The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is a major piece of the U.S. social safety net used by nearly 42 million, or about 1 in 8 Americans, to help buy groceries.
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Originally known as the food stamp program, it has existed since 1964, serving low-income people, many of whom have jobs but don’t make enough money to cover all the basic costs of living.
Public attention has focused on the program since President Donald Trump’s administration announced last week that it would freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 in the midst of a monthlong federal government shutdown. The administration argued it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it to help keep the program going. But on Friday, two federal judges ruled in separate challenges that the federal government must continue to fund SNAP, at least partially, using contingency funds. However, the federal government is expected to appeal, and the process to restart SNAP payments would likely take one to two weeks.
Here’s a look at how SNAP works.
Who’s eligible?
There are income limits based on family size, expenses and whether households include someone who is elderly or has a disability.
Most SNAP participants are families with children, and more than 1 in 3 include older adults or someone with a disability.
Nearly 2 in 5 recipients are households where someone is employed.
Most participants have incomes below the poverty line, which is about $32,000 for a family of four, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, says nearly 16 million children received SNAP benefits in 2023.
Who’s not eligible?
People who are not in the country legally, and many immigrants who do have legal status, are not eligible. Many college students aren’t either, and some states have barred people with certain drug convictions.
Under a provision of Trump’s big tax and policy law that also takes effect Nov. 1, people who do not have disabilities, are between ages 18 and 64 and who do not have children under age 14 can receive benefits for only three months every three years if they’re not working. Otherwise, they must work, volunteer or participate in a work training program at least 80 hours a month.
How much do beneficiaries receive?
On average, the monthly benefit per household participating in SNAP over the past few years has been about $350, and the average benefit per person is about $190.
The benefit amount varies based on a family’s income and expenses. The designated amount is based on the concept that households should allocate 30% of their remaining income after essential expenses to food.
Families can receive higher amounts if they pay child support, have monthly medical expenses exceeding $35 or pay a higher portion of their income on housing.
How do benefits work?
The cost of benefits and half the cost of running the program is paid by the federal government using tax dollars.
States pay the rest of the administrative costs and run the program.
People apply for SNAP through a state or county social service agency or through a nonprofit that helps people with applications. In some states, SNAP is known by another, state-specific name. For instance, it’s FoodShare in Wisconsin and CalFresh in California.
The benefits are delivered through electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, cards that work essentially like a bank debit card. Besides SNAP, it’s where money is loaded for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program, which provides cash assistance for low-income families with children, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
The card is swiped or inserted in a store’s card reader at checkout, and the cardholder enters their PIN to pay for food. The cost of the food is deducted from the person’s SNAP account balance.
What can it buy?
SNAP benefits can only be used for food at participating stores — mostly groceries, supermarkets, discount retail stores, convenience stores and farmers markets. It also covers plants and seeds bought to grow your own food. However, hot foods — like restaurant meals — are not covered.
Produce, which is covered by the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is displayed for sale at a grocery store in Baltimore, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Most, but not all, food stores participate. The USDA provides a link on its website to a SNAP retail locator, allowing people to enter an address to get the closest retailers to them.
Items commonly found in a grocery and other participating stores that can’t be bought with SNAP benefits include pet food, household supplies like toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning products, and toiletries like toothpaste, shampoo and cosmetics. Vitamins, medicines, alcohol and tobacco products are also excluded.
Sales tax is not charged on items bought with SNAP benefits.
Are there any restrictions?
There aren’t additional restrictions today on which foods can be purchased with SNAP money.
But the federal government is allowing states to apply to limit which foods can be purchased with SNAP starting in 2026.
Stillwater coach Mike Huber admitted anything less than a state championship this season would have been “disappointing.” Powered by a talented, 17-member senior class that had largely been together for the past several seasons, this was going to be the Ponies’ year.
But Friday’s Class 3A state final wasn’t following the script. A pair of goals for top-seeded Wayzata had the Ponies trailing 2-0 with 10 minutes to play in the first half at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Disappointment was staring Stillwater in the face. But so, too, was Déjà vu.
For weeks now, before every postseason bout, the coaching staff had played footage from the defining moment of the Ponies’ most recent championship run — the 2021 state semifinal win over Edina — to the current players, .
The message, per Huber: “This is what it takes to win a championship.”
On that day, Stillwater scored the game’s final three goals to rally from a 2-0 deficit against the much-heralded Hornets.
“We had no business winning that game,” Huber joked.
