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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES ENERGY ASSISTANCE

10/17 VOLUME IX, CHAPTER A, PAGE 5

The maximum amount a LDSS may pay per application received from the contracting agency is $8; however, the LDSS must remain within their administrative allocation. Contracts may be negotiated with any not-for-profit or for-profit third party vendor. Legal counsel should be consulted when contracting. Errors made by the contractor are considered LDSS errors.

9. APPLICATIONS

An opportunity to apply must be given to all individuals during their initial contact with the LDSS, regardless of whether an application was mailed to the household. An individual cannot be required to make an appointment to receive an application or to have a face-to-face interview to receive assistance. An application and Fact Sheet must be available during LDSS work hours. Requests for applications may be made in person, by telephone, by mail, by fax, or by a third party. If an applicant is homebound, the LDSS may need to make arrangements for a home visit.

An application may be completed by the applicant or an authorized representative (a person authorized in writing by the client to act on his/her behalf) and may be submitted at the time of initial contact or returned at a later date. The applicant or representative shall be given a Fact Sheet on the program.

Applications may be received by mail, in person, by fax, by telephone (through the Enterprise Customer Service Center), or online (in CommonHelp). The LDSS must affix a date received to each application. In order for an application to be considered valid, it must be signed by the applicant or an authorized representative. The date of the application will be the date the signed application is received in the LDSS.

Applications and verifications dropped off, postmarked, submitted online, or faxed anytime the day of the deadline will be considered received by the deadline. (Note: Unless there are documented technical issues which prevented the submission of an application in CommonHelp, applications that were started in CommonHelp prior to the submission deadline but were not submitted until after the deadline, will not be considered received by the deadline.)

All EAP applications (Fuel, Crisis, and Cooling) must be entered in the eligibility system by Friday of the week the application is received, unless otherwise specified. The application must be placed in pending status unless ready for eligibility determination. If an application is not entered into the system, it will not be reflected in any management reports.

The application period for the Fuel Assistance component of the EAP is the second Tuesday in October until the second Friday in November. If the second Friday falls on a holiday, the LDSS shall accept applications through the next workday. A courtesy application is mailed to prior year recipients in late September.

Fuel Assistance applications received after the final date for applications but postmarked on or before the second Friday in November shall be date stamped as received on the last day for

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