LIHEAP AT 2011-6 Household Report FY 2011
Transmittal No. LIHEAP-AT-2011-6
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
GUIDANCE INTENDED FOR: X STATES
X TRIBES/TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS
X TERRITORIES
SUBJECT: LIHEAP Household Report for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011
RELATED REFERENCES:
Sections 2605(c)(1)(G) and 2610(b) of the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Act of 1981 (title XXVI of Public Law 97-35, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended); 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 96; House Report 103-483 and Senate Report 103-251; OMB Control No. 0970-0060 (Expiration Date─October 31, 2011); Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; LIHEAP Information Transmittal (IM) 09-03, dated January 26, 2009.
PURPOSE:
To remind all LIHEAP grantees to include statutory data from the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 (October 1, 2010 — September 30, 2011)as part of their LIHEAP grant application for FFY 2011.
To remind the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to include additional data on LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 concerning unduplicated counts of households across their entire LIHEAP program.
To clarify the reporting of households receiving “other LIHEAP
assistance.”
BACKGROUND: Under the amendments to the LIHEAP statute enacted in 1994 (Public Law 103-252), LIHEAP grant applications must include a report for the previous FFY on households applying for and assisted by LIHEAP funds. We receive the reported information through the LIHEAP Household Report.
Information collection activities, such as the LIHEAP Household Report, must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)in accordance with Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OMB approved the LIHEAP Household Report through October 31, 2011. We notified the States of this action through LIHEAP Information Memorandum (IM) 2009-03, dated January 26, 2009.
As stated in that IM, States are required to submit additional data for FY 2011 which will provide Congress and the Administration for the first time an unduplicated count of LIHEAP assisted households receiving any type of LIHEAP assistance. These data are to be included in the Department’s LIHEAP Report to Congress for FY 2011.
CONTENT: In the past, a number of States and our office have spent time in working on one or more of the following issues:
- Submission of the LIHEAP Household Report after the deadline without consulting with our office;
- Following the report instructions and, where necessary, seeking clarification of the reporting instructions;
- Inadequate data collection systems;
- Failure to communicate with our office per agreed upon dates; and/or
- Inconsistencies between the LIHEAP Household Report and LIHEAP Grantee Survey for reported types of LIHEAP assistance provided in the fiscal year.
Such issues have delayed our completion of including state-reported data in the annual LIHEAP Report to Congress. We need the States’ assistance in reducing and eliminating reporting delays. We also need to know if anything in the reporting instructions is unclear. At the same time, we will continue to work with States that seek help in a timely manner in completing their LIHEAP Household Report.
A number of delays can be avoided if clarification of the data is included in the notes sections of the report. Notes should also be used to explain why there may be missing or incomplete data. We will flag errors and send States a written notice when data are missing, late, or incorrect.
We want to avoid having to note in the LIHEAP Report to Congress that a State’s data are inaccurate, estimated, unavailable, or untimely. Therefore, it is critical that grantees review and understand the attached detailed instructions in correctly completing the LIHEAP Household Report.
Examples are included in the instructions. We shared with States a number of the examples previously through e-mails.
Understanding the reporting instructions will minimize our need to contact you for clarification or correction of your State’s reported data, saving both our agencies time and effort. This also will enhance our timeliness in compiling, editing, and reporting the data.
he following general items pertain to the LIHEAP Household Report (detailed information is included in the reporting instructions):
- All Indian Tribes/Tribal Organizations and Insular Areas (other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) have to complete the Short Format for LIHEAP Assisted Households for FFY 2011 (Attachment 1).
- The 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico must report on the required data elements contained in the Long Format LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 - Recommended Long Format for LIHEAP Assisted Households and Applicant Households for FY 2011 (Attachment 2).
- Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report are included in Attachment 3.
- A grant award will not be made for FFY 2011 until we receive the grantee’s complete data, as specified in the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011,and all other application requirements have been met.
- Estimated (rather than actual) LIHEAP household data will be accepted with the FFY 2011 LIHEAP grant application so as not to delay the awarding of first quarter LIHEAP grants for FFY 2011.
- Grantees are to submit actual household data by December 15, 2011 (this also is the deadline for State, Tribal, and Insular Area grantees to submit additional information to complete their block grant application/plans for FFY 2011 and for States to submit the LIHEAP Grantee Survey for FY 2011). Actual, not estimated, State-level data are required for the Department’s LIHEAP Annual Report to Congress for FFY 2011.
Other than date changes, there is nothing different for most of the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 from that of the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2010. As in that Report, the Report for FFY 2011 requires:
- The required (mandatory) data elements for each type of LIHEAP assistance provided by grantees include the following: the number and income levels of applicant and assisted households, household poverty levels, and the number of assisted households with one or more members who were vulnerable, i.e., elderly, disabled, or a young child; and
- The Long Format for LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 includes a section on “Requested Data” that lists a break out of young children into two age categories--young children 0-2 years and 3-5 years. The House and Senate Committee reports concerning the 1994 reauthorization of LIHEAP requested this break out. However, submission of these data is optional.
There are additional data requirements concerning the Long Format for LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011. The additional data requirements include the following, as described in the reporting instructions:
- An unduplicated count of households that received any type of LIHEAP assistance, regardless of the type of LIHEAP assistance provided to households (including LIHEAP weatherization assistance);
- Separate unduplicated counts of the number of assisted households with any vulnerable members, i.e., either, elderly, disabled, or young child, regardless of the type of LIHEAP assistance provided to the households;
- An unduplicated count of the number of assisted households having at least one vulnerable member, regardless of the type of LIHEAP assistance provided to the households; and
- Reporting on households that a State considers to have received “other LIHEAP assistance” as described in the State's LIHEAP Plan for FY 2011. The instructions include information on how to count such households. For the most part, this would include households receiving other crisis assistance, such as furnace or air conditioner repairs. Also, this would include households receiving a reduced LIHEAP payment that would allow such households to receive an increased benefit from the Food and Nutrition Services’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
As indicated in the instructions, the following distinctions need to be understood in reporting unduplicated data for:
- Assisted households for EACH type of LIHEAP assistance that they applied for received;
- Assisted households for ANY type of LIHEAP assistance provided to households regardless of type of LIHEAP assistance;
- EACH type of LIHEAP assistance for any assisted vulnerable households regardless of whether there are members who are elderly, disabled, or a young child; and
- Each vulnerability group of households for EACH and ANY type of LIHEAP assistance provided to households.
Please submit the data electronically using the LIHEAP Household Report for FY 2011’s Excel workbook. The workbook contains formulas that assist in compiling accurate tabulations. The LIHEAP Household Report FFY 2011 is available for downloading from the Federal LIHEAP web site.
INQUIRIES: Leon Litow, Lead Program Specialist
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
Administration for Children and Families, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
202-401-5304 (Voice)
202-401-5661 (Fax)
llitow@acf.hhs.gov
ATTACHMENTS:
1). LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 - Short Format (XLS)
2). LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 - Long Format (XLS)
3). Instructions for Completing the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2011 (DOC)
/s/
Yolanda J. Butler,Ph.D.
Acting Director
Office of Community Services