They had no intention of losing this one, but the Ponies needed something — anything — to change the championship’s course. They found it on the left foot of Alayna Muths.
With 9 minutes remaining in the half, the senior forward corralled a throw-in on the wide edge of the box amid traffic. Muths turned left, found a sliver of space between three Wayzata defenders and ripped a bender that dipped inside the upper-left part of the frame to suddenly cut Stillwater’s deficit in half.
Game on.
“That gave us a little bit more momentum (and belief) that we can stay in this game,” Stillwater senior forward Rylee Lawrence said.
The score stood at 2-1 more than 10 minutes into the second stanza when opportunity knocked for Muths again. She answered a second time.
A throw-in was headed twice by two different Stillwater players into the box. The ball then found its way past Lawrence and a pair of Trojan defenders and leaked to the backside, where Muths stood alone. She beat the goalie near post to tie the game 2-2.
Which set the stage for Lawrence, Stillwater’s leading scorer this season who netted the lone goal in the semis against Eagan.
Ponies goalie Reese Elzen launched a goal kick 60 yards down the field. Lawrence won the ball, spun, then darted to her right. She out-raced a couple defenders to the edge of the box, where the senior launched a missile to the upper far corner to put the Ponies (19-1-1) on top for good with 15 minutes to play to win the state title, 3-2.
“It was unreal. I can’t even describe it,” Lawrence said. “Our team was working so hard. So, to be able to put it in for everyone else, too, besides myself, was just amazing.”
That was the drive for Stillwater all season. This was always the end goal, and the Ponies were going to push for it as one.
“It was like, ‘Hey, let’s work together, be a team, no drama,’ ” Huber said. “And let’s go out and get it done.”
They did — not just on Friday but every day throughout the fall. Players noted to Huber after the team’s final practice Thursday that he rarely put them through conditioning this season.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, I guess I didn’t. You must not have (ticked) me off a lot,’ ” he joked. “The girls were awesome all year.. … They came out every day, worked hard. They deserved to be here.”
What perhaps felt like destiny had to be earned. Especially given the opponent. Friday marked defending-champion Wayzata’s first loss to a program not named Edina since 2022.
“If the loss comes against a team like Stillwater,” Wayzata coach Tony Peszneker said, “then it’s probably well-earned on their part, and something we can probably live with.”
The Trojans (16-1-2) pushed Stillwater to the brink in a classic clash of elite teams. Huber described Friday’s bout as “one of the best finals I’ve seen in a while.”
“Every championship game should be a game that you want to remember,” Peszneker said.
This one was. Of course, for the players, that was probably always going to be true. Prior to the contest, Ponies assistant coach Dusty Dennis told them that in 20 years, when they’re back in Stillwater, they’ll drive past the high school and think about this game.
“And now,” senior defender Savannah Backberg said, “we can think about how we won.”
Briefly
Edina beat Maple Grove 1-0 to win the Class 3A boys state title game Friday. Haden Smith scored the game’s lone goal in the 50th minute.
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Halloween night, around 9 o’clock. Perhaps even later. The wind whips, the branches wave. The candy bowl is empty. The doorbell has not rung for 90 minutes.
And then… DING DONG!
What infernal hell hath befallen us? Your spine stiffens and your blood runs cold. But you know the truth. The real Witching Hour has arrived. There’s a persistent second doorbell, followed by irritated mumbling through the walls — Dude, I saw a guy in the window, they’re home. … You open the door.
Teenagers. No costumes. No “Trick or treat!” They can barely deign to raise their leaden pillowcases. Something here — the bored stares, the nascent mustaches, their inability to read the room — feels off. You mutter that it’s late and have no more candy and they say nothing and spin on their heels and you close the door and sigh. Ten minutes later, another doorbell.
Oh, Great Pumpkin, please, an answer: How old is too old to trick or treat?
At least in Illinois, the answer — or rather, an answer — has more complexity, contemporary resonance and fascinating history than you might have considered. It is partly rooted in a chaotic Halloween party in Ogden Park exactly 100 years ago, a night when Chicago police found themselves shooting at teenagers, a night once defined by packs of older kids and vandalism. Before we embark, know this: There will be echoes of class resentment, and screams of gentrification. Here lies a holiday predicated on the idea that, for one night, we open our doors to our neighbors, even if we don’t recognize their masked faces. And yet, in the past century, that’s led to serious campaigns in Illinois to outlaw trick or treating.
For the record, there is no statewide age restriction on trick or treating in Illinois.
No state has such a law.
