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[918,49,6873,56,58,57,4250,61829,61828,8333],"class_list":{"0":"post-148338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-economy","9":"tag-food","10":"tag-food-assistance","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-headlines","13":"tag-houston-news","14":"tag-snap-benefits","15":"tag-snap-eligibility-changes","16":"tag-snap-program-changes","17":"tag-texas-health-and-human-services"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}