What You Need To Know
The low-income households in Florida required financial help for heating and cooling. Therefore, to help them out, LIHEAP provides grants. These grants help to fund the costs that help with the utility payment assistance. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program has been set up to allow residents of Florida to avoid any safety issues. This includes health concerns that may take place due to harsh weather conditions. The program is aimed to pay their home energy expenses. This program is divided into three specific categories that include:
- Home energy assistance
- Crisis assistance
- Weather-related or supply shortage energy crisis assistance.
In either case, the assistance requires certain criteria to be met before it can cater to the needs of applicants. LIHEAP is a program that has been administered through the help of the Administration for Children and Families. This is also known as ACF. The Department of Economic Opportunity plays a role in this program. Amongst these, they:
- Apply for the funding from the federal government
- Distribute funding through grants to non-profit agencies and local agency providers.
- Monitor local agency providers to make sure that the funding is in compliant with the laws and rules. These are set by the state and the federal government.
- Provide technical assistance to local agency providers to make sure that they are compliant with the necessary requirements.
It is important to remember that the Department of Economic Opportunity cannot:
- Determine the eligibility of applicants
- Help citizens get an appointment
- Help citizens apply for assistance
- Provide applications
- Provide funds or direct assistance to citizens.
These services are actually the responsibilities of the local agency providers in Florida. The LIHEAP program in Florida can be summarized through the following aspects:
- You can apply for the grant three times a year but not every month.
- LIHEAP will pay for the natural gas and propane bill in the winter season if that is a primary source of heat. Otherwise, it will not be catered to.
- The program is not aimed at paying your water, sewer and telephone service. It is focused on home energy.
- The local agency provider makes a one-time payment directly to the vendor of the qualified family or individual.
Are You Eligible?
To enjoy the benefits of this program, there are certain factors to be met. These include that the person should be:
- A resident of Florida State
- In need of financial assistance, specifically in terms of home energy costs.
- The household income before tax deduction is also considered. It needs to be either less than or equal to the following figures:
| Size of Household | Maximum Annual Income Level ($) |
| 1 | 18,735 |
| 2 | 25,465 |
| 3 | 31,995 |
| 4 | 38,625 |
| 5 | 45,255 |
| 6 | 51,885 |
| 7 | 58,515 |
| 8 | 65,145 |
The household size can be greater than eight members. In this case, an additional amount of $6,630 has to be added per person. Guidelines may differ according to time and place, which is why it is important to approach the appropriate managing agency.
Automatic eligibility is also provided to certain applicants. These are those who are part of or their family is a part of other benefit programs including:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Certain needs-tested Veterans benefits
How To Apply
The process for this benefit program can be found through the local LIHEAP provider. They will give you the appropriate applications, documents and guidelines to be followed. This would help you to easily apply for the program as well as increase your chances of qualifying for it.
The local provider can be found through the county office. These have been set up in almost all the counties of the state. Therefore, with the agency name, address and telephone number you can get in contact and start the process. It is a sensible step to consider making an appointment with these agencies. This is due to the high number of requests that come in for help. Therefore, if you wish to properly complete your application, a staff person may be of great help.
For Further Information
A LIHEAP homepage is available in case of any queries that need to be answered. For more detailed information, you can also get in contact with them through the data outline. Therefore, all your confusion will be dealt with accordingly.
In cases where you wish to complain about the local agency provider, there is an appropriate authority that can be approached. This is not the DEO but the supervisor or the executive director of the agency.