On October 27, 2025, the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) announced that November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would be suspended due to the ongoing federal government shutdown and lack of USDA funding. Nearly 750,000 Alabamians, including tens of thousands of children, depend on these monthly food benefits to meet their most basic needs.
For many families, SNAP is what ensures there’s food on the table after rent, utilities, and child care are paid. As this suspension takes effect, households across Alabama are being forced into impossible choices, and those choices will ripple into every part of family life, including child care.
According to DHR, families can continue using any benefits that were already issued prior to November 1, but no new benefits will be added to EBT cards until the suspension is lifted. The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which funds SNAP, has directed all states to halt benefit allotments until Congress resolves the federal budget impasse…