Reporting and Accountability

Reporting and Accountability. A. LIHEAP Household Report information collection is conducted in accordance with the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) statute (Public Law 97-35, as amended), and 45 CFR 96.82. Information received from this collection provides data to the Administration and Congress in its oversight of grantees' performance in administering the LIHEAP program. The responses to this collection are required in order to obtain LIHEAP funding in accordance with Section 2605(c) (1) (G) of the LIHEAP statute. The purposes of the LIHEAP Household Report are to report on the number of households assisted with current federal fiscal year funds and those LIHEAP funds obligated in the prior federal fiscal year but not expended until the current federal fiscal year. B. Program Integrity Assessment is part of an effort by HHS to ensure that effective preventive controls, fraud detection, monitoring, and prosecution systems exist at all levels of the program’s administration to prevent improper payments, fraud, waste or abuse. Subgrantees must specifically address how the plan will address key elements of an effective fraud prevention system. C. LIHEAP Performance Measures report is required by The Office of Community Services (OCS) as a part of the LIHEAP statute to report to Congress on program impacts annually, to develop performance goals, to ensure that benefits are targeted to those households with the greatest home energy need, and to assure that timely resources are available to households experiencing home energy crises. OCS published a Federal Register notice on June 6, 2013, announcing OCS’s intent to seek authorization to require state LIHEAP grantees to report on several new outcome- based LIHEAP performance measures. OCS is now proposing to collect annual data that will establish four performance indicators of the impact of LIHEAP services on its recipients. The data collected will be synthesized to create the following performance measures: 1) Benefit Targeting Index for High Burden Households – measures the extent to which the highest benefits are provided to the LIHEAP recipient households with the highest energy burden (the percent of gross income spent on utility costs), 2) Energy Burden Reduction Index for High Burden Households – measures the extent to which LIHEAP benefits are adequate to deliver the same energy burden reduction to high burden recipient households as to low and moderate burden recipient households, 3) Prevention of Loss of Home Energy Services - the unduplicated count of households where LIHEAP prevented the loss of home energy services, and 4) Restoration of Home Energy Services - the unduplicated count of households where LIHEAP restored home energy services to the client. D. Leveraging Report - The State of Mississippi shall participate in the LIHEAP Leveraging Incentive Program. Subgrantees are required to report annually on leveraged resources/benefits received to further assist low-income households with energy-related services. Examples of leveraged resources/benefits include but are not limited to discounts, arrearage forgiveness, deposit waivers, weatherization material donations, reconnect fee waivers. E. Monthly Cost Sheets are required to be submitted monthly by Subgrantees to show expenditures by cost category and line items. These forms should be submitted to the Division of Community Services. F. Closeouts - Please see the ‘MDHS Subgrant Manual’ found at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/support/procurement/resources for closeout policy. Closeouts are due within 45 days of the subgrant end date to DCS per the manual.