Page 70

DEO LIHEAP Policies and Procedures Manual Page 70

d. Provide proof that the current crisis is directly related to the declared disaster event. Prior usage, unpaid bills, and past due charges reflected prior to the effective date of notification authorizing use of Weather Related / Supply Shortage funds are not eligible expenses. All assistance must be energy and declared disaster event related; e. Applicant must reside within the area affected by the declared disaster whose service are is covered by the LIHEAP subrecipient(s) authorized to use Weather Related / Supply Shortage funds; f. Meet all other eligibility criteria as set forth in the current LIHEAP Subrecipient Agreement; g. Accepting eligibility certification paperwork from another Federal or State program.

If individuals from an eligible household that was affected by the declared disaster event have evacuated and or temporarily moved in with another household because their original residence is not habitable (regardless of the service are of their temporary habitation), the temporarily housed household should be considered a separate household. The households are not considered to be one household unit (i.e. each household’s eligibility should be determined only on their own original family size and income should exclude the other family).

4. Income Exclusions: In an effort to further decrease administrative burden, the following Income Exclusions will also apply for the covered Weather Related / Supply Shortage funds usage timeframe as outlined in the Information Memorandum that will be provided to Subrecipients in the event of a declared disaster: a. Stimulus payments from the federal government in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic will not be considered income and will not be considered in determining a household’s SMI and/or FPG level; b. Any type of unemployment payments will not be counted as income; c. Zero income can be determined with proof of client employment termination or the Zero Income Form; d. Zero income can be determined at the time of application and projected forward instead of using the past 30 days. If applicable, clients should note the reason for zero income related the declared disaster; e. Although not counted as income for LIHEAP purposes, excluded income sources may be used to determine how a household is meeting its expenses.

5. Signature Waivers: The following practices can be used to temporarily substitute as client approval until the client signature can be obtained in person: a. Client Signatures i. Digital, electronic, scanned, or photographed copies of signatures are allowed on applications and all forms. Subrecipient should have a dedicated email address that is used for clients to send applications. ii. Verbal verification via telephone can be taken for application signatures and form verification. The person obtaining verbal confirmations/verifications must document the following on each item verified: 1. Date of initial contact by client; 2. Name of person taking the verbal information (subrecipient staff); 3. Person they are receiving information from (applicant);