Crisis component allocations shall be based on each agency’s percentage of the statewide eligible population at or below 100% of the poverty level.

A household shall be considered to be in a home heating crisis situation when:

• the household is within four (4) days of running out of fuel if bulk fuel (coal, fuel oil, propane, kerosene, or wood) is the heat source; or
• the household has received a past due/disconnect notice if natural gas or electric is the heat source; or
• the household’s home heating costs are included as an undesignated portion of the rent, and the household has received an eviction notice for non-payment of rent.

Applications must be completed utilizing a face-to-face interview. Home visits may be made by workers to take applications in accordance with local agency procedures, if an authorized representative cannot be located. However, the county office or application center must remain open with staff available to take applications during regular office hours. It is recommended that workers make every attempt to locate authorized representatives to make application on behalf of those homebound or handicapped consumers unable to come into the office. Agencies may request a waiver to complete the application process by phone.

Each agency will begin taking applications for the Crisis component on the second Monday of January, and will continue to take applications until March 15, or until all of the agency’s crisis funds have been expended, whichever comes first. If a CAA closes the program prior to March 15 a "Notice of Program Termination " form must be submitted to KACA.

To be eligible for Crisis assistance, a household must:

• meet all regular program eligibility criteria; and
• meet the definition of being in a home heating crisis situation.

For all bulk fuels (wood, coal, propane, fuel oil, kerosene) verification of a crisis situation may be self declaration by the applicant. For natural gas and electric heated households, the applicant must present an appropriate disconnect/past due notice. For those households that are requesting assistance with an electric bill because electric is necessary to make the primary heating system operate, the applicant must present a disconnect notice. In such cases, the maximum crisis benefit is determined by the primary heating fuel type.

Each applicant should be advised that CAA staff may perform on-site verification on a limited number of households and that DCBS staff may be performing a limited number of on-site verifications during the month of January.

All assistance provided with LIHEAP funds must be directly related to resolving the household’s home heating crisis situation. The allowable types of assistance that may be provided in the minimum amounts necessary to alleviate a home heating crisis are:

• Direct payments to the primary or secondary fuel source to connect, reconnect service, avoid service termination, or deliver fuel If payment is being made to connect or reconnect, the CAA must assure that the payment(either alone or in combination with other funds) is sufficient to assure that the household has needed energy, It is not the policy to pay toward past due bills when the payment will not result in energy service;
• Direct provision of the primary fuel;
• Direct payments to the landlord...if energy costs are an undesignated portion of rent and the household has received an eviction notice;
• Direct payments to electric utility to reconnect service or avoid service termination...if electricity is necessary for the primary heating system to work;
• Direct provision of blankets and sleeping bags, as a means of alleviating a crisis until fuel or energy can be provided and the secondary heat source or temporary heat source is not adequate to heat the living area;
• Direct payment for or provision of emergency shelter, if other forms of assistance will not alleviate the crisis.

Other types of assistance that may be provided include:

• Temporary loan of space heaters, if the crisis benefits available to the household are insufficient to reconnect utilities or provide delivery of primary fuel or if the heating system is inoperable or not adequate to heat the living area;
• Referral to local Weatherization program;
• Completion of and assistance with a Certificate of Financial Need for an appropriate utility company, if the crisis benefits available to the household are insufficient to reconnect service or avoid termination or if, when combined with available benefits, service will be reconnected or termination will be avoided;
• Referral to other agencies or organizations, if the crisis benefits available to the household are insufficient to alleviate the crisis and the other agency or organization has the resources to alleviate the crisis.

A household may receive assistance more than once during the Crisis component, however, separate application and certification of eligibility must be completed each time the household applies for assistance.

