Door County residents who receive FoodShare benefits are going to see new paperwork, new rules and possibly new work requirements in the coming months. Confusion from program participants and pressure on local benefit administration are to be expected in the months ahead, according to outreach workers and county officials.  

Federal policy changes to the benefits program, stemming from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget reconciliation act passed by a Republican majority in Congress and signed into law by President Trump last summer, could affect the 1,938 people in the county who rely on food assistance.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, called FoodShare in Wisconsin, provides food benefits on a sliding scale to low-income households. During January 2026, of the almost 2,000 people who rely on SNAP locally, 17 percent of them were 65 years or older, and 35 percent were children under 17, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. 

A little less than half–40 percent–of Door County adult program participants were employed in the last year, with an average income of $1,581 per month.

FoodShare is not being eliminated, but more participants will need to meet work requirements to receive benefits. A Brookings Institution review of research on work requirement policies, published in April 2025, concluded that they do not increase employment. Brookings is a center-left think tank. 

Research from the Center for Health Policy Management at George Washington University has shown expanded work requirements for SNAP caused more than one-third of able-bodied adults without dependents to lose benefits from 2013 to 2017.  

Along with expanded work requirements, Wisconsin counties are looking at less federal support for SNAP administration this year. 

Who is affected by changes to work requirements

Wisconsin is updating benefit rules to comply with federal policy changes, according to Feeding America-Eastern Wisconsin, the largest hunger prevention organization in the state. 

Key changes to the program are: 

  • Work requirement age range expanded from 18–54 to 18–64 for able-bodied adults without dependents under 14.
  • Veterans are no longer automatically exempt from work requirements.
  • Former foster youth ages 18–24 are no longer automatically exempt.
  • Households with children 14 or older must now meet work requirements unless they have a child 13 or younger.

Tribal members remain exempt.

The work requirement waiver for participants experiencing homelessness was rescinded at the federal level. But for those who report being chronically homeless – defined as being homeless for at least 12 months or on at least four separate occasions in the last three years – the state of Wisconsin has determined that is a valid exemption, said Brooklynn Gray, the FoodShare manager at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.

In Gray’s role as part of the FoodShare outreach team, she supports people who come up against practical barriers to applying for benefits, she said. Outreach workers are not state agents, she added, and cannot actually file for benefits. 

From what Gray called a “unique community-level standpoint,” she said she frequently encounters a false narrative that SNAP is being cut, especially after last fall’s federal government shutdown affected benefit distribution. 

“There was, and still is, lots of uncertainty,” Gray said, and that she spends time “calming panic.” 

The work requirements for SNAP have always existed, but now the pool of affected people is growing, she said. 

Foodshare is the strongest anti-hunger program we have, according to Gray. 

“It affords people the dignity to go to a grocery store and pick out their own food. They have freedom to meet their dietary restrictions,” she said. “Everyone who qualifies for this program deserves and needs it.” 

While outreach workers like Gray are helping people with the complicated process of application and maintaining benefits, Door County officials are facing financial pressure as benefit administration funding changes. 

What participants should know now

Most of the calls they receive from FoodShare participants involve basic troubleshooting, according to Feeding America’s outreach staff. Lost logins, confusing letters in the mail and uncertainty about case status are frequent concerns, Gray said. 

DHS has a complex equation for income limits and benefit distribution, and there are 13 different regional phone numbers for FoodShare in Wisconsin, she added. 

If someone thinks they are at risk of losing their benefits under the new rules, they should know there are three “buffer months” provided for the participant to meet work requirements, Gray said. 

If one does lose their benefits and then finds work, they may reapply and must document their work hours, volunteer hours, job training or education participation, she added, There is a FoodShare Employment and Training program available for participants which can help with job training, education, child care and even fuel, Gray said. 

Most benefit recipients already work however, she said, or face real barriers to working. 

“Its not an easy system to navigate and with changes making it a little harder for people to follow rules and be in compliance…”  she said, and in her experience, “people are very earnest in wanting to do things correctly. They don’t want to risk a benefit that helps with a daily need.” 

As far as a timeline for changes, they are already affecting new SNAP applicants who applied in December through February. Current SNAP enrollees will be reviewed at their next renewal date. 

If someone needs assistance with their benefits, Gray encourages them to contact Feeding America-Eastern Wisconsin’s outreach team, local food pantries, call 211 Wisconsin or go to the DHS ACCESS website. 

The real impact of rule and funding changes will become clearer over the next year as renewals occur and counties finalize their budgets. In the meantime, Gray advised program participants to keep their contact information updated and watch their mail for a renewal notice. 

Administrative costs and impacts on county

With FoodShare, there are three separate issues, according to Door County Health and Human Services Director Joe Krebsbach. Work requirements, federal funding for benefit administration, and error rates are all facing changes. 

The key funding change, he said, is that beginning in October, the federal funding that helps cover FoodShare administrative costs will be reduced. More financial responsibility will be shifted to states and counties to administer SNAP. 

Previously Krebsbach had reported to the county board that they were looking at an estimated $80,000 in funding loss with the change, but at the February HHS board meeting, he said the loss in federal administrative support is about $190,000 for a full year. He compared it to the cost of roughly two county positions, for perspective. 

Krebsbach clarified in an email that the county is not required to hire new staff, rather if the state does not fill in the lost federal funding, Door County would have to cut costs equal to two–or more–positions. 

“To complicate it more,” Krebsbach wrote. “If I cut two positions in the division, I would lose more funding, saving only half of what I cut… to get to $190,000 in savings I would need to cut four positions from that team of seven staff.” 

Expanded work requirements mean more SNAP participants that must be tracked by administration, which would likely increase the workload for administrative staff, he added. 

Another risk to county operations and budget is the SNAP error rate. If the rate goes above six percent, it can trigger penalties that would cost the state and counties even more money, Krebsbach said. 

Error rate refers to mistakes made in data input or calculations, he said, and does not refer to benefit fraud, or people who do not qualify for benefits mistakenly receiving them. 

“If we cut positions, there is no possible way for us to manage the workload to administer the program in our county. Extrapolate that out over the entire state and I don’t believe there is any possibility that we can keep the error rate below six percent as a state,” Krebsbach said.