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PY26 WHEAP Manual
139 Revised: August 2025 • Agencies receiving more than $100,000 in federal funds per year must file with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services an annual statement certifying that they will abide by these restrictions. • Agencies must disclose any payments made to a person(s) lobbying, as defined above, even if no federal funds are used to make the payment.
The form for agencies to disclose lobbying activities is available online.
9.5.3 General Record Retention Agencies shall retain all paper WHEAP records for five years unless already retained as an upload to the HE+ System.
The agency must maintain the following records as required in other sections of this manual including: 1. A record management system that retains documents for a period of five years from the date an application is submitted. Agencies may retain records locally in an electronic format to reduce storage space needs (see Appendix A). The Division maintains the record retention of any documents that are uploaded to the HE+ System dependent upon the worker verifying the document upload is viewable/accessible at the time of the document upload. If forms are required to be retained longer than five years, as outlined in the manual, the agency must retain those particular forms in accordance with the WHEAP Manual. 2. Files on all applicants including the entire completed (if applicable), signed, and certified application form(s) DOA-9549. a. If the application is completed interactively, only the applicant signature form must be retained as a document upload. 3. Any documents used to verify income (paystubs, wage printouts, S-GIRF, tax forms and/or schedules, etc.). SSNs on the tax records shall be redacted by crossing out all but the last four digits of the SSNs on all forms and schedules provided. Bank routing information and tax preparer ID shall also be redacted. 4. When applicable, retain Authorized Representation and/or Power of Attorney (POA) documentation as a document upload. 5. All records associated with the requirements set forth in the HE+ Program Services Manual. 6. The agency may retain additional records beyond the minimum established and shall be handled within the specified requirements of Appendix A. 7. Conflict of Interest/Non-Disclosure Agreement Forms for WHEAP staff without HE+ System access (see Section 9.5.1.1). 8. All signed and completed WHEAP Affidavits of Lost, Destroyed or Stolen Benefits forms as a document upload to the associated application “Other WHEAP Documents” repository in the HE+ System.