3000-2 DEFINITIONS
The following terms are used throughout the manual. Additional terms and definitions are located in Administrative Procedures MS 101-1.
Alaska Poverty Level: The poverty guidelines for Alaska updated annually in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under authority of Section 673 (2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981.
Administrative Costs: Administrative employee salary and benefits, procurement, travel to national conferences & trainings, computer maintenance & IT support, leases & storage for archives, dues, public relations, and office supplies.
Adult: A person age 18 or older. If less than 18 years of age, a person who is not under parental control of another adult. Refer to definition of parental control.
Agency Error: An incorrect issuance of heating assistance caused by an error by agency staff in budgeting, invalid computer programming, misunderstanding of policy, etc.
Applicant: An individual who has submitted an identifiable application for heating assistance for the individual's household and who represents the household to the department.
Authorized Representative: A responsible adult knowledgeable about the household's circumstances designated in writing by a responsible member of the heating assistance household to act on its behalf. The authorized representative may apply for the household. Emergency authorized representatives must be designated in the same manner.
Bedroom: A room or loft designated for sleeping with either a window (large enough for an average sized adult to pass through) or door to the outside of the home. This designation is not intended for the following areas of the home:
Boarder/Room Renter: One or more persons living in the same house and paying rent to the owner of the home who also lives in the house.
Budget Month: The month from which the income and expenses are used to calculate the household's heating assistance benefit.
Categorical Eligibility: When all household members are receiving assistance from TANF, SNAP, APA, or SSI. The caseworker will use the income from the household's open public assistance case in EIS as their gross monthly income for the income portion of the heating assistance benefit calculation.
Household members are considered categorically eligible if they have received TANF, SNAP, APA, or SSI in any month during the following period: The month prior to the submission of the HAP1 through the month in which LIHEAP eligibility is determined.
If only a portion of the household members are receiving assistance from TANF, SNAP, APA, or SSI the caseworker may use the gross income to verify said member's income but will still need to obtain proof of income for all other household members not on a public assistance case.
Categorical eligibility streamlines the LIHEAP application process by removing the requirement to verify current income. It does not guarantee that a household will be eligible to receive a LIHEAP benefit.
Notes:
Clients do not meet categorical eligibility criteria if they only receive Medicaid, General Relief Assistance, or Senior Benefits.
Income verification submitted with the HAP1 can be used for a categorically eligible household instead of the verified income in EIS if it is in the client's best interest (e.g., income verification is complete (no pend required) and income is less than what is recorded in EIS.)
Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN): A form or letter completed by a physician verifying the patient has a life threatening condition that requires uninterrupted heat or electric service to operate specific medical supplies and/or equipment as part of their treatment.
Change Reporting: A reporting requirement method in which households receiving heating assistance are required to report certain changes in their situation within 10 days from when they know of the change.
Child: A person under 18 years of age who is under the parental control of an adult.
Claim Determination: An action taken by the agency when a heating assistance overpayment has occurred. A claim determination establishes the amount of overpayment and the client's liability for repayment.
Completed Application: A HAP1 or Tribal Energy Assistance application where all applicable fields have been completed, including the head of household's signature, and all required verification has been received.
Crisis: When the outdoor temperature is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and one or more of the following apply:
A renter faces eviction for nonpayment of rent where their heat is included in their rent;
The applicant is without primary heating fuel;
The applicant is within one day of running out of primary heating fuel;
The applicant has had primary heating fuel or electric service disconnected; or
The applicant is within 48 hours of having primary heating fuel or electric service disconnected
Only one expedite request is allowed per season.
Disabled: A person with a physical or mental impairment, which limits one or more major life activities, as determined by eligibility for:
Division: The Division of Public Assistance in the Department of Health.
Earned Income: Income that is paid to a person to compensate them for work performed.
Elderly: A person age 60 years or older.
Expedite: An application must be expedited when a client indicates on their application or reports via phone, email, written statement, or through their vendor that they are in crisis, a life-threatening crisis, or meet the medically necessary criteria. See "Crisis" and "Life Threatening Crisis" definitions and MS 3005 Expedited Cases.
Expenditure: The actual payment made for goods and services.
Expenditure Time Frame: State Fiscal Year - July 1 through June 30th.
Fee Agent: A paid volunteer who is authorized by DPA to make applications available to households, assist applicants in completing the application and related forms, secure required verification, and forward completed applications and supporting documentation to the DPA office.
Fully Subsidized: Regular monthly financial assistance provided by a government, housing authority, or non-profit entity that covers the annual cost of heating.
