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• If an appointment is scheduled, the LSP must advise the caller to contact the utility vendor(s) to let them know that an EAP appointment has been scheduled and inquire about payment arrangement options until the appointment is completed.

• Doing this can be considered a mitigating action for the 18- or 48-hour timeframe, as long as it is documented properly. Online or Mail-in Crisis Situation: If the LSP has an online or mail-in application, intake staff must contact the utility vendor(s) and notify them that the applicant has submitted an EAP application. This will pause disconnection actions for all vendors that have an active MOA with IHCDA, and will pause disconnection actions with all utility vendors during moratorium regardless of if an MOA is in place. LSPs must take care to distinguish mail-in applications with crisis from regular applications to assure proper triaging and response time. Determining Eligibility on Crisis Apps The eligibility process is to be expedited wherever possible. The LSP is to determine eligibility as soon as the application is complete. The LSP must enter the application to the statewide database and be sure to record the original date and time that the client first contacted the LSP, as well as the date and time stamp that the application was completed. The LSP must contact the client if the regular and crisis assistance is not sufficient to prevent the crisis and if additional payments need to be made to alleviate the crisis. The client must provide documentation that the payments were made, or the LSP can contact the vendor directly and get verbal confirmation. Verbal confirmation must be noted in the statewide database. Once eligibility has been determined, the LSP must immediately contact the utility vendor and client about EAP approval. Determination of Crisis For metered utilities, a utility bill or account statement should be used to determine whether a household is in crisis. Alternatively, an LSP may speak directly with a customer service representative from the vendor to confirm a crisis and document the conversation within the statewide database. Any contact with the vendor must be documented within the statewide database. For deliverable bulk heating fuels, crisis funds will be awarded to assist with delivery costs, but the applicant household is not considered to be experiencing a crisis unless they indicate that they are nearly out of fuel, defined as a fuel tank at or below 25% full,