But many small communities around the country set formal and informal age limits. Some have for decades, including in Illinois. Virginia seems to have the most. As recently as 2017, Pennsauken, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, made an official statement: “Trick or treating is for kids, not adults. Anyone over the age of 14 cannot go out trick or treating, unless you’re acting as a chaperone. … And unfortunately, chaperones can’t ask for any candy.” Last fall, New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson University asked 800 people nationally: How old is too old to trick or treat? The average reply was 13 and a half.
“People have always pointed out when a kid looks too old to be trick or treating, or when they didn’t put enough effort into their costumes,” said Dan Cassino, professor of government and politics at Fairleigh, and executive director of its polls, “but the problem (for a village or town looking to formalize age limits) is you get into race and class issues. People overestimate the ages of Black children. There are kids who want to trick or treat yet have less resources for costumes. That’s all true. I live in one of those neighborhoods where people arrive from outside to trick or treat, and so some people have a tendency to police who supposedly belongs or doesn’t. And doesn’t that go against the spirit of the holiday? Most teens will eventually opt out of trick or treating on their own.”
Still, since 2008, Belleville, Illinois, south of Springfield has had a controversial “Halloween solicitation” ordinance making it illegal for anyone older than 12 to wear a costume on a Belleville street any day other than Halloween “without permission of the Mayor or Chief of Police.”
“That’s in place to keep everybody safe,” said Mayor Jenny Gain Meyer. “We have a large senior citizen population not comfortable answering the door after a certain time of night.” But she acknowledges “We do get complaints (about the law),” and when she was a child, “You got home from school, got into your plastic costume, got a pillowcase and took off for hours on your own and got more candy than you knew what to do with. But I think the holiday just has a different feel now.”
In Marion, on the southern border of Illinois, the age limit is also 12, but according to city officials, it’s there primarily to allow room for smaller children to roam. In Forsyth, outside Decatur, village administrator Jill Applebee said there’s never been a call for age restrictions: “There are worse things kids could be doing that night.” But the village will also fine trick-or-treaters (up to $750) if they approach a home without its porch light on.
That’s one of the ways that towns, intentionally or not, discourage trick-or-treating into old age. In fact, the sporadic irritating surprise of a teenager on your porch is among the reasons why so many suburbs mandate specific times for trick-or-treating.
“Times are in place for that reason,” said Jan Tomaszewski, deputy city clerk of Palos Heights, “and it seems to work, we’ve never had trouble. If a doorbell rings after 7 p.m. now, you know it’s not a child.”
William, 4, left, and Zachary Schulte, 7, trick-or-treat in a neighborhood in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Many Lake County communities including Waukegan, Gurnee and Zion relocate trick-or-treating to several days before Oct. 31: “It’s become our tradition, for a long time now,” said Maurice Cashin, office manager of Wadsworth.
It’s also quite a way from the breathless dash of freedom Halloween night once offered, that classic autumn image popularized in part by Ray Bradbury, whose Halloween memories of Waukegan filled his beloved works: “Galloping, rushing, they seized a final sheet, adjusted a last mask, tugged at strange mushroom caps or wigs, shouting at the way the wind took them … just letting the sheer exhilaration of being alive and out on this night pull their lungs and shape their throats into a yell.”
Today, Bradbury would have to trick or treat five days before Halloween, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“I bet 90% of the kids who trick or treat now have no real idea what the ‘trick’ part of what they’re saying really means anymore,” said Lisa Morton, a Halloween historian.
On the unlikely chance your child stumbles onto a time machine this Halloween and finds themselves in Chicago, Oct. 31, 1925, they might not even recognize the holiday.
That night, according to Chicago police, 25 drunk teens attacked a Halloween party in the field house at Ogden Park. Police arrived, found themselves outmatched and called for reinforcements. Some teenagers beat a few police, who responded by shooting at least two people. Nobody died, and one civic leader (unfortunately named R.O. Witcraft) told the Tribune the evening had otherwise been relatively sedate for the holiday. And in a way, it was.
Sure, besides the “Halloween riot,” the Tribune reported in the same article that several cars had been set on fire across the city; and several buildings were set on fire; and Chicagoans reported smashed windows and destroyed fences; and a 13- and 14-year old were arrested for hurling rocks at “L” trains; and 62 boys were caught in Evanston disrupting traffic and jumping on cars; and someone had attempted to burn down the stands at one of Northwestern University’s sports fields.
But “Otherwise,” the article decided, “Night Is Quiet With Usual Pranks.”