General Assistance (GA): Assistance payments from a state or local government program that help cover an eligible household's rent, clothing, and food needs, etc. General assistance is cash provided by vendor payment or direct payment to the household. This does not include "in-kind" assistance such as a donation of clothing or furniture items.
Gross Monthly Income: Total cash receipts before taxes, of both earned and unearned income, derived from any source by any member of the household in the calendar month before the date of receipt of the completed application. The division will prorate, or average, income from self-employed occupations over the 12-month period before the date of receipt of the completed application to determine the household's gross monthly self-employment income.
Head of Household: The first person listed on the application. This person is also referred to as the Primary Information Person (PI).
Heating Assistance: Any financial assistance granted under the Heating Assistance Program.
Home Heating Costs: An amount the household pays for its own home heating needs either directly or indirectly through rent. Verification of home heating costs are required. A copy of the client's rental agreement and rental receipt (if applicable), heating, and electric expenses need to be scanned into ILINX and also documented in a case note. See MS 3001-4C Heat or Rent Costs.
Homeless Individual: An individual who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or an individual whose primary nighttime residence is:
Household: An individual or group of individuals who are living together as one economic unit and for whom residential heating is customarily purchased in common, or who make undesignated payments for heat in the form of rent.
Identifiable Application: A physical or telephonic HAP1 or Tribal Energy Assistance application which contains at least the legible name, address, and signature (or witnessed mark) of the applicant.
Inadvertent Household Error: An incorrect issuance of heating assistance caused by client error due to circumstances such as failure to understand program requirements.
Intentional Program Violation: The client:
Irregular Work Schedule: Jobs with rotating schedules, fluctuating payroll schedules, seasonal layoffs, or other careers where income is not consistent on a monthly basis.
Kerosene: Fuel used to heat a home. It may also be referred to as paraffin, or lamp oil. It is commonly used to power space heaters. Its flash point (temperature at which the kerosene ignites) is 100 degrees Fahrenheit and has a slightly greater fire and explosion risk than heating oil.
Life Threatening Crisis: When a household meets the "medically necessary" criteria for expedite processing or the outdoor air temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and one or more of the following apply:
A renter faces eviction for nonpayment of rent where their heat is included in their rent;
The applicant is without primary heating fuel;
The applicant is within one day of running out of primary heating fuel;
The applicant has had primary heating fuel or electric service disconnected; or
The applicant is within 48 hours of having primary heating fuel or electric service disconnected
Only one expedite request is allowed per season.
Limited Heating Points: An eligibility denial for a household whose gross income, household size, and estimated annual heating costs are calculated to be less than the minimum necessary to qualify for heating assistance.
Live-In Caregiver: A person, not considered part of the household, who does not contribute financially to the household and provides needed health/supportive services to a member of the household as documented by a qualified professional such as a Medicaid Qualifying Trust, Office of Public Advocacy (OPA), court order, or physician's note.
Medically Necessary: A household may qualify for expedite processing when at least one household member uses medical support equipment (e.g. kidney dialysis machine, oxygen concentrator, intermittent positive pressure breathing machine, infant respiratory failure alarm, cardiac monitor, etc.) prescribed by a licensed medical professional that requires electricity or fuel to operate.
NOTE:
Client statement is considered to be acceptable verification of use of medical support equipment.
Mixed Household: A household in which some, but not all, members receive financial assistance from TANF, APA, SSI, or SNAP.
Mobile Home: A manufactured home or large house trailer designed for year-round living in one place.
Notice of Action: A notice sent by the HAP to the applicant requesting the information needed to complete the application in order to make an eligibility determination or informing the applicant they have been approved or denied.
Obligation: The promise to pay for goods or services, usually supported by a Field Purchase Order, Contract, Encumbrance, approved application or Notice of Action.
Oil: Fuel used to heat a home. It may also be referred to as heating oil, heating diesel #1, heating diesel #2, diesel oil, etc. Its flash point (temperature at which the oil ignites) is 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Older adult: A person age 60 years or older, as defined by ACF.
Over issuance: The amount of heating assistance issued to a household in excess of the amount it was entitled to receive.
Parental Control: To be considered under the parental control of an adult household member, children under 18 must be living with one or both parents or an adult who is caring for them as if he/she were their parent (for example, providing for basic needs such as lodging, meals, etc.).
Pay: To give money to another party in exchange for goods or services rendered.
Pend: To send a client a notice of action requesting additional information necessary to determine eligibility for heating assistance benefits.
