SEAGOVILLE/CRANDALL — Many people in Seagoville and Crandall work hard but cannot show it on a neat weekly paycheck. Some juggle shifts that change from week to week or jobs with more than one employer. Others run small businesses where income arrives in uneven amounts.
For these workers, keeping SNAP now depends on paperwork as much as effort. This report explains the current Texas rules and what proof the state accepts.
Who Must Prove Work Hours
Federal law and Texas policy require some SNAP adults to document their work. The rule targets adults the program calls able bodied adults without dependents, or ABAWDs. A federal law signed July 4, 2025 widened who falls into that group.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission put the changes into policy in a bulletin dated Oct. 1, 2025. The work requirement now applies from the month after a person turns 18 and stops in the month the person turns 65. Before the change, it stopped at age 55.
Texas applied the new rules to applications and recertifications filed on or after Nov. 1, 2025. They also apply to changes processed after that date. HHSC has said it will screen current recipients for the new requirements.
What Counts as Enough
A person meets the requirement by working or taking part in a work program for at least 80 hours in a 30 calendar day period. Paid work counts, and so does self employment.
Work done in exchange for goods or services also counts, along with unpaid volunteer work with a business, government entity or nonprofit.
Hours from work and from a work program can be combined. A person who falls short is limited to three countable months of SNAP in a 36 month period. Those months do not have to be consecutive.
Texas refers people who are not meeting the requirement to the SNAP Employment and Training program through the Texas Workforce Commission. Months stop counting once a person starts taking part.
Both Dallas County and Kaufman County appear on the state’s list of SNAP Employment and Training counties. Neither appears on the state’s list of counties without that program.
Exemptions That Still Apply
Under the October 2025 bulletin, a person is excepted from the ABAWD requirement in these situations:
- The person is pregnant.
- The person belongs to a SNAP household with a member under age 14.
- The person is physically or mentally unfit to work.
- The person is an Indian, Urban Indian, California Indian or Alaska Native.
- The person qualifies for a SNAP Employment and Training exemption other than the one for age 60 or older.
- The person lives in a waiver area or a county without the training program.
Texas removed the exceptions for veterans, homeless people and young adults who aged out of foster care. Parents whose youngest child is 14 or older are also no longer excepted.
Texas policy says caseworkers verify exemptions that are questionable. A person who says she is unfit to work must prove it when the condition is not obvious.
The Documentation Burden for Irregular Work
Hours that change every week make the 80 hour test hard to prove. Texas verifies earned income at application and recertification. It also verifies income when a household reports a change.
Caseworkers generally look at at least two pay amounts in the period beginning 45 days before the application date. A pay stub is not enough on its own for workers who started or ended a job around the application month. Workers must also be able to explain any breaks in pay periods.
Texas also checks third party databases such as The Work Number. The state accepts that data when it is within $125 a month of what the household reported. A bigger gap triggers a request for more proof.
People with several employers face this process for every job. Pay older than 60 days before the interview does not have to be verified. For streamlined reporting households that change jobs several times, staff verify the last job that ended and the job held at the start of the earlier period.
Self Employment Brings Extra Records
Self employed workers can verify income with a Schedule C tax form or the prior year’s return. Business records and receipts also count. A written statement of estimated earnings is another option.
Texas prefers records from a third party. A person’s own statement is used only when no other source is available. Caseworkers must document how they average the income and which business costs they deduct.
The approval notice reminds self employed people to keep records and receipts for later recertifications.
Self employment also has its own hours test. A person meets the work requirement when gross earnings equal the federal minimum wage times 20 hours a week. At $7.25 an hour, that is $145 a week.
Workers who fall short must show an average of 20 hours a week. Acceptable proof must state the hours worked. Business records, checks, tax records and a statement from a knowledgeable source can all count.
New Rules for Reporting Changes
Texas changed its income reporting rule effective May 26, 2026. Households in streamlined reporting must now report when ongoing gross monthly income goes above 165 percent of the federal poverty level. Before that, the trigger was 130 percent for two consecutive months.
Some households face stricter rules. A household is outside streamlined reporting if it is certified for four months or less. It is also outside if it expects a change that will end eligibility within six months.
A household with a nonexempt ABAWD who is not meeting the work requirement is outside as well.
Those households must report changes in income source, wage rate or work status. They must also report unearned income over $125 a month. For a worker whose hours are slipping, that means more reporting just as proof gets harder.
Changes must be reported by the 10th day of the month after the change. Households can use Form H1019, the Report of Change. HHSC said it will update that form and its handbook later, and staff are explaining the new level by phone.
Where to Get Help
Households with questions can dial 2-1-1 or 877-541-7905 for referrals to social services in Texas. The HHSC Office of the Ombudsman, at 877-787-8999, takes questions about problems with a case. Contact information can be updated at YourTexasBenefits.com.
Workers should keep pay stubs and receipts. A written log of hours can help them answer questions, though Texas decides which proof it accepts. Rules can change, so readers should confirm requirements with HHSC before relying on this report.
