With the government having returned to operations, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, will have its services back on, as well.
When can Florida residents collect?
"We don't know yet," said Cindy Huddleston, a senior policy analyst at the Florida Policy Institute. The Florida Department of Children and Families administers SNAP benefits.
"They haven't really been putting much public-facing information out about it," Huddleston said.
The federal government shutdown officially ended Wednesday night. And according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, funds would be available within 24 hours.
When funds do return, however, some Florida residents will no longer qualify. In July, President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act included new work requirements for many receiving benefits.
Those requirements went into effect on Nov. 1.
To qualify for SNAP, "able-bodied adults without dependents" must work an average of 20 hours a week, and now the age at which they're exempt from that work requirement has risen from 54 to 64.
"It's time-consuming for everyone, and not to mention people who have significant barriers, people who are, you know, getting on up in years. There are a lot of barriers that keep people from being able to comply with the 20-hour-a-week requirement, because it's hard and fast," Huddleston said.
According to DCF, 181,000 of able-bodied adults will be affected by the worker requirements.
And certain groups no longer qualify for an exemption: people experiencing homelessness, for instance, U.S. veterans, young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who transitioned out of foster care, and adults whose children are over 14 years old.
Huddleston said that the FPI's concern is for those who still may qualify for SNAP but don't apply due to confusion.
"Particularly here in Florida, we often see people who are wrongly subject to the requirements and improperly sanctioned," she said. This has to do with just miscommunication with the agency, people not understanding what their requirements are, or, for example, people with undiagnosed disabilities that keep them from working. They are not very good about advocating for themselves with the department."
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