SNAP Work Requirements in Mississippi
Here is when Mississippi started the 2025 time limit rules for adults 18 to 64, which areas are waived, how your 36 months are counted, and how to report your hours.
Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months
Limited official information. Mississippi has published little about how it applies these rules, or its pages could not be checked. This page sticks to what we could verify plus the federal rules that apply everywhere. Ask your SNAP office for anything not listed here.
When the new rules started in Mississippi
MDHS's SNAP rights and responsibilities page uses the new rules (exempt only if under 18 or over 64, child under 14, new Indian exemption) but gives no start date.
Waived areas in Mississippi
No part of Mississippi is waived.
That means the time limit can apply anywhere in the state to adults who are not exempt and do not meet the 80-hour rule.
Your 36-month period
MDHS says the limit is 3 months in a 36-month period but does not publish the dates.
You can get SNAP for only 3 countable months in that period unless you meet the 80-hour rule or are exempt. The time limit calculator helps you count.
How to meet and report the 80 hours
Job and training program: Skills2Work
Skills2Work offers a support specialist, training (for example welding, nursing or cosmetology), job search help, high school equivalency classes, help with transportation, child care and supplies, and an $80 monthly stipend. To join, ask your SNAP caseworker for the Skills2Work application. If your work hours fall below 20 a week, report it within 10 days on the Report Changes Form.
Across all states, paid work, work for goods or services, volunteering, workfare and approved training count, and you can combine them. See what counts as work.
More Mississippi details
- MDHS warns that not reporting a required change can mean paying benefits back.
Contact
- Agency: Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS), Division of Economic Assistance
- Online account: ACCESS Mississippi
- Phone: 800-948-3050 (Economic Assistance client services)
Federal rules that apply in Mississippi
- Covered: adults 18 through 64 who can work, with no child under 14 in their SNAP household.
- Exempt: pregnancy; a health condition that keeps you from working; American Indian, Alaska Native, Urban Indian or California Indian; or being excused from the general work rules (caring for a child under 6 or a disabled person, unemployment benefits, 30 hours a week or $217.50 a week, half-time school, drug or alcohol treatment, TANF work rules). See all exemptions.
- Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth are no longer automatically exempt.
- If you lose SNAP, you can get it back by doing 80 hours in 30 days or becoming exempt. You can also ask for a fair hearing. See how to get SNAP back.
Frequently asked questions
Do SNAP work requirements apply in Mississippi in 2026?
Yes. The federal time limit applies to SNAP recipients aged 18 to 64 who are not exempt. Mississippi has not published an exact start date that we could verify. No part of the state is waived.
How do I report my 80 hours in Mississippi?
Skills2Work offers a support specialist, training (for example welding, nursing or cosmetology), job search help, high school equivalency classes, help with transportation, child care and supplies, and an $80 monthly stipend. To join, ask your SNAP caseworker for the Skills2Work application. If your work hours fall below 20 a week, report it within 10 days on the Report Changes Form.
When does the 36-month period reset in Mississippi?
MDHS says the limit is 3 months in a 36-month period but does not publish the dates.