Because, by 1925, not just in Chicago but nationally, Halloween was nuts.
“We have a vision of the holiday as child-centered, innocent and by sixth grade, you’re too old,” said Joel Best, a sociology and criminal justice professor emeritus at the University of Delaware who studied crime and rumors of crime on Halloween. “Most of the traditions in the early 20th century were adolescent — a young woman who went into a dark room with a candle on Halloween could look into a mirror and see the face of the man she’d marry. That sort of thing. But on the other end, for years, there had been lots of violence and vandalism — and a lot of frustration over it.”
William Schulte, 4, trick-or-treats in a neighborhood in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Lydia Frank, 7, left, watches her younger sister Julia Frank, 4, as they trick-or-treat in a neighborhood in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Warren Township High School students Lilani Devries, from left, Nora McNulty, Sofia Marion and Ally Jarosz trick-or-treat in a neighborhood in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Children trick-or-treat in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Children trick-or-treat in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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William Schulte, 4, trick-or-treats in a neighborhood in Gurnee on Oct. 26, 2025. Gurnee does trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
During much of the 19th century, Halloween gathered steam in the United States partly because of an influx of immigration from Ireland and England, where the holiday had ancient Celtic roots and early precursors to trick or treating included asking for candles to ward off demons and begging for money to pay for feasts on All Saints’ Day. A degree of class resentment, and pranking, carried into the New World. Doors were found barricaded in wealthy neighborhoods and soot was blown into the faces of well-to-do passersby. Newspaper accounts were of two minds about the hedonism: The Chicago Daily News ran a front-page editorial suggesting homeowners drive off Halloween pranksters by loading shotguns with rock salt and shooting. Conversely, many of those same papers welcomed a single night of letting off steam, jokingly reminding readers to tie down everything on their porches on Oct. 31. A Rock Island, Illinois, newspaper said Halloween was “license to do just the thing (youngsters) wouldn’t do any other night.”
A kind of non-lethal Purge.
Except people were getting hurt, and worse.
Children shot beans into the eyes of drivers and strung fishing line across public sidewalks. In 1924, two Chicago police officers were killed in a car crash when trash was stacked on a dark street. People were fed up with the holiday. In 1926, following the Ogden violence, Chicago school superintendent William McAndrew pushed for giving away movie tickets, good only at Halloween — as long as a child pledged to behave and sit through speeches by “prominent citizens.” He told the Tribune that he wanted kids to promise “garbage cans will preserve an upright position, swings will not barricade sidewalks, tires will remain inflated and cows will not be perched in trees.” The city said it handed out 80,000 free movie tickets that year.
Vandalism declined.
But by the end of World War II, and into the 1950s, communities found that trick or treating — which had been more of a sideline until midcentury — was an even better distraction, especially as suburbs grew and residents were feeling eager to meet new neighbors. Candy and costume companies, which finally went all-in on the holiday in the 1950s, agreed. “(Widespread vandalism on Halloween) was a problem that would solve itself,” said Best, “but then again, certain people are just wound a little tighter than others.”
On Long Island, in 1964, a woman was arrested for handing out dog biscuits, ant poison and steel wool to older trick-or-treaters; she swore she adored Halloween — her own sons, 14 and 16, had been trick-or-treating that night. By the 1960s, older kids without costumes, trick-or-treating late into the night, were a common gripe in Illinois town meetings.
In 1961, the city of Sparta, Illinois, proposed limiting trick-or-treat hours to combat the scourge. Others followed. Within a decade, as white flight was transforming suburbs, stories of trick-or-treat candy laced with razor blades and poison became conventional wisdom (despite being almost entirely apocryphal). Children from working-class communities trick-or-treating in wealthier communities were more common. As towns and villages increasingly fretted over safety on Halloween, a holiday once defined by lawlessness was gentrified. In 1972, for a brief time, Park Forest banned trick or treating altogether, on the rumor of razor blades in apples. That same year, after Burbank also banned trick or treating (on the grounds that it violated a solicitation ordinance), children picketed and the mayor set restricted hours for trick or treating — within two blocks of your home.
Fifty years later — and one Halloween season fueled by the 1982 Tylenol murders in Chicago — chances are, in your community, there are standardized civic guidelines for Halloween. Vandalism on Halloween does happen, though not nearly like in 1925.
