CHICAGO (AP) — Having food stamps offers Richard Butler a stability he's rarely known in his 25 years. He was in state custody at age 2, spent his teen years at a Chicago boys home and jail for burglary, and has since struggled to find a permanent home.
The $194 deposited monthly on his benefits card buys fresh produce and meat.
"It means the world to me," said Butler, who shares a one-bedroom apartment with two others. "We can go without a lot of things, like phones and music. We can't go without eating."
But that stability is being threatened for people like Butler, who are able-bodied, without dependents and between the ages 18 and 49. New Trump administration rules taking effect April 1 put hundreds of thousands of people in his situation at risk of losing their benefits. They hit particularly hard Illinois, which has been dealing with a separate, similar change in Chicago.
From Hawaii to Pennsylvania, states are scrambling to blunt the impact, with roughly 700,000 people at risk of losing benefits unless they meet certain work, training or school requirements. They've filed a multistate lawsuit, expanded publicly funded job training, developed pilot programs and doubled down efforts to reach vulnerable communities, including the homeless, rural residents and people of color.
Social service agencies say they won't be able to fill the gap, making increased homelessness and more hospital visits among the biggest concerns. Experts say they've already seen troubling signs in some states.
"This is a cascading effect," said Robert Campbell, managing director at Feeding America, which runs hundreds of food banks nationwide. "It will increase demands on the emergency food system, food banks and pantries."
Currently, work-eligible, able-bodied adults without dependents under 50 can receive monthly benefits if they meet a 20-hour weekly work, job training or school requirement. Those who don't are limited to three months of food stamps over three years.
However, states with high unemployment or few jobs have been able to waive time limits. Every state except Delaware has sought a waiver at some point, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The new rules make it harder to get waivers. They're the first of three changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which feeds 36 million people nationwide.
The Trump administration claims the changes will get people working and save $5.5 billion over five years. Able-bodied adults without dependents account for 7% of SNAP recipients.
But states fighting the change say that argument is misguided.
"Not everyone is in a position to get a job tomorrow, and taking away access to food is only going to make that more difficult," said Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. "We're going to have more hungry people in the state."
Pennsylvania — where as many as 100,000 people could be affected — is working with social services groups to create 30 job training programs for SNAP recipients.
However, experts say work opportunities are limited.
More than half of SNAP recipients have a high school diploma, but about one-quarter do not, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Available jobs are more likely to have low pay, shifting schedules that might not offer enough qualifying hours and few benefits like paid sick leave.
"Work requirements really don't really do much to affect the rate at which people are working," said Elaine Waxman at the nonprofit Urban Institute. "If people can work and consistently, they pretty much are."