FSP – 2-Year ABAWD Waivers – Using the Same Area for Multiple Waivers

This is a follow-up of our memorandum of Feb. 3, 2006, authorizing 2-year waivers of the work requirements of 7 CFR 273.24 for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). Since we issued the original memorandum, we have received several requests in which state agencies have requested waivers under which they proposed to include the same jurisdiction in waivers covering two different approval periods.

For example, a state agency requested a 2-year waiver for a county designated as a Labor Surplus Area for the current and previous fiscal years. The state agency also included the same jurisdiction in a multi-county region that would be exempt for 1 year based on a 24-month unemployment rate for the region greater than 20 percent of the national average.

In order to clarify our policy with respect to ABAWD waivers and to avoid any confusion in the future, we are reiterating our position that state agencies may not include the same jurisdiction in different waivers covering different approval periods.  For tracking purposes, we need to maintain separate approvals for jurisdictions participating in the 2-year waivers. Accordingly, states must elect only one basis for the jurisdiction’s participation in the waiver. In the example cited above, the state agency must decide whether the jurisdiction will participate on its own in the 2-year waiver, or participate with the multi-jurisdiction region in the 1-year waiver.

Arthur T. Foley
Director
Program Development Division