You will still get a knock on your door late at night. In a way, that older kid on your porch is the last link to forgotten traditions. “When I was a kid, trick-or-treat lasted for days before, and sometimes after,” said David Motley, director of communications for the city of Waukegan. “You’d be gone for six or seven hours and come back with a pillowcase of candy and it was like magic. And now, conventional wisdom says tighten up, strive for less lawlessness and give it a timeline.”
The federal government shutdown and new work requirements will throw New York’s food stamps program into chaos, New York Focus reports.
It’s likely that people enrolled in SNAP will see a delay or not receive benefits for the month of November due to the ongoing government shutdown. | Photos: Ottojula/Wikimedia Commons; Oba San/Canva | Illustration: Leor Stylar
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here.
If you’re one of the nearly 3 million New Yorkers currently enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, you are likely to see delays in your food benefits next month as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown. You may also be subject to new work requirements, which could cause hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to lose their benefits.
That could trigger a hunger crisis. The average enrolled New York household receives $376 per month from the program, which is also a significant source of revenue for the state’s retailers and farmers. Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing calls to fund food benefits during the shutdown, but she has so far said the state can’t afford to.
Here’s what you need to know.
Will I receive my November SNAP benefits?
It’s likely that you will see a delay or not receive your benefits next month due to the government shutdown.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 over disagreements in Washington, D.C., over skyrocketing health insurance premiums. Until Congress strikes a deal, funding is frozen for programs like SNAP and food shipments for food banks. It’s not yet clear whether the Trump administration will later reimburse recipients for SNAP benefits they don’t receive in November.
Where can I get help with groceries?
For the latest snap developments, check this state website. The latest announcements for WIC can be found here. To locate your nearest food pantry or food bank, use this website. Local mutual aid groups in New York City and elsewhere in the state may also be offering assistance.
West Side Campaign Against Hunger in New York City is among several local organizations that will be providing more food to their clients in anticipation of snap disruptions. It has also expanded its delivery program in light of increased fears over immigration raids.
Local politicians’ offices may also be able to connect residents with local feeding resources and programs. You can look up your elected officials using this website. (Silverman also urged the public to contact their representatives and demand action.)
Food providers are aware that their efforts won’t be enough. “The value of SNAP is exponentially bigger than all the emergency feeding work that happens in NYC combined,” Silverman said. “Food pantries are not a substitute for SNAP. They never have been and they can’t be.”
Amie Parikh, chief executive officer for the Hudson Valley Care Coalition, agreed that there is no substitute for SNAP, but urged New Yorkers to tap into other existing programs they may not be aware of. As part of an ongoing state initiative, the Hudson Valley Social Care Network is currently screening Medicaid recipients in the region to connect them with free food and assistance with energy bills.
Many Medicaid recipients are enrolled in SNAP but may not be aware they qualify for this separate stream of nutritional assistance, which is funded through Medicaid, Parikh said. The program covers free, delivered medically tailored meals, cooking supplies and pantry items for certain Medicaid recipients.
What is New York doing in response?
New York is among 25 states suing the Trump administration for failing to use emergency contingency funds to keep SNAP running during the shutdown. (The administration had previously said it would keep SNAP benefits flowing during a shutdown, but has not done so.)
Hochul declared a state of emergency Thursday and committed over $106 million to support various food programs across the state that are expected to see increased demand while SNAP benefits are paused. The money includes a mix of new funding and fast-tracked grants that were already allocated to food providers for the upcoming calendar year.
Hochul plans to deploy student volunteers to help distribute food aid and has called on businesses to donate what they can. “This is a moment for our community to rise up and respond to something that can only be described as a moral crisis,” she said at a press conference Thursday.
Greg Silverman, who heads the West Side Campaign Against Hunger in New York City, urged city and state leaders to devise a more robust emergency plan to get aid directly to New Yorkers and support frontline food providers.
“They need to come together and come up with a solution that is cash-based,” he said. “We need our elected officials to step up and not just show up to some Thanksgiving turkey giveaway.”
Hundreds of organizations are calling on state leaders to fully cover the funding loss—roughly $650 million in lost snap benefits per month—using New York’s sizable surplus or fiscal reserves. The Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, points out the state could try to secure a deal with Congress to have these funds reimbursed by the federal government later.
“This is exactly what reserves should be used for,” said FPI economist Emily Eisner. “This will not put New York state in financial distress to cover the benefits.” She called on state lawmakers to convene in Albany immediately for an emergency session.
Other states have already stepped up. Virginia and Delaware have committed to covering SNAP benefits for their residents after declaring states of emergency. New Mexico will do the same for at least 10 days. California is pouring $80 million into its food bank network and has enlisted the help of the National Guard to keep facilities running, as it did during the pandemic.
