If you get SNAP in Alabama on a 12-month certification, the six-month report is a mid-cycle check-in you have to return to the Department of Human Resources to keep your benefits flowing. DHR mails a pre-filled form during the fifth month of your certification period, and you generally have until the tenth of the sixth month to send it back signed, dated, and with any needed income verification. Miss that date and a short grace period starts; miss the grace period and your case closes.
Who Has to File
Alabama runs SNAP under a framework called Simplified Reporting. Almost every household gets a 12-month certification and has to submit one report halfway through to stay eligible.1Legal Information Institute. Alabama Admin Code 660-4-2-.10 – Simplified Reporting
One group is exempt: households in which every adult is elderly or disabled and no one has earned income. Those households skip the six-month report and simply recertify at the end of the 12 months.1Legal Information Institute. Alabama Admin Code 660-4-2-.10 – Simplified Reporting
The six-month report is not your annual recertification. Recertification involves an interview and a full eligibility redetermination. The six-month report is narrower: it confirms you still qualify and lets DHR adjust your benefit if something has changed.
What You Actually Have to Report
Simplified Reporting keeps the mandatory list short. Between certifications, you only have to tell DHR about three things, and each has to be reported by the tenth of the month after the change:1Legal Information Institute. Alabama Admin Code 660-4-2-.10 – Simplified Reporting
- Gross household income going over 130% of the federal poverty level for your household size.
- Substantial lottery or gambling winnings, generally $4,250 or more.
- An Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) whose work hours drop below 80 per month (20 per week) when that person was meeting the work requirement.
You do not have to report a change of address, a new household member, or a change in resources during the certification period unless it affects one of those three items.1Legal Information Institute. Alabama Admin Code 660-4-2-.10 – Simplified Reporting
One useful quirk: if you voluntarily tell DHR about something you didn’t have to report, the state will act on it only if it would raise your benefit. A voluntary report that would cut your benefit gets noted but doesn’t change anything until your next scheduled review.1Legal Information Institute. Alabama Admin Code 660-4-2-.10 – Simplified Reporting So if you have a new deductible expense, reporting it early can only help.
2026 Gross Income Limits
The core question the six-month report answers is whether your gross monthly income has crossed 130% of the poverty level. If it has, benefits are generally terminated. For federal fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026), the limits are:2USDA Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY 2026 Income Eligibility Standards
- 1 person: $1,696
- 2 people: $2,292
- 3 people: $2,888
- 4 people: $3,483
- 5 people: $4,079
- Each additional person: add $596
Gross income is what your household brings in before deductions: wages, Social Security, disability, child support received, and other income sources. If your total for the month crosses the line for your household size, the change is reportable.
Filling Out the Form
DHR mails you the report during the fifth month of your certification. It’s a computer-generated form specific to your case, already filled in with what DHR has on file. Your job is to review it, correct or update anything that’s changed, sign and date it as a responsible household member, and attach verification for any changes.
Most of the form is about income. Before you sit down with it, pull together recent pay stubs, a current benefit letter or payment stub for Social Security or disability, and, if you’re self-employed, records of recent earnings and expenses.3Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
The most common way people trip themselves up is returning the form unsigned, or reporting a change without attaching proof. An incomplete form is treated the same as no form. Before you send it, check that it’s signed, dated, and includes documentation for anything you updated.
How to Submit
You have three options for getting the report back to DHR:
- Online through MyDHR at mydhr.alabama.gov. You can complete the report and upload verification documents through the same portal. This is the fastest method and creates an automatic record.4Alabama Department of Human Resources. MyDHR Alabama: Welcome
- In person at your county DHR office. Ask for a receipt with the date, even if you use a drop box.
- By mail to the address printed on the form. Consider certified mail, or at minimum keep a photocopy and a note of the mailing date. DHR will not treat mail delays as an excuse for a late filing.
The deadline is printed on the form itself and typically falls around the tenth of the sixth month of your certification. File before that date. If there’s ever a dispute about whether you filed, a submission record is what saves your case.
If You Miss the Deadline
Missing the deadline doesn’t end your case immediately, but the clock moves fast after that.
DHR first sends a reminder notice that your report is overdue. You then have 10 days from the date of that notice to submit a complete report. File within those 10 days and the state must still issue your benefits, though they may arrive up to 10 days after your normal issuance date.5eCFR. 7 CFR 273.12 – Reporting Requirements
If the 10-day grace period passes without a complete report, your case is terminated and DHR sends a termination notice. There is one more narrow window after that: if you submit a complete report before the end of the month your benefits were supposed to be issued, the state may reinstate the case without requiring a new application.5eCFR. 7 CFR 273.12 – Reporting Requirements
Once that month ends, you generally have to reapply from scratch: new application, new interview, and potentially weeks without benefits. If you’re already late, file today. Every day of delay narrows the options that are left.
If DHR Cuts or Ends Your Benefits
You can request a fair hearing if DHR reduces or terminates your SNAP based on the six-month report and you think the decision is wrong. The deadline is 90 days from the date of the action.6eCFR. 7 CFR 273.15 – Fair Hearings You can also request a hearing at any point during your certification period if you disagree with your current benefit amount.
If DHR says you never filed the report and you believe you did, requesting a fair hearing and submitting a completed report before the end of the issuance month is the path to reinstatement. This is the scenario a submission receipt or a photocopy of the completed form is meant for. Keep one.