Definitions 415-05-05

(Revised 10/1/2023 ML #3750)

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Authorization Dates

These are the dates between which you want the client to receive services from a vendor.

(Example: Jane applies in the middle of December and is eligible back to October 1. She paid the October and November bills, but not for December. You would reimburse her for the October and November bills and start the authorization period from December 1.) (See also 415-30-20)

 

Disabled

This term includes all individuals who have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, have a record of such impairment, or are regarded as having such an impairment.

 

Elderly

This term includes all individuals who are 60 years of age or over. (This definition applies to all references in this manual to individuals who are "over 60.")

 

Emergency Home Energy Assistance (Energy Crisis Intervention and Prevention)

This term means home energy assistance to low income households necessitated by:

1. Weather related supply shortage, and/or other household energy related emergencies;
2. The household's inability or potential inability to secure home energy for financial or other reason;
3. Age and/or health factors that require the use of extra home energy;
4. The maintenance and safety of the home energy system; or
5. A combination of the above factors.

Energy Burden

This term means the expenditures of the household for home energy divided by the income of the household.

 

Energy Crisis

Weather-related and supply shortage emergencies and other household energy-related emergencies.

Examples include (but are not limited to):

• Heat-related shut off or disconnection notice
• Near-empty fuel tank and refusal to deliver
• Non-heat electric shut off or disconnection notice

 

Federal Poverty Level

This term refers to the poverty guidelines that are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as applicable to the State of North Dakota.

 

Garnishment

A garnishment is a means of collecting a monetary judgment against a defendant by ordering a third party (the garnishee) to pay money, otherwise owed to the defendant, directly to the plaintiff. Wage garnishment, the most common type of garnishment, is the process of deducting money from an employee’s monetary compensation (including salary) as a result of a court order.

Examples of garnishments that can be used by LIHEAP are:

Child support

Taxes

Unpaid court fines

 

Home Energy

This term means a source of heating or cooling in a residential dwelling. This includes any type of heating fuel, the mechanical system necessary to produce heat from fuel, and/or all the residential electrical energy if a portion is necessary to operate heating or cooling systems.

 

Household

This term means any individual or group of individuals, regardless of relationship, who are living together (in a housing unit) 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.

 

Housing Unit (Living Unit)

This term refers to one or more rooms occupied as a separate living quarter in a residential dwelling that is designed to be used as a permanent residence.

 

There are three types of housing/living units: 

 

1. Single detached home

    

   This term means a single building that includes only one home or complete living unit. Mobile homes are included under this definition.

    

2. Duplex or Condominium

    

   This term means a single building that contains two (2) complete living units.

NOTE: A condominium with three (3) or more complete living units is included in All other living units type (c) below.

 

c. All other living units (apartment building - condominiums - row houses- townhouses - high rise)

 

This term means all other building types that are not described in 'a' or 'b' above and have three (3) or more complete living units.

 

This category includes condominiums with three (3) or more complete living units.

 

Housing or living units that are not obviously within any of the above types will be assigned to the most appropriate category by the State Program Administrator or designee based on the number of wall and other surfaces exposed to the outside weather and temperature.

 

The following are NOT considered housing units (living units):

1. Housing units owned or operated by educational and/or other institutions which perform an educational or other service for the residents are excluded if the heating costs are obligated, guaranteed, or in any way the responsibility, directly or indirectly, of the institution, or are integrated in any way with the educational or other service costs.
2. Dormitories, residential treatment or rehabilitation centers, teaching/training centers, transitional living centers, hospitals, nursing homes, retirement or rest homes, homeless shelters, hospice care facilities, communes, or other forms of congregate living arrangements.
3. Temporary transient living units in hotels, motels, or other commercial dwellings.
4. Non-traditional dwellings or structures not affixed to a permanent physical address, such as campers, recreational vehicles (RVs), railroad cars, vans, cars, buses, tents, garages/shops, or fishing houses.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia, a reduction of the body's "core" temperature caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, is potentially a serious danger to the elderly or persons with certain medical problems. These people should be encouraged to maintain room temperatures of at least 70E F. The following groups of people are more vulnerable to hypothermia:

