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LIHEAP AT 2020-06 Household Report Long and Short Form FY20

Guidance for completion of the FY 2020 Household Report

Final

Issued by: Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

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LIHEAP AT 2020-06 Household Report Long and Short Form FY20

Published: November 6, 2020
Audience:
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Category:
Guidance, Policies, Procedures, Action Transmittal
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Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Action Transmittal

AT#: LIHEAP-AT-2020-06

DATE: November 6, 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 (FFY) 2020

ATTACHMENT(S): A. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020
                                B. Instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FFY 2020


RELATED REFERENCES:

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 8621 et seq.); 45 C.F.R. § 96.82; 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); federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 0970-0060 (Expiration Date─February 28, 2022).

PURPOSE:

To remind all LIHEAP grantees that the required estimated and final data for the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2020 (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020) are due to the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) via the On-Line Data Collection (OLDC) System no later than Monday, November 30, 2020 and Thursday December 31, 2020, respectively.

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

  1. The 50 States, the District of Columbia (hereafter referred to as “states”), and territories are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020.
  2. Direct-grant Indian Tribes/Tribal Organizations (hereafter referred to as “tribes”) are to complete the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FFY 2020.

HHS has made non-substantive, OMB approved changes to the LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2020 and FFY 2021. These changes allow for reporting by separate LIHEAP funding types and benefits provided by the following:

  1. Regular LIHEAP FFY 2020 appropriations acts, including the Continuing Resolution known as the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019, P. L. 116-59, the final appropriation referred to as the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94), and any FFY 2019 funding reallotted by ACF in FFY 2020;
  2. Supplemental LIHEAP FFY 2020 appropriations acts, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) (P. L. 116-136) and any subsequent such acts.

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. We require all LIHEAP grantees to report such data on the LIHEAP Household Report.

Information collection activities, such as the LIHEAP Household Report, must receive approval from OMB in accordance with Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OMB approved the Report for use through 02/28/2022.

OCS staff are available to assist LIHEAP grantees with the data collection and reporting of these data, as well as how to use OLDC to submit the LIHEAP Household Report. Grantees access OLDC report forms on the Grant Solutions’ homepageVisit disclaimer page. For questions regarding accessing OLDC, contact your LIHEAP regional liaison.

Our technical assistance contractor, APPRISE Incorporated, continues to be available to assist states that need assistance with data collection, reporting, or submission of their LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020. APPRISE will continue to work with states in validating their data when necessary.

CONTENT:

As with the FFY 2019 household data, OLDC has built-in validations in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020 to help grantees ensure that data submitted to our office are accurate. Built-in validations check certain data before the grantee can proceed to the next step with the report submission.

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.

As with the FFY 2019 household data, OLDC has data validations to check the consistency of the types of LIHEAP assistance reported by each state by cross checking the FFY 2020 LIHEAP Household Report Long Form with the state and territory LIHEAP Model Plan for FFY 2020.

Additional cross-checks are also implemented to verify the data in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020 against that reported in the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2019.

Once the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020 has been submitted, we will notify a state or territory of any reporting deficiencies not identified or resolved through OLDC. OCS will request a plan for remedial action. At the same time, APRISE will continue to work with states that seek help in completing their reports. OCS staff will work directly with territory and tribal grantees in resolving any reporting deficiencies not identified or resolved through OLDC.

Actual, not estimated, state-level data are required for ACF to complete its LIHEAP Report to Congress for FFY 2020.

Attachment A provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Long Form for FFY 2020. Attachment B provides the instructions for the LIHEAP Household Report Short Form for FFY 2020.

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
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 estimated LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2020 in OLDC is November 30, 2020. Grantees are required to complete this action. The deadline for all grantees to submit their final LIHEAP Household Report for FFY 2020 in OLDC is December 31, 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 state or territorial 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(s).

Access OLDC report forms on GrantSolutions’ homepageVisit disclaimer page. If you have not yet created an account in OLDC, contact your LIHEAP Regional LiaisonVisit disclaimer page for assistance. Please direct questions regarding accessing OLDC and or completing the OLDC form to your LIHEAP Regional LiaisonVisit disclaimer page.

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

/s/

Lauren Christopher
Director, Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services

 

Last Reviewed: November 6, 2020

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