SNAP Work Requirements in Vermont

Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months

When the new rules started in Vermont

DCF put the changes in place on October 1, 2025. Just over 4,000 people lost an exemption or became newly subject to the rule. DCF sent individual notices in September 2025.

Waived areas in Vermont

No part of Vermont 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

Vermont's new three-year cycle began November 1, 2025. Everyone subject to the rule starts with three "no cause" months, which are used first unless you are exempt or report that you already meet the rule.

You can get 3SquaresVT 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

Paid or unpaid work, an approved training program, or volunteering for a public or nonprofit group (hours based on your benefit) all count. Report by phone, the ESD Document Uploader, mail (ADPC - Economic Services Division, 280 State Drive, Waterbury, VT 05671), or at a local office. Form 210PO can excuse you for up to 12 months because of a personal obstacle; a community partner or caseworker can fill it out.

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 Vermont details

• Vermont has two sets of rules: a general work rule for ages 16 to 59 and the time limit rule for ages 18 to 64.
• The Vermont Foodbank 3SquaresVT Team (1-855-855-6181) can help with exemption forms.
• You can get benefits back by following the rule for 30 days or having an excuse.

Contact

• Agency: Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF), Economic Services Division
• Online account: MyBenefits Portal
• Phone: 1-800-479-6151 (Benefits Service Center)

Federal rules that apply in Vermont

• 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.