Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 20 - Division of County Operations › Rule 016.20.15-001 - Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) State Plan FY 2016

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
The Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of County
				Operations, Office of Community Services, is responsible for the program. Lorie
				Williams is the Assistant Director.
ALLOCATION OF
				FUNDS
Federal policy places certain restrictions
on
the use of the block grant funds: no more than 10% of the funds can be used for
				administrative costs; up to 15% of funds may be used for weatherization
				services and up to 5% may be used for Assurance 16 activities.
The Division proposes to use the Federal Fiscal (FFY) 2016
				block grant funds as follows: Regular (Winter) Energy Assistance Program (53%),
				Crisis Intervention Program (17%), Weatherization Assistance Program (15%),
				Administration (10%) and Assurance 16 (5%).
ALLOWABLE SERVICES
The purpose of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
				(LIHEAP) Block Grant is to provide funds to help eligible low-income households
				with the costs of home energy by offering assistance benefits, home
				weatherization services and Assurance 16 activities.
SERVICES AND
				ELIGIBILITY
Assistance Program in a manner similar to the prior year. The
				primary objective of the HEAP program will be to provide assistance benefits as
				a one-time payment to approximately 60,000 households.
The LIHEAP program is implemented by local Community Action
				Agencies serving different areas of the state. Households must apply for
				assistance at the agency serving their county of residence.
Eligibility for Winter Energy Assistance would be based
				on the following criteria
:
1.
			 Households' countable income cannot be more than 60% of the state medium income
			 poverty guidelines;
2. Households
			 must have no more than $2,000 in countable resources; for elderly households
			 (age 60 and over), the limit is $3,000.
Eligibility for Crisis Intervention Assistance is the
				same as for Winter Energy Assistance with the following
				exceptions
:
1.
			 Households must have an energy-related emergency situation;
2. The maximum benefit of $500.00 per
			 household, combined with the household's own resources, must be adequate to
			 alleviate the crisis situation.
3.
			 .For the Crisis Intervention Program, assistance to resolve the household's
			 crisis situation must be provided within 48 hours after a signed application is
			 received by the subgrantee agency. If the crisis situation is life-threatening,
			 assistance must be provided within 18 hours after a signed application Is
			 received. For the Crisis Intervention Program,assistance must be provided
			 within 30 days if all eligibility requierments are met.
Assurance 16 activities are services provided which encourage
				and enable housenolds to reduce their home energy neeed and thier need for
				energy assistance. These activities may include but are not limited to: Needs
				Assessments, Counesling, Energy Education and assistance with energy
				vendors.
The Division proposes that the LIHEAP Weatherization Assistance
				Program he administered in a manner similar to the prior year. The
				Weatherization Assistance Program would make energy-saving improvements to
				low-income dwelling units (priority is given to households with elderly and/or
				individuals with disabilities) with the following objectives:
1. To aid those individuals least able to
			 afford high utility costs;
2. To
			 provide for more healthy dwelling environments; and,
3. To help conserve needed energy.
It is estimated that approximately 486 homes will be
				weatherized with the LIHEAP funds at a cost of $5,000 per home. This should
				result in substantial long-term energy savings.
GEOGRAPHIC
				DISTRIBUTION
Each of the eligible entity areas will receive funding based on
				their previous funding and the number of low-income persons in their service
				area.
APPEALS
Applicants of the Home Energy Assistance Program and
				Weatherization Assistance Program have the right to request
an
administrative hearing under these programs to contest any adverse action taken
				on an application.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Public comment regarding planned uses of the LIHEAP Blocke
				Grant will be considered in the Division's determination of fund allocation and
				eligibility criteria. Comments may be sent to the Division of County
				Operations, Attn: HEAP Unit, P.O. Box 1437 Slot S-330, later than thirty (30)
				days from the date of the published newspaper notice regarding this proposal.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services is in compliance with
				Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act and operates, manages and delivers
				services without regard to age, religion, disability, political affiliation,
				veteran status, sex, race, color or national origin.
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ATTACHMENT 3 LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
				(LIHEAP)
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Use of this model plan is optional. However, the information
				requested is required in order to receive a Low Income Home Energy Assistance
				Program (LIHEAP) grant in years in which
the
grantee is not
				permitted
to
file an abbreviated plan. Public reporting burden
				for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per
response,
including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering
and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing
the
collection of information. An agency may not conduct or
				sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection
of
				information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control
				number
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(1)
use the funds available under this title to-
(A)
conduct outreach activities and
			 provide assistance to low income households in meeting their home energy costs,
			 particularly those with the lowest incomes that pay a high proportion of
			 household income for home energy, consistent with paragraph
			 (5);
(B)
intervene in
			 energy crisis situations;
(C)
provide low-cost residential
			 weatherization and other cost-effective energy-related home repair;
			 and
(D)
plan, develop,
			 and administer the State's program under this title including leveraging
			 programs, and the State agrees not to use such funds for any purposes other
			 than those specified in this title;