A household may not receive more than the household’s ALLOWABLE CRISIS MAXIMUM, in combined benefits through the Crisis component. The household’s allowable crisis maximum is determined by the household’s primary fuel type. The allowable crisis maximum for each fuel type is as follows:

• no more than the cost of delivery of 1 ton of coal;
• no more than the cost of delivery of 1 cord of wood;
• no more than the cost of delivery of 100 gallons of propane;
• no more than the cost of delivery of 100 gallons of fuel oil/kerosene;
• more than $100 for continuous billing fuels (electricity, natural gas).

Only those LIHEAP benefits that directly accrue to the household such as payments to fuel providers, landlords, or for emergency shelter or the cost of fuel, containers, blankets, and sleeping bags directly provided to the household shall count against the Allowable Crisis Maximum. All other types of assistance, such as temporarily loaned space heaters, shall not count against a household’s Allowable Crisis Maximum.

The type and amount of assistance for each household is determined by the particular circumstances for that household. Each CAA is responsible for assuring that the assistance approved for each household is:

• the minimum amount necessary to alleviate the home heating crisis; and
• consistent with the level of assistance provided to other households in similar circumstances; and
• not in excess of the allowable crisis maximum as listed on the Maximum Crisis Benefit Chart.

Non-regulated utilities, such as municipal utilities, may have policies regarding the minimum payment amount to continue service that vary based on the individual consumer’s payment history.

Most regulated utilities will have a set percentage of the bill or minimum payment amount that will allow the customer to pay less than the full amount of the bill to continue service, if the customer will negotiate a payment plan with the utility company and has not defaulted on previous payments plans.

Any household, that is at or above the 28% of poverty level MUST pay a portion of the MINIMUM amount necessary to alleviate the crisis. The co-payment will vary based on the housing type and poverty level of the household as follows:

28 - 55% 10%

56 - 83% 15%

84 - 110% 20%

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28 - 55% 15%

56 - 83% 20%

84 - 110% 25%

the amount of the co-payment is the appropriate % applied to the minimum amount necessary to alleviate the crisis, not the amount of the bill.

Minimum Amount Necessary to Alleviate the Crisis $ ____________ times the

Co-payment % _____________= the Co-payment $ _________________.

Minimum Amount Necessary to Alleviate the Crisis $ ____________ minus the

Co-Payment $ _______ + Funding Needed $ ___________________.

Benefit = Funding Needed $_________ or Maximum Allowable Benefit $ _______

Whichever is less.

If additional money must be found from other sources by the household and/or the CAA this amount is not part of the co-payment.

A consumer brings in a disconnect notice for $125.00. After calling the gas company, they will accept a partial payment of $50.00. The consumer falls in to the 56 - 83% percent of poverty range which required a co-payment of 15%.

Minimum Amount $50.00

Amount of Co-Pay $ 7.50

CAA Pays $42.50

If the consumer returns, the amount he/she is eligible for is $57.50 ($100.00 - $42.50).

The co-pay amount is not considered as a part of the maximum amount of benefits. The maximum benefits are local agency-spent dollars.

Vendors may refuse to deliver bulk fuels if the household does not pay the co-payment amount. If the household cannot or will not make the co-payment, it is still the responsibility of the CAA to resolve the home-heating crisis. This can be done by using other donated or agency funds to make the co-payment or by the loan of a space heater, blankets, or sleeping bags to the household

The same quality of fuel or dollar value of assistance does not have to be provided to all households to achieve consistency in benefits provided. All households should receive the minimum necessary to provide heat within the maximum allowable limits.

In those instances where one utility company provides more than one service to the household, such as, one bill contains charges for both electric and water service, the charges for each service must be separated and the allowable benefit to the household is only the minimum amount necessary to continue or restore service(s) that are necessary to provide HEAT to the home.

Renters who pay home heating costs as an undesignated portion of their rent are eligible for assistance under the following conditions:

• the household must have received an eviction notice in order to establish crisis eligibility. (The county attorney’s office can provide guidance as to what is considered an eviction notice.)
• the household meets all other points of eligibility.

The Allowable Crisis Maximum for such households will be based on their primary heating fuel type.