What about the SNAP work requirements I’ve been hearing about?
Starting Nov. 1, some SNAP recipients will also be subject to new work requirements signed into law by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The announcement came as a surprise to states like New York, which originally had until next year to begin implementing the new requirements. Counties are now scrambling to communicate these changes to snap recipients, and it’s possible you may encounter some delays and confusion as agency staff adjust to the new guidelines.
Will I be subject to the work requirements?
The new rules may apply to you if you meet the following conditions:
Are an adult aged 18 to 64
Do not live with dependents or children under age 14
You aren’t disabled
You aren’t pregnant
The new mandate will also apply to veterans, the homeless, and aging foster youth who have been historically exempt from work requirements.
Your county social service department should contact you soon if they determine you are subject to the new work rule requirements. Mailed notices for those living in New York City have begun going out and will outline the next steps you need to take. Other counties like Oswego and Erie are scheduling in-person orientations to notify residents of the changes, while those residing in Onondaga County may also receive automated calls in addition to formal notices.
To maintain SNAP benefits under the new work requirements, you’ll have to prove that you spent 80 hours each month working, in school or volunteering. (The monthly time requirement may be lower, based on the amount of SNAP benefits your household receives.)
If you’re unable to comply with these requirements for more than three months, your SNAP benefits will be terminated.
How can I keep my SNAP benefits under the new work requirements?
While the new work rules go into effect on Nov. 1, the first month that will count toward the three-month limit starts on Dec. 1. This means that your SNAP benefits cannot be canceled due to the new three-month time limit before March 1, 2026.
The state has instructed county social service departments to connect SNAP recipients with local programs that could help them meet the 80-hour monthly requirements, which could take the form of various workforce training programs or volunteer activities. New York is one of the few states that delegates SNAP administration to counties, so offerings may differ based on your county.
Scott French, who heads New York City’s Human Resources Administration, said his agency is doing all it can to ensure New Yorkers across the five boroughs are able to comply with the new requirements. “That’s our leading goal and mission in everything we’re setting up here, to make sure folks have every possibility to keep their benefits.”
The agency is in the process of scheduling appointments throughout November for New York City residents who are subject to the new work rules. The appointments will connect SNAP recipients with pre-approved workforce development programs that will help them satisfy the monthly requirement.
The agency will also begin processing medical exemption forms for New Yorkers who are not able to meet the monthly requirements; the forms can be filled out by a wide variety of health providers.
The new form will allow health providers to provide broad, non-specific reasons for why patients may be unable to meet the new SNAP work rules, such as temporary or permanent physical or mental health barriers. (It does not require a specific diagnosis, unlike disability benefits.)
If you’re a New York City resident without access to health care providers, the Human Resources Administration will connect you with professionals who can assess you for medical exemptions, French said.
Does my immigration status affect my eligibility for SNAP?
The new law passed in July restricts SNAP eligibility to “legally present” immigrants.
This means that refugees and asylum-seekers may no longer be eligible for SNAP benefits. This includes New Yorkers who are trafficking victims and those with temporary protected status.
Legal permanent residents, such as green card holders, remain eligible for SNAP, but may be subject to a five-year waiting period before they can receive benefits.
An estimated 41,000 New Yorkers could lose their SNAP benefits as a result of eligibility changes based on immigration status.
How will the shutdown affect my other benefits?
It’s not yet clear how the shutdown will affect the Women, Infants, Children program, or WIC, which provides nutritional assistance for nearly half a million pregnant women, new mothers, and their babies in New York.
Earlier this month, the White House used emergency funds to keep the program funded through the end of October—which advocates point out the administration could easily do for the SNAP program, too. An additional $300 million is needed to keep WIC running for the first half of November, but it’s unclear if the administration will do so again.
If you rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or HEAP, to heat your home, you could see those benefits delayed or missing due to the shutdown. HEAP has been in limbo since earlier this year, when all federal staff for the program were let go. Many New Yorkers are enrolled in both SNAP and HEAP.
Medicaid and Medicare benefits will continue during the shutdown, though reduced federal staffing may make it harder to get help with tasks like eligibility verification.
Can I still apply for benefits?
Yes. All county agencies across the state are still processing applications, including renewals, for SNAP, WIC, and HEAP. Officials and advocates are urging New Yorkers to stay up to date on their renewals for these programs, despite the pause in payouts, to ensure they receive their benefits once the federal government reopens.
