LIHEAP AT 2024-06 LIHEAP Household Report Long Form and Short Form FFY24

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Action Transmittal

AT#: LIHEAP-AT-2024-06

DATE: August 29, 2024

TO: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Grant Recipients

SUBJECT: LIHEAP Household Report Long Form and Short Form for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024

ATTACHMENT(S): 

A. LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY24
B. LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FFY24
C. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2024
D. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FFY 2024

PURPOSE:

1. To inform all LIHEAP grant recipients that they are required to submit preliminary data for the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY24 (October 1, 2023 — September 30, 2024) to OCS via the On-Line Data Collection (OLDC) system no later than September 18, 2024 and the final report December 31, 2024.
2. To inform LIHEAP grant recipients that they are to use the following Household Report forms:

• The 50 States, the District of Columbia (hereafter referred to as “states”), and territories are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for (Attachment A)
• Directly funded Native American tribes/tribal organizations (hereafter referred to as “tribes”) are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FY24. (Attachment B)

3. To remind grant recipients of Household Report changes in FY24.

BACKGROUND:

The LIHEAP Household Report received approval for use through March 21, 2026, from Office of Management and Budget in accordance with Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

CONTENT:

Household Report Changes:

The FY24 Household Report requires all household member demographic characteristics and household owner/renter status on the Household Report Long Form and Short Form.

These required reporting data elements for FY24 are as follows:

• Number of Assisted Applicants by Ethnicity.
• Number of Assisted Applicants by Race.
• Number of Assisted Household Applicants by Gender.
• Assisted Household Members by Ethnicity.
• Assisted Household Members by Race.
• Number of Assisted Household Members by Gender.
• Number of assisted households by owner/renter status, which includes households that own, rent with utilities billed separately, rent with utilities included in rental fee, and other.

 Household Report Instructions and Validations:

Attachment C provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY24. Attachment D provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FY24. 

OLDC has built-in validations in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY24 to help grant recipients ensure that data submitted to our office are accurate. Built-in validations check certain data before the grant recipient can proceed to the next step with the report submission.

There are two types of validation responses when there is a data issue: warnings and errors.

• A “warning” notifies the grant recipient of a possible inconsistency or mistake in the data. States and territories are encouraged to double check the data fields described in the warning to make sure all information is correct. States and territories will be able to certify and submit the report without changing any data that led to a warning.
• An “error” notifies the grant recipient of a mistake that must be corrected prior to the report being submitted to our office. OLDC will not allow a report to be certified and submitted until the error has been addressed.

Grant recipients will report on all FY24 funding as one line item. In other words, these reports will not break out separate FY24 awards as sub-reporting lines.

OCS staff are available to assist LIHEAP grant recipients with the data collection and reporting of these data, as well as how to use OLDC to submit the LIHEAP Household Report. Grant recipient’s access OLDC report forms on the GrantSolutions homepage. For questions regarding accessing OLDC, contact your OCS regional liaison.

OCS technical assistance contractor is also available to assist grant recipients that need assistance with data collection, reporting, or submission of their LIHEAP Household Report for FY24. The contractor also may contact you, if necessary, to correct data errors and/or missing data identified in your report. The goal of the technical assistance available from our office and our contractor is to assist grant recipients with identifying and resolving issues to facilitate successful and timely submission of reports. The contractor will continue to work with grant recipients in validating their data when necessary.

Once the LIHEAP Household Report has been submitted, OCS will notify grant recipients of any reporting deficiencies not identified or resolved through OLDC. OCS staff will accept and approval your FY24 LIHEAP Household Report in OLDC.

SUBMISSION TO:

The deadline for all grant recipients to submit their preliminary LIHEAP Household Report for FY24 in OLDC is September 18, 2024. OCS grant extensions on the Household Report Long and Short Form. However, extensions may not be made unless the grant recipient requests the extension in writing before the deadline(s). All extension requests should be sent to your assigned federal LIHEAP program specialist.

OCS will notify grant recipients when the report forms are available via OLDC on GrantSolutions ; we anticipate this will be in mid-August. If you have not yet created an account in OLDC, contact your LIHEAP Regional Liaison for assistance. 

Thank you for your attention to these matters. OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high-quality services to OCS partners.

/s/
Dr. Megan Meadows
Director, Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services