LIHEAP AT 2010-7 State Household Administrative Data Matching for FY 2010
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP ACTION TRANSMITTAL NO. LIHEAP-AT-2010-7, DATED 6/18/10
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) STATE GRANTEES
GUIDANCE INTENDED FOR: X STATES
TRIBES/TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS
TERRITORIES
SUBJECT: State FY 2010 LIHEAP Household Administrative Data Matching
RELATED REFERENCES: Sections 2605(b)(14) and 2610(b) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35, as amended.
PURPOSE: To request that States maintain FY 2010 LIHEAP recipiency household data for matching with the 2009 RECS household respondent households.
BACKGROUND: Since FY 1982, our office has relied upon data from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) conducts this survey every four years to provide national and regional data on residential energy use in the United States. We use RECS data to furnish Congress and the Administration with important national and regional descriptive data on the energy needs of low-income households.
The last RECS was conducted in 2005. At that time, ACF funded the 2005 RECS LIHEAP supplemental sample and a set of LIHEAP questions that were added to the RECS. The 2005 RECS LIHEAP supplemental sample was developed and implemented through the cooperation of LIHEAP State agencies. The RECS contractor used administrative household data from State LIHEAP programs to determine which RECS households participated in LIHEAP and what type and amount of benefits they received. This process is termed "data matching."
As a result, the LIHEAP supplemental sample enhanced the accuracy, quality, and precision of RECS estimates for LIHEAP-recipient households. Equally as important, data matching was a more efficient method for obtaining LIHEAP performance data than requesting State LIHEAP offices to independently collect energy burden data and other energy-related data for their LIHEAP recipient households. ACF has funded a similar effort for the 2009 RECS. For the 2009 RECS, EIA has more than tripled the household sample size from 4,000 household interviews for the 2005 RECS household interviews to approximately 15,000 household interviews for the 2009 RECS. The survey is expected to yield information for about 5,200 low income households and 1,100 LIHEAP recipients.
In 2009, ACF/EIA contracted with APPRISE to collect information on what restrictions, if any each State had in place on sharing administrative household data on LIHEAP recipient households as part of the RECS. Most of the States indicated that the release of such information was possible within their own regulations or procedures to safeguard the privacy of its citizens. The respondent confidentiality procedures that are used for the RECS interviews are consistent with those used for research studies involving other Federal assistance programs.
CONTENT: ACF has transferred funds to EIA, in part, to procure a contract later this summer for the matching of LIHEAP household administrative data with RECS respondent households. In this way, it can be determined which of the RECS surveyed households participated in LIHEAP and what type and amount of benefits they received in FY 2010. We realize that it is not ideal for many States to provide LIHEAP household administrative data when their FY 2010 programs may have closed. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with more lead time.
We would appreciate your office participation in the 2009 RECS LIHEAP Administrative Data Matching project through the procedures discussed in the Attachment. Data will be needed on regular and crisis fuel assistance benefits for FY 2010. We ask that you keep the LIHEAP database for FY 2010 accessible until the end of December 2010. Your cooperation in this effort is greatly appreciated.
Please do not hesitate to contact Leon Litow of my staff if you have any questions, concerns, or problems in providing the data.
ATTACHMENT: 2009 RECS LIHEAP Data Matching Requirements Using State LIHEAP Administrative Data
INQUIRIES TO: Leon Litow, Lead Program Analyst
Policy and Evaluation Branch
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 LEnfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Telephone: (202) 401-5304
Fax: (202) 401-5661
E-mail: llitow@acf.hhs.gov
/s/
Nick St. Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
ATTACHMENT
2009 RECS LIHEAP Data Matching Requirements Using State LIHEAP Administrative Data Acquiring a File of LIHEAP Recipients
EIA contractor will ask your State to provide a file of LIHEAP households that received fuel assistance in FY 2010. States may choose for whom they will furnish LIHEAP-recipient records:
A. All FY 2010 LIHEAP recipients for the entire state B. All FY 2010 LIHEAP recipients only in the counties from your state that are part of the RECS sample (a list will be provided separately) C. All FY 2010 LIHEAP recipients only in selected ZIP codes from your state that are part of the RECS sample (a list will be provided separately).
Protocol Options
Your State will be asked to select one of the following two options for providing the data needed to facilitate the 2009 RECS LIHEAP Supplement.
Option 1: One-Step Approach
Your State will provide all of the required data items and as many of the optional data items as you have available for your FY 2010 LIHEAP recipient households at whatever level you choose (see options A, B, and C, above).
Option 2: Two-Step Approach
EIA contractor will ask your State to provide only the name, address (including ZIP code), and telephone number for all FY 2010 LIHEAP recipients at whatever level you choose (see options A, B, and C, above).
Later, EIA contractor will give you a list of a subset of these LIHEAP recipients who completed a RECS interview and ask you to provide all of the required data items and as many of the optional data items as you have available for those households.
Required Data Items
EIA contractor will need the following data items for each LIHEAP household you include in your States file.
Name; Telephone Number; Address (must include ZIP code) Household Size; Gross Income; Heating assistance awarded; Amount of heating assistance; Cooling assistance awarded; Amount of cooling assistance; Crisis assistance awarded; Amount of crisis assistance
Optional Data Items
The following data will enrich the analyses EIA's contractor will conduct using the RECS data. Please furnish the following data if they are available in your database(s).
Tenancy (i.e., own or rent) Type(s) of fuel used Heat included in rent Presence of children 5 or younger Energy costs Presence of adult 60 or older Energy burden Presence of disabled
Data Format
EIA contractor will prefer to receive your data in one of these following commonly used formats:
MS Excel, MS Access, SAS, or Stata
If necessary, EIA contractor will accept the data in other formats as well.