LIHEAP Needs a Lifeline

Another barrier for eligible households is the application process itself. Under federal law, states that receive LIHEAP grants from ACF have wide latitude to define eligibility beyond criteria that are related to income. In New York State, for example, households without an adult over the age of 60 or a child under six cannot apply for cooling benefits without documentation of medical necessity. This kind of documentation can be difficult to obtain for applicants who don't have ready access to health care.

As we learned after the report was finalized, some local LIHEAP providers don't even follow their own state's eligibility requirements, not to mention federal law. The Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County recently discoveredthat some providers in the county are wrongly denying benefits to households with qualified noncitizensand to applicants who fail to provide a requested-but not required-Social Security number.

1. Congress should refill LIHEAP's long-empty emergency contingency fund and put the program on a path to annual appropriations of $40 billion per year.

1. States should reduce eligibility barriers among particularly heat-vulnerable households.

1. ACF and states should continue to improve opportunities for meaningful public participation in the development of annual LIHEAP plans, in partnership with community-based organizations that serve the households most in need.