LIHEAP Outreach Campaign, Federal LIHEAP Brochures, and Partnership
with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL
NO. LIHEAP-IM-2006-1, DATED 11/16/05
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
GRANTEES
SUBJECT: LIHEAP Outreach Campaign, Federal LIHEAP Brochures,
and Partnership with the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services
RELATED Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI
REFERENCES: of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981,
Public Law 97-35, as amended; Government
Perfand Results Act of 1993
PURPOSE: To inform LIHEAP grantees and their subgrantees
about our LIHEAP Outreach Campaign and the
availability of Federal LIHEAP Brochures and
Medicare training materials.
BACKGROUND: LIHEAP is not an entitlement program. Given this
limitation, the LIHEAP statute requires LIHEAP
grantees to provide, in a timely manner, that the
highest level of assistance is furnished to those
households that have the lowest incomes and the
highest energy costs or needs in relation to
income, taking into account family size. The
LIHEAP statute identifies the following two groups
of low-income households as having the highest home
energy needs:
• Vulnerable Households: Vulnerable households are
those with at least one member who is a young
child, an individual with disabilities, or a frail
older individual. The primary concern is that
such households face serious health risks if they
do not have adequate heating or cooling in their
homes. Health risks can include death from
hypothermia or hyperthermia and increased
susceptibility to other health conditions such as
stroke and heart attacks.
• High Burden Households: High burden households
are those households with the lowest incomes and
highest home energy costs. The primary concern is
that such households will face safety risks in
trying to heat or cool their homes if theycannot
pay their heating or cooling bills. Safety risks
can include use of makeshiftheating sources or
inoperative/faulty heating or cooling equipment
that can lead to indoor fires, sickness, or
asphyxiation.
Under Section 2605(b)(3) of the LIHEAP statute,
LIHEAP grantees are to conduct outreach activities
designed to assure that eligible households,
especially households with elderly individuals or
disabled individuals, or both, and households with
high home energy burdens, are made aware of LIHEAP
assistance, and any similar energy-related
assistance relating to the Community Services Block
Grant or under any other provision of law which
carries out programs which were administered under
the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
CONTENT: The Department of Energy, Energy Information
Administration is predicting a significant increase
in the cost of home heating this winter for all
fuel types. With these rising prices, low-income
consumers will have to make important decisions
this winter about how to spend already limited
funds. We want to make sure that the most
vulnerable populations receive LIHEAP assistance
to help mitigate these costs.
Federal LIHEAP Outreach Campaign
We began the Federal LIHEAP Outreach Campaign in FY
2003 in response to the Government Perfand
Results Act of 1993. We are attempting to increase
the participation of LIHEAP recipient households
that have at least one member 60 years or older.
Our perfmeasurement data indicate that such
vulnerable households are being served at a lower
rate nationally when compared to vulnerable
households with a disabled member or young child.
In continuing our Campaign's emphasis on elderly
households, we will again distribute our Federal
LIHEAP brochures through our partnership with the
Administration on Aging (AOA), and at national
conferences and events across the country.
You can also help increase the number of elderly
LIHEAP participants by distributing your agency's
LIHEAP information brochures, such as to elderly
clients at community events and conferences; by
placing LIHEAP materials at local agencies; and in
mailings to the elderly.
In addition, our Federal LIHEAP brochures are
available for your use in English and Spanish. The
brochures refer readers to the LIHEAP
Clearinghouse's toll-free National Energy
Assistance Referral (NEAR) project's hotline for
energy assistance referrals.
If you would like copies of our LIHEAP brochures,
please contact Heidi Spann (hspann@acf.hhs.gov or
202-401-4864). Please indicate the number of
English and/or Spanish brochures that you desire.
You can also download our English brochure at:
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/liheap/brochure.pdf; or
download our Spanish brochure at:
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/liheap/brochuresp.pdf.
We plan to periodically showcase innovative State
LIHEAP efforts to reach the elderly. This may be
done through articles in the LIHEAP Clearinghouse
Networker and postings on the Clearinghouse's web
site.
Prescription Drug Coverage Program
As part of expanding OCS' Outreach Campaign, we
also are developing new Federal outreach
partnerships. In particular, we are seeking
Federal partners with those programs that can
reinforce the public health and safety aspects of
LIHEAP. One such partnership is with the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
CMS can make available to LIHEAP grantees free
training on the new Prescription Drug Coverage
Program. CMS also will provide technical
assistance, marketing materials, program brochures
and applications at no cost to Community Action
Agencies and other local service providers.
Through partners like CMS we can reduce the public
health and safety risks for seniors in the winter
by keeping them warm and safe. Likewise, we can
reduce the public health and safety risks for
seniors in the summer by keeping them cool and
safe.
The CMS "Help is Here" enrollment kit is now
available. These will be distributed on a first-
come, first-serve basis. To request this kit or
obtain more information about the Medicare
Prescription Drug Program, contact Susie Butler at
410-786-7211 or Susie.Butler@cms.hhs.gov.
INQUIRIES TO: We look forward to your efforts in reaching out to
more elderly households in need of LIHEAP
assistance. Look for more information on our
Outreach Campaign in 2006 and opportunities to get
involved. For further information contact:
Heidi Spann, Presidential Management Fellow
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
(202) 401-4864
E-mail: hspann@acf.hhs.gov
_______________/s_______________
Nick St.Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
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