3008-6      GRANT TRANSFERS AND rEFUNDS

• A recipient requesting to transfer a portion of their grant balance because the household has a broken heating system is referred to their weatherization provider.

• If a recipient moves their physical residence from one community to another or from one dwelling to another with a different heat source, within the state of Alaska, the recipient may request that their remaining balance be transferred to their new heating vendor. The original vendor must send any remaining balance back to HAPHeating Assistance Program. Once the client has provided DPADivision of Public Assistance with copies of both their current primary heating fuel and electric billing statements HAPHeating Assistance Program will reissue to the client's new vendor(s) in the new service area.

• In special situations, a vendor may transfer a grant to another directly in their community at the request of the HAPHeating Assistance Program Coordinator. The circumstances for the situation must be documented in case notes in ECOSEnergy Community Online System.

• If a recipient moves to a dwelling within the state of Alaska where the heat and electricity are included in the rental payment, their grant refund will be issued to them as a direct payment. The recipient must provide a copy of their new rental agreement to DPA before payment will be made. 

• If a recipient moves into subsidized housing within the state of Alaska where the heat is included in the rental payment the client will not be eligible to receive the refunded benefit.
  The refunded benefit will remain available during the season of issuance and through the end of the following federal fiscal year for the client's use if they move into a subsidized or non-subsidized dwelling with heating expenses. Verification of the new living arrangement and heating expenses are required prior to a refunded benefit being reissued.

• If a recipient moves without closing their account or leaving a forwarding address, the vendor should refund the remaining credit balance to the State after one year.
• If the household moves out of state, the remaining grant is refunded to HAPHeating Assistance Program and is not reissued to the client or an out-of-state vendor.
• A recipient may not request a transfer to a new vendor if they have not moved to a new community or switched fuel sources unless their designated vendor goes out of business or is unable to provided fuel when needed.

Note:

Grants are available for client use during the season of issuance and through the end of the following federal fiscal year. HAPHeating Assistance Program is required to return any unused benefit after this specified time frame to the Federal government. 

3008-6 A.      THE GRANT TRANSFER AND REFUND PROCESS

The LIHEAPLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program Coordinator or LIHEAPLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program Public Assistance Analyst (PAA) needs to be informed of all transfer and refund requests for the following reasons:

1. To confirm the client is eligible for a benefit transfer or a refund and re-issuance.
2. To authorize a benefit transfer or request a refund from the vendor.
3. To update the client's address and vendor information in ECOSEnergy Community Online System.
4. To track the pending refund
5. To reissue the benefit once Administrative Services has posted the refund to the client's ECOSEnergy Community Online System application.

STEP 1: The caseworker informs the LIHEAPLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program Program Coordinator or LIHEAPLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program PAAPublic Assistance Analyst via vendors.liheap@alaska.gov of the transfer or refund request and documents request in a case note. The email to vendors.liheap@alaska.gov needs to include the client's ECOSEnergy Community Online System application ID number and the justification for the benefit transfer or refund and reissuance request. The justification needs to include the client's new physical and mailing addresses, new primary heating fuel type, and new vendor account information for both heating fuel and electric.

STEP 2: The program coordinator or PAAPublic Assistance Analyst reviews the request and confirms the client does or does not meet the benefit transfer or refund and re-issuance criteria.

STEP 3: If the client meets the benefit transfer or refund and re-issuance criteria the program coordinator or PAAPublic Assistance Analyst will contact the vendor and request either the benefit be transferred to a new account with the current vendor or the benefit be refunded. Refunded payments need to reference the client's name and address and be remitted to:

Department of Health

Division of Public Assistance

PO Box 110640

Juneau, AK 99811-0640

STEP 4: The program coordinator or PAAPublic Assistance Analyst notifies the caseworker of the client's grant transfer or refund eligibility status. The caseworker informs the client that they either meet or do not meet the benefit transfer or refund and reissuance criteria. If the client does meet the benefit transfer or refund and reissuance criteria, they are informed that the benefit transfer has been completed or the refund has been requested and once received will be issued to their new vendor. They are also made aware that the refund and re-issuance process takes approximately 30 days to complete.

STEP 5: The worker documents the following:

• The program coordinator or PAAPublic Assistance Analyst's approval or denial of the benefit transfer or refund and re-issuance request;
• Client's new primary heating fuel type, new vendor names, and client account numbers;
• Interaction with the client.

STEP 6: Administrative Services receives refund from vendor, posts refund to client's ECOSEnergy Community Online System application and notifies the LIHEAPLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program program coordinator or PAAPublic Assistance Analyst.

STEP 7: The program coordinator, PAAPublic Assistance Analyst, or the caseworker input the client's vendor, fuel type, and account information into ECOSEnergy Community Online System and reissues the refunded benefit to new vendor. To complete this step workers can refer the SharePoint document How to Process a Benefit Re-issuance for the Current Program Year in ECOS.