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Tennessee Housing Development Agency 2025 LIHEAP Policy Manual for Regular and Crisis Assistance 33

• If the applicant has not lived at their current address for 12 months, the billing information entered should reflect only the number of months the applicant has resided at the current address. o Remaining fields in SmartSimple should remain blank to accurately show the energy burden cost for the current address.

2.20 Prioritization of Households for Assistance The prioritization for assistance is based on a system that considers the presence of vulnerable household members. Households are ranked according to the following vulnerability categories: 1. Individuals aged 60 or older who are receiving Social Security benefits 2. Individuals with disabilities, identified by receiving SSI, SSDI, or by submitting a Verification of Disability form completed and signed by a licensed medical professional 3. Households with children aged five (5) or younger 4. Veterans Within each vulnerability category, applicants will be further prioritized based on households with lowest income, highest energy burden, and greatest overall vulnerability. Households with the highest energy burden within each vulnerability category will receive assistance first. Example: The following applicants apply • A family of three includes a four-year-old child • A family with one person who is disabled • A single veteran • A woman who is 60 years old receiving social security

*The woman who is 60 years old will receive benefits before all other applicants listed above. Benefit Levels Benefit levels are established by THDA and used uniformly by all LIHEAP agencies in the State of Tennessee. These benefit levels are outlined in the Benefit Matrix and must be adhered to by all agencies.