Quarterly Performance and Management Report

12

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Office of Community Services (OCS)

Division of Energy Assistance (DEA)

Instructions for Completion of the Quarterly Performance and Management Report for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

This information collection (OMB Control No. 0970-0589; Expiration Date: 10/31/2025) is conducted in accordance with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) statute (Title XXVI of P.L. 97-35), as amended. Information received from this collection provides data to the Administration and Congress in its oversight of recipients' performance in administering the LIHEAP program.

Public reporting burden for this information collection (the LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report) is estimated to be an average burden of 36 hours per respondent. The estimates include the time for reviewing instructions, and gathering, editing, maintaining, and reporting the data.

The responses to this information collection are required in order to obtain LIHEAP data in accordance with the LIHEAP statute (42 U.S.C. 8621). This information collection is required of all recipients that receive LIHEAP funds.

This information is not considered confidential; therefore, no additional safeguards are considered necessary beyond what is customarily applied to routine government information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

In federal Fiscal Year (FY24), LIHEAP data is submitted through the LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report On-line Data Collection (OLDC) system. The complete set of instructions for reporting the required data is available in the next section of this document.

OVERVIEW

The LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report is a tool for HHS to receive data and information for all LIHEAP grant recipients about LIHEAP activity during the most recent three-month quarter. The report collects valuable statistics on the number of assisted households, the impact of LIHEAP in ensuring access to home energy service, the amount of awarded funds that have been obligated, and successes and challenges that grant recipients are experiencing.

More information on LIHEAP can be found in the LIHEAP Statute and Regulations.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report has been developed for states, territories, and tribes to report LIHEAP data for all four quarters of each federal fiscal year (FY). In FY24, recipients are required to submit their quarterly data submissions through the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF’s) Online Data Collection (OLDC) system, a component of Grant Solutions. After signing on to OLDC, select the LIHEAP Quarterly Report and follow the steps for accessing the LIHEAP Quarterly Report.

Reporting Periods and Quarterly Report Due Dates - The LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report will be due approximately one month after the end of each quarter (quarters are based on the federal fiscal year).

FY24 (October 1, - September 30) reporting periods:

• Quarter 1: October 1, - December 31 (Report due February 28, 2024)

• Quarter 2: January 1 – March 31 (Report due April 30, 2024)

• Quarter 3: April 1 – June 30 (Report due July 31, 2024)

• Quarter 4: July 1 – September 30 (Report due October 31, 2024)

Data Consistency - The data will be checked for consistency against the type of LIHEAP assistance that recipients report in their LIHEAP Model Plan and with the data reported in each recipient’s LIHEAP Household and LIHEAP Performance Data Forms.

Key Definitions

Household - The unit for LIHEAP counting is the household; not the head of household or persons in the households. LIHEAP household counts need to be consistent with Section 2603(5) of the LIHEAP statute that defines the term "household" as “any individual or group of individuals who are living together as one economic unit for whom residential energy is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated payments for energy in the form of rent.” Household members are those individuals who comprise the household unit.

Recipient - A Recipient is defined as the LIHEAP lead agency for a state, territory, or tribe. Recipient is

synonymous with grantee, a term used previously in OCS communications.

Subrecipient - A Subrecipient is an organization that receives a portion, or sub-award, of the LIHEAP grant funding (usually through a contract or grant) from the LIHEAP lead agency for a state, territory, or tribe. While the LIHEAP lead agency retains responsibility and accountability for all activities carried out under the grant award, the state, territory, or tribe may select sub-recipient organizations to serve as local administering agencies who are subject to all terms and conditions of the award.

SECTION-BY-SECTION INSTRUCTIONS

Recipient Information – Include all the information being requested (i.e., name, phone number, and email address) for the individual who is filling out the quarterly data report/the person who should be contacted if OCS has questions concerning the report.

NOTE: For tribal grant recipients with regular annual block grant funds under $50,000, only Sections I, V, VI are required, all other sections are optional.

Section I: Total Households Assisted

This section collects information on the total number of households assisted by LIHEAP during a specified quarter.

Reporting Guidelines for Section I:

• Report the total count of assisted households. An assisted household is one that 1) received assistance or benefits paid in full or in part from federal LIHEAP funds, and 2) received or was awarded the assistance during the three-month quarter period.