Pledge: A promise to pay a vendor. The ET calls the vendor to pledge an award amount for a client. Vendors may require written confirmation in addition to a phone call. Written confirmation may be faxed or sent via a State of Alaska approved encrypted email.
Public Assistance (PA) Household: A household in which all members receive: TANF; including ATAP and Native Family Assistance, SNAP, and/or APA; including Old Age Assistance, Aid to the Disabled, and Aid to the Blind.
Priority Processing: See MS 3004-1B.3.
Qualified Alien: Legal immigrants as defined in Section 431 of PRWORA and described in MS 3002-1 D of this manual.
Recreational Vehicle: A motor vehicle or trailer, such as a motor home, that is designed to be used for travel and equipped with living space and amenities found in a home, such as a bathroom, kitchen, and beds.
Recoupment: Collection of the unpaid balance that the household owes the division for previously awarded heating assistance to which the household was not entitled.
Seasonal Employment: Employment with a regular work season of 11 months or less on a salary basis from an employer.
Self-Employed Occupations: Occupations in which an individual receives income from the production or sale of goods or services as determined under 7 AAC 45.445 (a) - (k). For more information, see MS 3003-4 of this manual.
Self-Harvested Wood: Wood, used for heating a home that is cut and gathered by the household instead of by a vendor.
Shared Household: A home in which more than one household (see definition above) resides. Examples include multiple, unrelated adults residing in one unit with each contributing towards a portion of the heating costs (roommates) or multiple generations/families residing in the same unit and each contributing to a portion of the overall heating costs.
Signature: The signature on the application must either be telephonically recorded by a caseworker through the Virtual Call Center (VCC) or a "wet signature." The term "wet signature" refers to someone placing a physical or distinct mark on a hard copy of a document with a pen to make it legally binding. Typed, digital, and handwritten signatures created on an electronic device (finger/stylus to screen) are not acceptable.
A "wet signature" is the only approved signature method at this time for all documentation other than the application.
Spouse: Either one of two individuals who would be defined as married to each other under applicable state law.
SSI Household: A household in which all members receive SSI.
Subsidized Housing: Housing subsidized by a government, housing authority, or non-profit entity, in which tenants pay only a portion of their adjusted monthly income for rent, mortgage, and home heat. Please note that while LIHTC properties are not considered subsidized housing, people living in LIHTC properties may have Section 8 vouchers which would require that the applicant with the Section 8 voucher be treated as living in subsidized housing.
Subsidized Rental Housing Utility Deposit (SRHUD): A special grant available to households living in subsidized housing with heat included in the rent that need help with the initial utility deposit required to establish service for Section 8 or subsidized rental housing.
Supplemental Benefit: An additional benefit payment issued to all eligible households at the end of the heating assistance season. A supplement may be issued when the State has received state and/or federal contingency funding or has unspent funds remaining from the block grant.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): TANF is a block grant program that provides cash assistance and work opportunities to needy families by granting each state and certain tribal organizations federal funds to develop and implement their own programs. In Alaska, TANF funds the Alaska Temporary Assistance Program (ATAP), administered by the State of Alaska Division of Public Assistance, and the Native Family Assistance programs (NFAP), administered by Alaska Native tribal organizations.
Unearned Income: Income received that is not compensation for work performed. Unearned income examples may include but are not limited to: Workers Compensation, ATAP, APA, Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Veteran's Benefits, Social Security Benefits, SSI, Child Support, etc.
United States Citizen: A citizen of one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the Virgin Islands; and United States nationals, including nationals from American Samoa or Swain's Island.
Variable Work Schedule: Workers who are employed in mining; construction; ferry workers; and oil field and service workers who have rotating schedules, fluctuating payroll schedules, and/or seasonal lay-offs that do not reflect income on a monthly basis. Workers with these variable work schedules will have their income calculated using a 12 month average of all available income for that worker for the previous 12 months from the date they applied.
Vendor: An individual, business, or private or public agency that sells home heating related energy.
A vendor who has signed a contract with HAP, agreeing to provide fuel in exchange for payment via a client's HAP grant is known as an Approved Vendor. A list of approved vendors is located on DPA's website. Vendors who express interest in becoming an Approved Vendor should be directed to submit their inquiry to Vendors.liheap@alaska.gov.
Verification: Documentation or third-party information that establishes the accuracy of statements on the application.
Vulnerable Population: Households containing an older adult, disabled person, or child under 6. Vulnerable populations may be eligible for priority processing.
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