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Vermont Department for Children and Families Crisis Fuel Assistance Rules Economic Services Division 3107 Crisis Fuel Verification

3107 Crisis Fuel Verification (06/22/2024, 23-20)

a. Income of all persons in the fuel household, regardless of the source of income, must be verified unless the Department or the crisis worker has verified the household’s income in the past 30 calendar days and the household’s eligibility circumstances have not changed.

b. A person’s self-declaration of income, by itself, shall not be an acceptable method of verification, and an applicant must provide any business-related or income-related document requested by the Department or the crisis worker to verify income.

c. Verification from an eligible applicant’s landlord is required when all the following conditions are present:

1. The applicant is seeking crisis assistance to:

i. Avert an imminent disconnection of the applicant’s electric service; or

ii. Reestablish the applicant’s electric service;

2. The applicant’s electric service is required to operate the heating system in a multi-family building; and

3. The heating system (e.g., furnace) is located outside the applicant’s living unit.

d. All verification must be provided at the time of application or within five calendar days of the application date.

1. The Department may extend or waive the five-day deadline to provide verification if:

i. A natural disaster prevents the household from providing verification;

ii. A household member’s serious illness prevents the household from providing verification;

iii. The employer of a household member has refused, or is unable, to provide income verification;

iv. The household’s landlord is unavailable to provide the verification required by subsection (c) of this rule; or