• Include all assisted households across all program components, including LIHEAP weatherization.

• Each household should be counted only once per quarter, even if they received multiple LIHEAP benefits during the quarter. For example, if a household received both a heating benefit and a separate crisis benefit during the same quarter, count this household only once when calculating the total count of assisted households for Section I.

• Report on all households assisted with LIHEAP during the specified quarter, even if they were also assisted during previous quarters and reported in a prior Quarterly Report. The same household can be reported in multiple Quarterly Reports since each report is focused on a distinct period.

• Section I should NOT include:

  • Households that applied for a LIHEAP benefit but did not receive the benefit during the applicable quarter.

  • Households assisted with non-federal funds only.

  • Households that only received a nominal LIHEAP benefit for SNAP eligibility (commonly called “Heat and Eat” or “Cool and Eat”). Please note that this is only applicable to a small number of states.

Section II: Performance Management

This section collects information on the total occurrences where LIHEAP assistance prevented the loss of home energy OR restored home energy service for assisted households during the specified quarter.

Reporting Guidelines for Line 1 (Prevention of Loss of Home Energy Service):

• Report the total count of occurrences where LIHEAP assistance prevented the imminent loss of home energy service to households.

• Each Grant Recipient determines what constitutes an “imminent” loss of service to characterize assistance as a prevention of loss. Common examples include:

  • Households with a disconnection notice from their utility provider who receive a LIHEAP benefit to prevent disconnection.

  • Households that are low on fuel who receive LIHEAP assistance to obtain more fuel.

  • Households with home energy equipment that is not operating properly who receive LIHEAP assistance to repair or replace their failing equipment.

• Count all occurrences that occurred during the three-month quarter period. The count for Line 1 is occurrences and can include the same household more than once if LIHEAP assistance prevented the imminent loss of home energy service to the household more than once during the applicable period.

• Include all prevention occurrences across all program components, including regular non-crisis LIHEAP assistance.

• Line 1 should NOT include:

  • Occurrences where only non-federal funds were used to prevent the imminent loss of home energy service.

  • Occurrences where home energy service was restored by LIHEAP (this is applicable for Line 2).

Reporting Guidelines for Line 2 (Restoration of Home Energy Service):

• Report the total count of occurrences where LIHEAP assistance restored home energy service to households. Common examples include:

  • Households that were disconnected from utility service who receive a LIHEAP benefit to restore utility service.

  • Households that are out of fuel who receive LIHEAP assistance to obtain fuel.

  • Households with home energy equipment that is inoperable who receive LIHEAP assistance to repair or replace the broken equipment.

• Count all occurrences that occurred during the three-month quarter period. The count for Line 1 is occurrences and can include the same household more than once if LIHEAP assistance restored the imminent loss of home energy service to the household more than once during the applicable period.

• Include all restoration occurrences across all program components, including regular non-crisis LIHEAP assistance.

• Line 2 should NOT include:

  • Occurrences where only non-federal funds were used to restore home energy service.

  • Occurrences where the loss of home energy service was prevented by LIHEAP (this is applicable for Line 1).

*OCS recognizes that prior to FY22 many tribes were not required to collect performance management data as specified above. OCS will provide training and technical assistance to help all grant recipients be able to report this information.

NOTE: Section II is optional for tribal grant recipients with regular annual block grant funds under $50,000.

Section III: Estimated Use of Funds

This section collects information on the dollar amount of awarded LIHEAP funding for the current fiscal year that has been obligated by the end of the quarter.

Reporting Guidelines for Section III:

• Report the amount of funds obligated as of the end of the applicable quarter. The LIHEAP statute provides grant recipients with flexibility in defining what constitutes the obligation of funds. Grant recipients should follow their state, territory, or tribal definition of obligation. Obligations are not always the same as expenditures. For more information, please review IM-2022-02.

• Report the cumulative total amount, including funds obligated in prior quarters of the same fiscal year. Section III is intended to understand how much of the funds each grant recipient was awarded by HHS in a given fiscal year have been obligated by the end of each quarter. For example, in FY24, if a grant recipient obligated $3 million in funding in Quarters 1 and did not have any obligations during the Quarter 2 timeframe, the Quarter 2 report should still list $3 million in Section III because that is the cumulative amount as of the end of Quarter 2. If, in Quarter 3, the grant recipient obligated an additional $2 million in funding, then the cumulative total reported in the Quarter 3 report should be $5 million.

