Maximizing the Reach of LIHEAP This Winter

For the past several months as our office has prepared to observe National Energy Assistance Day, I have been thinking about the millions of households across the country we have the opportunity to support this winter. National Energy Assistance Day is intended to raise awareness about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and other state and local energy assistance programs and to encourage households with unmet energy needs to apply for assistance. We know that many households across the country need this critical assistance; according to the Energy Information Administration, 27 percent of all U.S. households reported difficulty meeting their energy needsVisit disclaimer pagein 2020. These energy needs are most acute for the individuals and families we serve during the winter, as heating bills account for the largest share of low-income households' home energy needs.

For more than 42 years, LIHEAP has helped millions of households stay safe and warm in their homes each winter. With a historic Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriation of $6.1 billion, LIHEAP is well-positioned to support millions of households this heating season by reconnecting households to home energy services, , preventing energy disconnections, and making energy bills more affordable. But in order to serve households effectively, eligible households have to know where to turn for support.

To that end, OCS recently released the LIHEAP Heating Season Toolkit. The LIHEAP Heating Season Toolkit contains resources intended to help LIHEAP grant recipients and stakeholders ensure that available funding reaches households that need assistance with their heating costs this winter.

Please join us in sharing these tools widely to help reach households this winter.

Outreach Tools

To help reach LIHEAP eligible households, the toolkit contains multiple new outreach tools to target different populations including:

• An animated video about LIHEAP heating services (available in EnglishVisit disclaimer page, SpanishVisit disclaimer page, and MandarinVisit disclaimer page)
• Three outreach flyers: version 1 (PDF) / version 2 (PDF)/ version 3 (PDF) (also available in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese)
• A fact sheet on safe and unsafe heating practices (available in English (PDF), Spanish (PDF), Traditional Chinese (PDF), and Simplified Chinese (PDF))
• A social media toolkit to help grant recipients reach potential beneficiaries (available in English (PDF), Spanish (PDF), Traditional Chinese (PDF), and Simplified Chinese (PDF))

Grant Recipient Tools & Guidance

In addition to the outreach tools above, the toolkit also contains a guidance section where grant recipients and stakeholders can find more information on program flexibilities, including flexibilities during winter storms and disasters. These tools include:

• The OCS Disaster Flexibilities HubVisit disclaimer page, an information management tool that visually tracks and displays key data, guidance, and resources on declared disasters, disaster preparedness efforts, and the flexibilities built into OCS' block grant programs (including LIHEAP) to address disasters
• A link to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center ForecastsVisit disclaimer pagethat can be used to help inform grant recipient planning and assessment of winter heating needs in their area
• A weatherization fact sheet (PDF) that provides an overview of LIHEAP weatherization and how it is administered across the country

Call to Action

This Energy Assistance Day, I am thinking of all the households we will be able to support this winter. The households for whom, like those quoted above, LIHEAP is a lifeline enabling them to make it through the winter and keep their children and loved ones safe and warm. At OCS we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure LIHEAP funds reach and provide meaningful support to the individuals and families we serve, but we can't do this critical work alone. It takes all of us, our grant recipients and subrecipients, our stakeholders and partners, and the public to spread the word about this essential program and ensure that households know where to turn for support. Please join us in using and sharing the tools and resources listed above and amplifying the message that LIHEAP can help households keep the heat on this winter. Households looking for help with their energy bills can visit energyhelp.us or call 1-866-674-6327 to get connected with their local agency and apply for LIHEAP

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