New SNAP work requirements in Illinois could leave hundreds of thousands without benefits, strain food pantries, and increase food insecurity, affecting families and children across local communities.
“Food pantries brace for long lines.”
“Catastrophic cuts to SNAP will cause unprecedented and avoidable hunger.”
These aren’t headlines from the Great Depression–they’re from earlier this year. With the passing of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” in July came provisions to make drastic cuts to SNAP and Medicaid across the U.S.
With food prices already increasing statewide and food pantries seeing a significant increase in demand, people are worried.
The burden of navigating changes to a system already wrapped in red tape falls on its users and overworked food pantry and food depository employees.
“And in this case, it’s not like [you can] sign up for a benefit and go home,” said Danielle Perry, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD). The food depository is an “outreach enroller,” an organization that helps community members enroll for SNAP benefits as well as Medicaid.
Perry told The Chicago Reporter that around ten GCFD staff members assist people who need help signing up for benefits every day, but many more trained “navigators” are needed in communities to give hands-on assistance as enrollment standards change.
“It’s almost like case management a little bit, that’s the kind of investment we need at a community level to prepare people for a moment like this,” Perry said.
Some of the most significant changes are happening right now.
Major changes to SNAP
Danielle Perry highlighted two significant changes to the SNAP program: the shift in responsibility for funding from the federal government to the state government and–most importantly–new work requirements for SNAP enrollees.
Currently, Illinois does not use employment status to determine whether you can receive SNAP benefits.
Historically, able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) are required to work at least 20 hours per week to receive SNAP benefits. If you’re not working, you’re eligible to receive SNAP benefits for 3 months. After that, you’re ineligible to receive them again for 3 years. Illinois, along with several other states with high unemployment rates like California and Nevada, received a waiver allowing them to forgo this requirement.
“We might’ve asked your income to evaluate your amount (of benefit money), but we didn’t use the work requirement as a standard,” Perry said.
The Big Beautiful Bill changed that. With the waiver revoked, work requirement changes will go into effect on Dec. 1st.
What the new work requirement means
If you’re an able-bodied adult without children ages 14 and under, you must work or volunteer 80 hours a month (20 hours a week) to continue receiving SNAP benefits.
Perry told TCR that state records indicate that 450,000 in Illinois are ABAWD.
“I asked the state… ‘How many people do you have on the roles who fit in this 450,000 people category who don’t have income in your system right now?’ And they told me 80 percent,” Perry said. According to Perry, many people who are employed but haven’t reported their income in the system risk losing their benefits.
“If you’re a person reading this, you need to get your income in their system immediately,” Perry said. And in order to continue receiving benefits, you must continue reporting your income indefinitely.
Many to lose benefits
The new work requirements are also now mandatory for:
· Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth
· Adults without dependent up to 64-years old (up from 54)
To add to that, some groups are losing their SNAP benefits altogether. Immigrants granted official humanitarian protections including people with refugee status, asylum seekers, certain victims of human trafficking, and certain victims of violence and torture. In Illinois, the number of people in these categories amounts to nearly 20,000, Perry estimated.
Dates to remember
Dec. 1 is important because that is when the 3-month grace period begins. SNAP users who don’t have hours listed by that date, have until March 1 to show they’ve worked or volunteered 80 hours starting in Dec., Jan., or Feb. and have continued to do so in the following months. Each month missed counts as a “strike.” Three months without 80 logged hours of work, whether they’re consecutive or not, will result in a 3-year ban from SNAP benefits.
“So on March 1, we believe we’re going to see hundreds of thousands of people trying to use their link card in stores with zero dollars,” Perry said.
Time Line and Essential Information
November 1: Immigrants granted official humanitarian protections lose SNAP benefits indefinitely.
December 1: 3-month grace period begins for all able-bodied persons without dependents.
This includes: Adults with children age 15 and up, adults up to 64-years old, veterans, former foster youth, and people experiencing homelessness.
From now until March 1: SNAP benefit participants need to either start inputting the hours they work and volunteer Or find work or volunteer opportunities that will add up to 80 hours a month
March 1: 3-month grace period ends. If you have not found work or a volunteer opportunity that adds up to 80 hours a month, you will lose your benefits for 3-years. If you have, you must continue inputting the hours you work every week/month indefinitely.
Food pantries and food banks can’t replace SNAP.
“For every meal we provide in the emergency food system, SNAP provides nine,” Perry said, citing a widely-reported figure.
The government-run SNAP program has a scale of impact many times larger than the charitable food network, and so reductions in SNAP would create a large gap for the charitable food system to fill. The implication: Charitable food providers alone cannot cover the same volume of need that SNAP addresses; if SNAP benefits are cut, the burden on food banks would dramatically increase.
Food insecurity already impacts an estimated 25 percent of people in the greater Chicago area, and the effects aren’t just felt by parents.
Communities respond to food insecurity
Monica Brown Moss, a board member of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and First Lady of Trinity United Church of Christ, said the children in her congregation are worried about food insecurity as well.
Her church is hosting a children’s Sabbath on Nov. 9, where kids lead the prayers and choose a topic they want to focus on after the initial service is over for what Moss called a Talk Back, similar to a Town Hall. They choose to focus on food injustice.
“They’re concerned about, ‘How will we pay electricity bills? How will we eat? How will we have enough food to eat?’” Moss said. “These are the things that unprompted when you just ask kids, what are you thinking about these days? This is what they’re thinking about.”
Lawmakers, aldermen, and other politicians have been invited to the Talk Back as well. But as Monica made clear, this is for the kids to express their concerns and feelings.
Get involved: Volunteer and access food
Get Involved / Volunteer
Greater Chicago Food Depository
How to help: Volunteer in-person at one of their warehouses, help sort and pack food, or assist with administrative tasks. You can also organize a food or fund drive to support local pantries.
More info: Sign up or learn about different volunteer opportunities here: Greater Chicago Food Depository – Get Involved
Nourishing Hope
How to help: Volunteer at distribution events, assist with meal preparation or delivery, donate funds or supplies, or help with community outreach and advocacy.
More info: Explore all ways to contribute here: Nourishing Hope – Ways to Help
If You Need Food
Greater Chicago Food Depository
How to get food: Use their online tool to locate local pantries, meal sites, and mobile distributions throughout Cook County and nearby areas.
More info: Find Food – Greater Chicago Food Depository
Nourishing Hope
How to get food: Access free groceries, prepared meals, and other support by signing up for distribution events or contacting the organization directly.
More info: Get Food – Nourishing Hope