Upon receiving a LIHEAP application, the CAO must take the following actions:
Date-stamp the application and all attached documentation and verification on the date it is received. The date-stamp must be legible and located on the top center of the first page. It must include the month, the day and the year.
Keep the application in a secure location until it is registered in e-CIS.
Register the application in e-CIS within two days of the date stamp. Register bar-coded applications using the bar-code scanner. If the bar code cannot be scanned, manually enter the application into e-CIS. An application-receipt letter is system-generated when the application is registered. This letter:
Tells applicants that the CAO received their applications.
Tells applicants that the CAO will send them a notice of eligibility or ineligibility.
Gives applicants a LIHEAP Helpline telephone number they can call to check on their applications.
Review the application to see if it is complete, as follows:
Is there a name, address and signature?
Did the applicant e-sign the COMPASS application or provide a signature page?
Do all household members have Social Security numbers (SSNs)? Applicants are not required to provide copies of Social Security cards, because e-CIS will verify the number with the Social Security Administration.
NOTE: Every household member must have an SSN unless the member is less than a year old or is an undocumented immigrant. An undocumented immigrant is ineligible for LIHEAP. If the applicant does not have or refuses to provide an SSN, the applicant must sign an Energy Assistance Affidavit (PWEA-4).
Is required verification provided as described in Chapter 678, Verification?
Review IEVS Exchanges 2, 3 and 6.
Process the application and send the applicant written notice of the decision on eligibility within 30 days of the date-stamp on the application.
If the application is incomplete, provide the client with a system-generated Incomplete Notice within 10 work days after receiving the application.
Allow 15 days after the date of the notice for the client to return requested information. If the information is not returned on time, reject the application.
NOTE: If the Incomplete Notice is sent later than 10 work days after receiving the application, the applicant still has 15 days after the date of the notice to provide missing information.
The CAO may reject the application on the 16th day if the verification requested is not received. The CAO does not need to wait until the 30th day from the date of application to reject. If the applicant sends the requested verification within 60 days from the date of the original application, use that application to process. After 60 days a new application is needed.
Complete case notes in a detailed, factual and objective manner.
Narrate eligibility criteria, if they were met, and explain how they were met.
Narrate unexplained or questionable information such as living arrangements, zero income or why the fuel bill is in someone else’s name.
Include collateral contacts and requests made for additional information.
Reissued February 8, 2013, replacing September 26, 2012