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Commissioner reports SNAP orientation reinstatement, daycare intake resumes and HEAP dates
Summary
Commissioner of Social Services Don Horan told the Human Services Committee that ABOD requirements for SNAP have been reinstated and will resume in March 2026, daycare applications have reopened though allocations remain short of prior-year levels, and HEAP regular season opened Dec. 1 with emergency HEAP due to open Jan. 2.
Don Horan, Commissioner of Social Services, updated the Allegany County Human Services Committee on several assistance programs. Horan said the ABOD requirement for SNAP has been reinstated and will restart in March 2026; clients who completed orientation previously are carried forward but the program’s orientation and work-requirement-related processes will resume in March.
Horan said the department has resumed accepting daycare applications after a period of cuts, but that the county’s new allocation is smaller than the previous year. He told the committee the county received the same baseline allocation as last year but lost rollover dollars and two additional upstate funding streams that previously added roughly $250 million statewide; local representatives have been asked to advocate for additional funding.
Horan also reminded committee members that HEAP regular season opened on Dec. 1 and that emergency HEAP will open on Jan. 2. He asked the committee to approve filling a seasonal account clerk typist position ahead of HEAP opening; the committee approved the request and referred it to Ways and Means. Horan additionally requested that the committee refer a vacancy for an employment specialist (an internal county transfer) to Ways and Means, which the committee also approved.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about childcare eligibility thresholds and how state-level adjustments affect local qualification cutoffs. Horan noted that qualification cutoffs are tied to a percentage of the state median income and described recent proposals that could alter thresholds, but exact local eligibility for families depends on the state formula and implementation.