Applicants that receive assistance for home heating cost from other agencies are eligible for assistance, if they meet all other criteria of eligibility (responsible for home heating costs, income, liquid resources, home heating crisis situation, etc.). The same methods will apply as with all other consumers, in that the minimum amount necessary to alleviate the household’s home heating crisis will be determined. The consumers that receive a utility allowance payment must utilize the allowance first, but will not be denied if that amount has already been utilized for heating costs. Consumers that are receiving a shelter and/or energy subsidy and unable to avoid being in a crisis should be referred to CSBG’s service planning component.

Assistance to an eligible household, not in a LIFE THREATENING situation must be provided within 48 hours of the time that the application is completed. Completed means that the worker has all the information needed to make the eligibility determination. Once all information is obtained by the worker, the case decision and crisis resolution must occur within 48 hours, No application may be place in pending for more than 5 working days. If needed documentation is not supplied, the application must be denied for insufficient information.

Assistance to an eligible household in a life threatening situation must be provided within 18 hours of the time the application is completed. A life threatening condition is a situation where the household is without heat, or will be without heat within 48 hours, and temperatures are at a dangerous level for the household members. It should be recognized that due to the age or physical conditions of household members, weather conditions, housing conditions, and outdoor temperatures, a life threatening situation must be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Benefits needed to alleviate the home heating crisis may be provided by supplying the household with the benefit items directly, by issuing the household a voucher to obtain the benefit items, or by direct payment to the vendor after the delivery of the items or service.

Benefit items may be bulk purchased and provided directly to eligible households. The CAA’s may purchase bulk supplies of fuel or blankets in situations where such purchases will reduce service costs or increase the efficiency of service delivery, with the prior approval of KACA and the Cabinet. In instances where such purchases are made, the CAA will need to maintain accurate records which clearly allow for reporting and documenting the dispersal of bulk supplies to eligible households and the amount and value of any supplies remaining at the end of this contract.

Vendors will be paid by one-party checks after the delivery of benefit items or services.

For non-continuous fuel sources (wood, coal, propane, fuel oil, kerosene) payment will not be made until the fuel has been delivered or provided and the vendor has submitted with his bill, documentation that the consumer accepted the fuel. The Fuel Provided Form or a purchase order or voucher may be used as long as it is signed and dated by the consumer and shows the vendor’s name and the type and quality and quantity of fuel provided. Both the consumer and the vendor should be informed that a signed form is necessary for the vendor to receive payments and that by signing the form, the consumer signifies that the fuel was provided and that it was of a satisfactory quality and quantity. Purchase orders/vouchers should indicate when the bill is due to the CAA.

Agencies will select vendors for the provision of materials and services in the Crisis component consistent with procurement standards contained in the following guidelines.

Advertising for vendors in the Crisis program may be in combination with the advertisement for the Subsidy program or may be separate from the advertising for vendors in the Subsidy program in a locally acceptable mass media (newspapers, cable, etc.).

Each agency shall implement procurement procedures that assure materials and services are obtained in an effective manner to allow for the participation of small and minority-owned businesses as vendors.

Procurement procedures to identify the lowest cost for fuel shall not be used for the purchase of materials and services where the agency has identified and documented any of the following conditions:

3. The vendor has an agreement with the homeowner requiring fuel to be purchased

from the vendor.

4. The vendor is conveniently located for the eligible household to purchase and

During the Crisis Component, each CAA will be required to verify the delivery of bulk fuels, inspecting both quantity and quality and delivery time frames when a complaint is received or fraud and /or abuse is suspected. The agency shall maintain a file of the inspections that have been completed and include in the file a summary of the qualifications of the person making the inspections. If an agency does not have a staff person qualified to assess the quality and quantity of bulk fuels, the agency may contract for this service, with the charge made to the administrative fund.

If all funds for the Crisis component are exhausted prior to March 15, the agency must submit a LIHEAP Crisis Component Program Closing Report.