The certification process for LIHEAP involves the inspection of all aspects of the eligibility process as noted below. Only staff specifically designated by the executive director as certifiers may certify an application for payment. It is the responsibility of the supervisor or authorized income maintenance case worker (IMCW) personnel to determine if the applicant is eligible or ineligible. Energy Assistance Workers (EAWs) may not certify eligibility.
Certification includes the following:
Review of all earned income cases and cases where interest income is the major source of unearned income.
Ten percent random review of all other cases, specifically those reporting black lung, child support or “other” income.
Verification of the correct application of gross income guidelines and income calculations.
Verification of the household’s size, the fuel type, the vendor name and the vendor code.
Review of crisis applications for timely resolution of the crisis situation based on Section 605.3.
Review of each eligibility packet to ensure that a complete PWEA-1 signed by the applicant, required documentation, verification and narration are included in the LIHEAP record.
Review of all ineligible applications to ensure there is a valid rejection code in the upper-right corner of the PWEA-1 to complete data entry and system generation of the appropriate ineligibility notice.
Following the review of the above eligibility criteria, the certifier must take the following actions:
Sign the application in the “authorized signature” block and date the signature.
Send the certified application to data entry for approval or rejection.
Access the daily “List Confirmation Report” and correct any errors found in it before the end of the current payment cycle.
Reissued November 30, 2012, replacing September 26, 2011