(Revised 10/1/20 ML #3588)
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An application shall be considered as "received" on the date a signed application is received by the county social service board office. This is the "Application Date" which will be entered in the ‘Application Date’ field on the "Household Data" screen.
NOTE: If the application is signed but not dated, the date stamp (date received in county) will be considered as the date the application was signed.
Applications from fixed-income households that arrive before October 1 will be considered to have been received on October 1. The "Application Date" will be entered as October 1 and the worker will have 45 days from October 1 to process the application.
A decision to either approve or deny an application must be made no later than 45 days following the day the signed and dated application is received in the county social service office.
NOTE: The first calendar day following receipt of the signed application is Day 1 of the 45 day processing timeframe.
Additional time may be allowed due to an extenuating circumstance. An extenuating circumstance may be determined by the eligibility worker, but reason for the extenuating circumstance must be documented in the case file.
If the application is incomplete, every attempt must be made by the county social service board to help the household obtain the necessary information to ensure prompt processing.
Upon receipt of a signed application, a pending case should be established in the LIHEAP system. Missing data may be added as it comes in.
Within 15 days of receipt of an incomplete application, the county social service office must send a “Request for Information” notice to the applicant requesting any additional information needed to process the application. The Request for Information notice should:
- Clearly identify missing information or verifications, and
- Identify a deadline date after which the application will be denied because it is incomplete. This deadline date should be 30 days from the date of application.
Applications, including verifications, that are not completed within 30 days* of the date the application is received in the county office may be denied and the household invited to submit a new signed and dated application with verifications. (See 415-10-05-10 #1 for county office outreach responsibilities). However, if the applicant provides the necessary information and verifications before the county office has finished processing the denial (A "Notice of Action" is not completed and the case has not yet been entered in the system) and the 45 day processing time limit will not be exceeded, the applicant should not be required to complete a new application even though his 30 day deadline has passed. Once the case has been established in the system as a denial, a new application is mandatory.
Summary of Processing Deadlines:
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Application Date: |
The date a signed application is received in the county office (even if it is not complete) is the date used in the 'Application Date,' field on the 'Household Data' screen.
The 'pending' case is added to the LIHEAP system. |
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Day #1: |
Day 1 of the processing timeframe is the next calendar day following the Application Date. |
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By Day #15: |
Notice of missing data or verifications and deadline has been provided to the applicant. |
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By Day #30: |
The applicant must have returned all data and verifications. If not, and the county office has provided appropriate assistance to the applicant in completing the application, the application may be denied. |
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By Day #45: |
Action has been taken on the case to approve or deny and the 'Notice of Action' has been generated in the system.
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NOTE: SFN 530 (Eligibility and Benefit Worksheet) or the LIHEAP Budget Excel Worksheet from the Eligibility Tech website must be signed and dated by the worker, where it says "Signature of CSSB Representative."
If neither the SFN 530 (Eligibility and Benefit Worksheet) nor the LIHEAP Budget Excel Worksheet is used by a worker then the worker needs to sign the application to show that they have determined eligibility. An electronic or text box signature is acceptable.
