ACF-OCS-LIHEAP-DCL- 2024-08 Training and Technical Assistance Planning (T/TA) FY25

Publication Date: September 4, 2024
Current as of:

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 

Dear Colleague Letter

DCL#: ACF-OCS-LIHEAP-DCL-2024-08

DATE: September 4, 2024

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

SUBJECT: Federal Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Training and Technical Assistance Planning (T/TA)

ATTACHMENT(S):  N/A

Dear Colleagues,

Purpose:

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to provide information about training and technical assistance (TTA), proposed activities, and planning by the Office of Community Services (OCS) to grant recipients for federal Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25).

Background:

The goals of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) TTA are to provide a multi-pronged approach to ensure grant recipients can administer LIHEAP effectively, customers can receive the assistance they seek, and program integrity is continually enhanced. 

With these goals in mind, in FY24 LIHEAP conducted several TTA activities that included biannual regional and individual calls; webinars on LIHEAP federal reporting; grant recipient Model Plan submission; training on how to effectively use the LIHEAP Data Warehouse; client outreach and targeting; community solar; and assistance on specific policies around LIHEAP flexibilities and third-party data verification for LIHEAP applications. These training webinars are available on the OCS LIHEAP Tools and Training Resources web page. 

In addition to recorded webinars and presentations at partner organizations, OCS LIHEAP staff presented two sessions at the National Energy Utility Affordability Coalition’s 2024 Annual Conference, the National Community Action Partnership Annual Conference, and the 44th National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference.

LIHEAP staff developed guidance around state-tribal agreements for funding allocations and provided an information memorandum  on monitoring that included trends, an overview of the OCS monitoring process, and a full monitoring schedule for FY24. As a reminder, all OCS-issued guidance for LIHEAP can be found on the LIHEAP Policy and Guidance web page.

Many of the LIHEAP-led FY24 TTA efforts have been at the request of grant recipients, and OCS thanks you for the meaningful feedback received from all levels of the LIHEAP program.     

Next Steps: 

In FY25, LIHEAP wants to build on the efforts of the last fiscal year and include additional transparency about upcoming TTA efforts. Some highlights of proposed FY25 topics include:

  • Paperwork Reduction Act renewals and process
  • The relationship between the Carryover and Reallotment Report and the Federal Financial Report  and its impacts on reallotment activities
  • Reporting webinars on all required report submissions to OCS including the outcomes of those reports
  • Policy manual development for tribal grant recipients
  • Additional guidance on vendor refunds building upon the documents issued in 2023, including the LIHEAP Vendor Refunds Guide (PDF) and Managing LIHEAP Vendor Refunds webinar
  • Weatherization and LIHEAP
  • LIHEAP and data management
  • Monitoring overview, including the implementation of OCS’ new monitoring software and trends identified in FY24
  • Onsite TTA provided to selected tribal grant recipients
  • Biannual regional calls
  • LIHEAP Model Plan guidance and training

Current Resources:

As a reminder, the OCS LIHEAP webpage has various resources available to assist with LIHEAP administration. Some of those resources include:

  • The LIHEAP Extreme Heat dashboard provides information on how LIHEAP is helping people stay safe, healthy, and prepared to combat heat stress.
  • The LIHEAP Toolkit webpage provides outreach materials to help partners, stakeholders, and grant recipients reach eligible households.
  • The OCS Disaster Flexibilities Hub is an information management tool that visually tracks and displays key data, guidance, and resources on declared disasters, disaster preparedness efforts, and the flexibilities built into OCS’ block grant programs.
  • Information such as the variations that exist among the LIHEAP grant recipients in the operation of their programs can be found on the LIHEAP Clearinghouse .
  • The LIHEAP Performance Management website provides resources, tools, and a dynamic data warehouse to help LIHEAP administrators, policymakers, and the public access performance management information and performance measurement data.
  • The LIHEAP Virtual Library allows grant recipients to locate resources and provides TTA.

Conclusion:

OCS appreciates the continued partnership with grant recipients, local administering agencies, and national partner organizations to continue delivering high quality services to LIHEAP eligible households. If you have questions about this DCL or want to request additional TTA on any topic, please contact your LIHEAP federal regional liaison. 

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

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

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