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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT

OF SOCIAL SERVICES ENERGY ASSISTANCE

06/16 VOLUME IX, CHAPTER G, PAGE 15

application for Crisis Assistance will not be paid. A household will not be reimbursed for charges paid out of pocket.

The amount of payment for each type of assistance offered is the exact amount necessary to alleviate the emergency, not to exceed the appropriate maximum.

Payments may be made directly to the client for primary fuel based on the Fuel Assistance direct pay criteria. See requirements for locally issued checks in Chapter E.

For households that received a direct payment for their Fuel Assistance benefit, verification that the fuel assistance benefit was used to purchase/pay primary fuel/utility is required prior to the approval of Crisis Assistance Primary Fuel/Utility.

For cases requiring multiple payments, approvals must not be entered in the system simultaneously. The first approval must be entered in the system and the bill paid before a second crisis approval can be made in the system.

a. Enter the crisis benefit at time of eligibility determination as follows:

1) The exact amount of the bill, not to exceed the maximum authorization for the type of assistance. File a copy of bill in the case record.

2) If there is no bill when the case is ready for eligibility determination, the maximum crisis benefit for the type of assistance is used. Payment will only be entered in the system upon receipt of a bill. The bill must be filed in the case record. The system will automatically close the case, unencumber the difference and remove the crisis benefit amount.

b. For all changes, the worker will use the Crisis Add/Change screen.

If the total bill amount exceeds the crisis benefit maximum, the worker must enter the maximum for that type of assistance in the bill check amount and enter the total of Crisis Assistance and money from other sources used to alleviate the emergency amount in the total bill field. The system will generate a check for the bill check amount only. The total monies from other sources must be entered in the other paid field. The system maintains a history of total costs for each case.

All vendor bills with accompanying signed credit authorizations for Crisis Assistance must be received in the LDSS by the date specified by Home Office. Home Office will advise by broadcast the last day that payment data can be entered in the system.

10. APPEALS

The appeal procedures in Chapter F will be used for Crisis applicants who are denied assistance, except that the LDSS must schedule a conference within ten working days

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