SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - The start of 2026 also comes with some new challenges for SNAP benefit recipients. Western Mass News broke down the new requirements, and explained how this will impact people here in western Mass.

The holiday season is nearing its end, the giving season closing out with it. But if you want to help those in need after the holidays and don’t know how, you’ll want to listen up.

Geoffrey Oldmixon of Friends of the Homeless said that the number of people in need has been on the rise ever since Covid Emergency Expansion dollars went out the door. Luckily, the holiday season comes with plenty of people who are in the giving spirit.

“Each year we do get a lot of support from the community around the holidays and we’re so grateful for that. Especially from Thanksgiving through New Year’s is generally the height of the giving season and we’re appreciative,” Oldmixon said.

Which means your help is going to be needed in this new year, “as we move through the cold months of January and February, we’re always looking for volunteers, we’re looking for new warm winter coats, hats, mittens, gloves, that sort of thing. Of course, donations continue at CSOinc.org slash give.”

Especially because starting on January 1ST, Massachusetts SNAP recipients will face stricter work requirements. This will impact veterans, adults ages 55-65, and parents of kids over the age of 14, now requiring those groups to meet work requirements. The childcare exemption rule for parents caring for children has changed, now only applying if the child is under the age of 14, a change from the original age of 18.

This will impact about 40,000 Massachusetts residents, subjecting them to the new rules, requiring registration, job searches, and participation in training. “I think the important thing to remember with the SNAP work rules is that the vast majority of SNAP recipients do work. What’s challenging, perhaps, is the notifications and the need to reassert those valid exceptions,” said Oldmixon.

What Oldmixon wanted to emphasize going into the new year is making sure clients are maintaining up-to-date mailing addresses with the department of transitional assistance, and to keep their login credentials for DTA Connect. This is where you will get notifications supplying all new information related to snap in the new year.

Copyright 2025. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.