Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Action Transmittal

AT#: LIHEAP-AT-2020-02

DATE: February 3, 2020

TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

SUBJECT: LIHEAP Household Report Short Form and Long Form for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2019

ATTACHMENT(S):  A. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019
                                 B. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FY 2019

Sections 2605(c)(1)(G) and 2610(b) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (title XXVI of Public Law 97-35, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended); 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 96; House Report 103-483 and Senate Report 103-251 on S. 2000, the predecessor to Public Law 103-252 (the Human Services Amendments of 1994); OMB Control No. 0970-0060 (Expiration Date - February 28, 2022); Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; LIHEAP Information Transmittal (IM) 09-03, dated January 26, 2009; LIHEAP Action Transmittal (AT) 11-06, dated July 25, 2011.

PURPOSE

1. To remind all LIHEAP grantees that the required final data for the LIHEAP Household Report for FY 2019 (October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019) is due to the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) via the On-Line Data Collection (OLDC) System no later than Friday, February 14, 2020.

1. To inform all LIHEAP grantees about the following LIHEAP Household Report forms:

• The 50 States and the District of Columbia (hereafter referred to as “states”) are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019.

• Direct-grant Indian Tribes/Tribal Organizations (hereafter referred to as “tribes”) are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FY 2019.

• The Territories (hereafter referred to as “territories”) are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019.

BACKGROUND

Under the amendments to the LIHEAP statute enacted in 1994 (Public Law 103-252), LIHEAP grant applications must include a report on LIHEAP households for the previous federal Fiscal Year. ACF requires all LIHEAP grantees to report LIHEAP household data.

Information collection activities, such as the LIHEAP Household Report, must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OMB approved the Report for use through February 28, 2022.

The Office of Community Services (OCS), Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) staff are available to assist LIHEAP grantees with using OLDC to submit the LIHEAP Household Report. OLDC report forms can be accessed on the Grant Solutions’ homepageVisit disclaimer page. For questions regarding accessing OLDC, contact your LIHEAP federal liaison.

OCS data collection and technical assistance contractor, APPRISE, continues to be available to assist states that need assistance with data collection, reporting, or submission of their LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019. APPRISE will continue to work with states in correcting their data, when necessary.

CONTENT

States continue to make progress with collecting and reporting accurate and timely data for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form. This has resulted in less follow-up calls/emails to states for clarification. However, in varying degrees, there still are the following issues related to the LIHEAP Household Report:

• Submission of the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form in OLDC after the deadline without first consulting with DEA;

• Failure to follow the report instructions and/or notifying DEA whether the instructions need to be revised to clarify misunderstandings;

• Use of information systems that cannot produce reliable data;

• Failure to address warning messages; and,

• Submission of data with inadequate notation in reporting on households assisted with LIHEAP funds for home energy repair or replacement.

OLDC has built-in validations in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019 to help states ensure that data submitted to DEA is accurate. All data entered into OLDC will be checked in real time. Additional built-in validations will check certain data before the grantee can proceed to the next step.

There are two types of validation responses when there is a data issue: warnings and errors.

• A “warning” notifies the grantee of a possible inconsistency or mistake in the data. States and territories are encouraged to double check the data fields described in the warning to make sure all information is correct. States and territories will be able to certify and submit the report without changing any data that led to a warning.

• An “error” notifies the grantee of a mistake that must be corrected prior to the report being submitted to our office. OLDC will not allow a report to be certified and submitted until the error has been addressed.

OLDC also has data validations to check the consistency of the types of LIHEAP assistance reported by each state by cross checking the FY 2019 LIHEAP Household Report Long Form with the state and territory LIHEAP Model Plan for FY 2019. Additional cross checks are also implemented to verify the data in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019 against that reported in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2018.

Once the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019 has been submitted, DEA or APPRISE will notify a state or territory of any reporting deficiencies not identified or resolved through OLDC and request a plan for remedial action. At the same time, DEA will continue to work with states that seek help in completing their reports.

States and the territories are to submit actual household data for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019 by February 14, 2020 (this also is the deadline for state, tribal, and territorial grantees to submit additional information to complete their block grant application/plans for FY 2020). Actual, not estimated, state-level data are required for the LIHEAP Report to Congress for FY 2019.

Attachment A provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FY 2019. Attachment B provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FY 2019.

INQUIRIES TO

For questions regarding accurate completion of the LIHEAP Household Report, contact:

Peter Edelman, Program Analyst
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
Administration for Children and Families
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
201-401-5292 (Voice)
202-401-5661 (Fax)
peter.edelman@acf.hhs.gov
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap/

SUBMISSION TO

The deadline for all grantees to submit their LIHEAP Household Report for FY 2019 in OLDC is February 14, 2020. This date may be extended for direct-grant tribal grantees if the state(s) in which the tribe is located agrees to a later date. The date may be extended for grantees if OCS agrees to a later date. However, extensions may not be made unless the grantee requests the extension in writing before the deadline.

OLDC report forms can be accessed on the GrantSolutions homepageVisit disclaimer page. If you have not yet created an account in OLDC, contact your LIHEAP federal liaison for assistance. Also, for questions regarding accessing OLDC and or completing the OLDC form, contact your LIHEAP federal liaison.

Thank you for your attention and OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high quality services to OCS grantees.