• Report block grant funds, reallotment funds, and supplemental Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA) funds in Column A. Column B is reserved for other supplemental allotments distinct from regular LIHEAP funding awards and IIJA funding awards, and OCS will specify if any funds should be separately reported in Column B.

NOTE: Section III is optional for tribal grant recipients with regular annual block grant funds under $50,000.

Section IV: LIHEAP Program Implementation and Support

This section asks grant recipients to provide information on program implementation and support. The structure of the sections and the questions vary by quarter.

NOTE: Section IV is optional for tribal grant recipients with regular annual block grant funds under $50,000.

Questions in Section IV for Quarter 1 and Quarter 2:

The section for Quarters 1 and 2 has a total of 10 questions; the first 7 questions should be answered by using the Yes/No. If grant recipients respond “Yes” to any of these 7 questions, they should provide an explanation of what changes were made, when they were made, and why they were made in the response space provided below each question. Please note that is not necessary to provide an extensive paragraph response. OCS is looking for a brief explanation with enough detail to understand the changes made.

If grant recipients answer “No” to any of the first 7 questions, they can skip the “provide a brief explanation”. Questions 8-10 ask for a narrative response only. Different questions are asked for questions 8-10 in Quarters 3 and 4 and all ask for narrative responses only.

The first 7 questions ask:

1. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any changes to your income eligibility requirements?

2. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any changes to your income verification/documentation requirements?

3. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any changes to your outreach strategies?

4. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any changes to your benefit matrix and/or have you increased your crisis maximum amounts? *Note: for grant recipients that have made changes in both of these areas, please indicate the changes made to both areas and whether the changes were made for heating or cooling assistance or both.

5. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any changes to how you are prioritizing vulnerable populations (i.e., the elderly, disabled, and young children)?

6. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any other changes to your policies on arrearage forgiveness (i.e., paying off a client’s outstanding energy debt in full)?

7. Since submitting your Grantee Plan, have you made any other changes to your LIHEAP policies?

Questions 8-10 below ask for a narrative response only.

8. Are you collaborating or coordinating with other utility assistance programs (i.e., the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, Community Services Block Grant, utility funded energy assisted programs, Homeowners Assistance Fund)? If so, please provide a brief explanation of your collaboration/coordination efforts.

For this question recipients should report their collaborative efforts with other utility assistance programs.

9. Do you have any training and/or technical assistance needs for which you would like the Office of Community Services Division of Energy Assistance to offer support? If so, please list these in the response.

Recipients are encouraged to highlight any training and technical assistance they may need to successfully administer LIHEAP at the state, territory, tribal and/or local level.

10. Please provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP from a member of a LIHEAP household.

Grant recipients are asked to provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP from a different stakeholder in each quarter. For the first two quarters, please submit a quote from a member of a LIHEAP household.

Changes to the Questions in Section IV for Quarter 3:

Quarter 3 also contains 10 questions that are similar to those asked for Quarters 1 and 2. The first 7 questions are nearly identical to those asked in the prior reporting period. However, they ask grant recipients to report on any new/other chances made since Quarters 1 and 2. These questions should be answered by using the Yes/No dropdown menu in the cells in Column B. If grant recipients respond “Yes” to any of these 7 questions, they should provide an explanation of what changes were made, when they were made, and why they were made in the response space provided below each question. Please note that is not necessary to provide an extensive paragraph response. OCS is looking for a brief explanation with enough to detail to understand the changes made.

If grant recipients answer “No” to any of the first 7 questions, they can skip the “provide a brief explanation” response cell. Questions 8-10 ask for a narrative response only.

The first 7 questions ask:

1. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any new/other changes to your income eligibility requirements?

2. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any new/other changes to your income verification/documentation requirements?

3. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any new/other changes to your outreach strategies?

4. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any new/other changes to your benefit matrix and/or have you increased your crisis maximum amounts? *Note: for grant recipients that have made changes in both of these areas, please indicate the changes made to both areas and whether the changes were made for heating or cooling assistance or both.

5. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any new/other changes to how you are prioritizing vulnerable populations (i.e., the elderly, disabled, and young children)?

6. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any other new/other changes to your policies on arrearage forgiveness (i.e., paying off a client’s outstanding energy debt in full)?

7. Since reporting in Q 1 & 2, have you made any other new/other changes to your LIHEAP policies?

Questions 8-10 below ask for a narrative response only.

8. Please provide any information on the results, if any, of the changes you reported in section IV for Quarters 1 and 2.

For this question, if recipients made any changes to their programs reported for the prior two quarters, please provide relevant information regarding the results of these changes.

9. Are you starting or continuing to collaborate with other utility assistance programs (e.g., the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, Community Services Block Grant, utility funded energy assisted programs, Homeowners Assistance Fund), if so please indicate how this collaboration is working and provide any examples of successful collaboration.

For this question grant recipients should specify if they are starting or continuing a collaboration with another utility assistance program. Grant recipients should then provide updates on the collaboration. Collaboration partners can include the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, Community Services Block Grant, utility funded energy assisted programs, Homeowners Assistance Fund. Recipients are encouraged to provide information if the collaboration provides additional assistance for households' energy needs and share best practices.

10. Please provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP in your state/territory/tribe from a staff member, government official, or stakeholder.

Grant recipients are asked to provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP from a different stakeholder in each quarter. For the third quarter, please submit a quote from a member of a staff member, government official, or stakeholder.

Changes to the Questions in Section IV for Quarter 4:

Quarter 4 contains 12 questions. The first 7 questions are follow-up questions to the first 7 questions asked in the preceding quarters. However, rather than asking whether changes were made, this set of questions asks for the results of the changes made. Please note that is not necessary to provide an extensive paragraph response, OCS is looking for a brief explanation with enough to detail to understand the results of the changes made.

If grant recipients did not make a particular change, they should enter “N/A” into the response cell.

The first 7 questions ask:

1. If you made any changes to your income eligibility requirements this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

2. If you made any changes to your income verification/documentation requirements this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

3. If you made any changes to your outreach strategies this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

4. If you made any changes to your benefit matrix and/or your crisis maximum amounts this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes? *Note: for grant recipients that made changes in both of these areas, please indicate the results of each change and whether the changes/results were for heating or cooling assistance or both.

5. If you made any changes to how you are prioritizing vulnerable populations (i.e., the elderly, disabled, and young children) this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

6. If you made any changes to your policies on arrearage forgiveness (i.e., paying off a client’s outstanding energy debt in full) this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

7. If you made any changes to your other LIHEAP policies this fiscal year, what was the result of those changes?

Questions 8-12 below ask for narrative response only.

8. Describe up to three notable accomplishments/successes achieved by LIHEAP implementation during this fiscal year. Please include a participant success story, if applicable.

Recipients should report on accomplishments that they believe are notable, including accomplishments related to increases in assisted households, collaborative partnerships, innovations, policies, procedures, outreach, and/or outcomes.

9. Describe any challenges with administering LIHEAP this year.

Recipients should describe any challenges they have experienced with administering LIHEAP this year. This could include increased energy cost, intake issues, assisted households decreasing, or obligating funding.

10. Please list and describe up to three lessons learned during this past year as it relates to administering LIHEAP.

Recipients are encouraged to add information about their lessons learned planning for, implementing, and administering LIHEAP.

11. What can OCS do to better assist you in the upcoming fiscal year?

Recipients are encouraged to highlight anything OCS can do to assist you in the new fiscal year; in particular, OCS welcomes suggestions on training and technical assistance grant recipients may need to successfully administer LIHEAP at the state and/or local level.

12. Please provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP from a utility provider.

Grant recipients are asked to provide a quote on the impact of LIHEAP from a different stakeholder in each quarter. For the fourth quarter, please submit a quote from a LIHEAP utility provider.

Section V: Remarks

If the recipient has concerns about the reliability or the validity of the data they provided in the quarterly report, they should provide an explanation of these concerns in section V.

Section VI: Certification

This is where the official signing the LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report clicks the “certify” and “click to sign” buttons in OLDC, which will then populate the date. Also provide the official’s name, job title, and telephone number. Please submit the completed LIHEAP Quarterly Performance and Management Report in OLDC.