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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 5 Crisis Page 10 When a household provides partial or complete emergency information on the application, it is considered a request for assistance with an emergency. These requests for assistance must be addressed according to the required timelines noted above, and in accordance with the relevant policies depending on funds availability (see below). Process for Handling Applications with Emergencies Service Providers need to process applications with identified energy emergencies before applications without identified energy emergencies. For applications with identified energy emergencies, Service Providers must triage, or prioritize, applications based on the condition or threat of no heat to the household. When triaging, the Service Provider addresses emergencies in a logical priority where households with the greatest threat are addressed first. For example, households with shut-offs are addressed before those with disconnection notices. The following procedure should be considered as a best practice for processing the back-log. 1. Sort applications by log date and process those with identified emergencies first. 2. Triage, or prioritize, those with emergencies using known information about the household situation (emergency type, vendor shut-off practices, etc.), and in the order in the table below. 3. Process applications in the triage order. Crisis Triage Timelines In general, requests for Crisis assistance should be triaged in the following order: * These households may be prioritized after categories 1-3 depending on the Service Provider’s process, as long as households within a given category are treated consistently. Triage Level Crisis Request Type Relevant Timelines 1 Shut off or empty tank, life threatening 18 Hours 1 Less than 10 days biofuel or pre-pay energy (shut off, life threatening) 18 Hours 2 Shut off or empty tank, not life threatening 48 Hours 2 Less than 10 days biofuel or pre-pay energy (shut off, not life threatening) 48 Hours 4 Less than 20%; Less than 10 days biofuel or pre-pay energy (not shut off) Appropriate for situation (after categories #1 & #2) 3 Disconnect notice for energy (eligible for disconnect) Appropriate for situation (after categories #1 & #2) 3 Non-heat electric disconnect notice (eligible for disconnect) Appropriate for situation (after categories #1 & #2) N/A Disconnect notice – including non-heat electric (current practice is to not shut off prior to 4/30) Log date order (until April 30) N/A Senior (age 60 and over) Log date order