• infants under age 1
• elderly persons, especially those over age 75
• persons taking drugs which reduce the body's ability to regulate its temperature normally, especially the phenothiazines used for treatment of anxiety, depression, nervousness, nausea
• persons with hormone dysfunctions such as hypothyroidism which cause a slow metabolism
• persons with head injuries, strokes, or any condition causing paralysis
• persons with immobilizing illness such as severe arthritis or Parkinson's disease
• persons with conditions impairing normal constriction of blood vessels such as a blood clot or hardening of the arteries

In-Kind Income

In-kind income occurs when something of value is received in lieu of a cash payment for goods or services.

 

Intake Function

Intake is defined as the beginning formal contact(s) with a potential applicant to provide program information and explanation and to provide the application form with instruction for completion and submission.

 

Life-threatening Energy Crisis

Energy-related crisis that poses a serious threat to the health or safety of one or more members of the household.

Examples include (but are not limited to):

• No heat or heat distribution and weather conditions or inside air temperature are not at a safe level and the household does not have an alternative or temporary heat source.
• Gas leaks

 

Outreach Function

The outreach function takes advantage of opportunities to publicize the LIHEAP through a variety of publicity methods, including but not limited to the public media, meetings and presentations, flyers and brochures, to assure all households are aware of the program and the application process.

 

Prudent Person Judgment

Reasonable judgment made by a worker based on experience and knowledge of the program and surrounding community. Documentation must support that judgment.

 

Services

This term means all non-administrative activities designed to benefit the applicant, including, but not limited to:

1. Negotiating, facilitating, or otherwise assisting the household and the supplier to develop and follow reasonable payment plans.
2. Providing energy conservation referrals, education, and information.
3. Emergency Assistance crisis evaluation and planning, preventive services and follow-up.
4. Referrals and/or advocacy.
5. Social and economic counseling such as credit or budget counseling, self-reliant/self sufficiency counseling, case management services, etc.

 

Statewide Estimated Cost of Heating (ECH) Table

Cost/Consumption reference table in the eligibility system that lists estimated costs of heating various types of housing/living units based on their size (number of bedrooms) and primary heat source.

 

The reference table is used by the eligibility system to determine benefits for eligible households by automatically applying an annual "estimate" of heating costs based on the household's primary heat source and the housing/living unit type and size.

 

Cost/consumption tables are based on actual cost and consumption data reported for LIHEAP recipients in the LIHEAP data system. Billing data reported directly from fuel suppliers, either electronically or on paper billing statements, is used to determine the cost of heating a dwelling/residence for the entire heating season. Billing data (i.e., total amount billed to client) is determined by several factors, including fuel consumption, cost of fuel, temperature/heating degree day data, the heating values of various fuels, and a furnace efficiency factor for various fuels. Billing data therefore accounts for these factors in a single number/value.

 

Data to establish a cost/consumption table for steam heat, kerosene, wood, and coal was not available and therefore the actual expenses incurred by the eligible household will be negotiated, or the rate for MDU natural gas will be used.

 

Housing or living units that are not obviously within any of the following definitions will be assigned to the most appropriate category by the State Program Administrator or designee based on the number of wall and other surfaces exposed to the outside weather and temperature:

 

Housing/Living Unit types:

1. Single Detached Home

    

   This term means a single building that includes only one home or complete living unit. Mobile homes are included under this definition.

    

2. Duplex or Condominium

    

   This term means a single building that contains two (2) complete living units.

    

   NOTE: A condominium with three (3) or more complete living units in included in all other living unites type (c) below.

    

3. All other livings units (apartment building - condominiums - row houses - townhouses - high rise)

    

   This term means all other building types not described in 'a' or 'b' above and have three (3) or more complete living units.

    

   This category includes condominiums with three (3) or more complete living units.

Young Child

This term includes all children under six years of age.