Outreach and Enrollment Bibliography
State Studies
Colorado
BBC Research & Consulting. Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) Market Research, October 10, 2000. Prepared for the Colorado Department of Human Services. In Colorado, less than one third of individuals who are potentially qualified to participate in LEAP respond with an application. The LEAP Study Team – comprised of representatives from the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation, and Excel Energy – retained BBC Research & Consulting to investigate why. The objectives of this research effort were to: 1) determine perceptions of low-income energy consumers regarding the LEAP program (and governmental assistance in general); 2) test the array of theories regarding why eligible households do not apply for LEAP and identify barriers that inhibit them from applying for the program; 3) explore the eligible populations' need for energy assistance programs, and their level of awareness about existing programs. Key findings from this research are presented as well as recommended marketing and outreach efforts for Colorado's LEAP to implement.
Cactus Marketing Communications. LEAP Marketing Plan October 2000. Prepared for the Colorado Department of Human Services. This study followed up upon the above-listed BBC market research and, based upon its findings, developed LIHEAP marketing strategies to be implemented in the winter of 2001.
Roger D. Colton of Fisher, Sheehan, and Colton Public Finance & General Economics. Home Energy Assistance Review and Reform in Colorado, December 1995. Prepared for the Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation (CEAF), this study examined why eligible low-income households in Colorado do not participate in the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). The study determined that the primary barrier to participation in Colorado's LEAP is the lack of information. Based on Colorado-specific data, persons who were disproportionately represented in the populations that reported not knowing about LEAP included persons aged 65 and older, non-English speaking households (and particularly non-English/non-Spanish speaking households), African-Americans, and unmarried households.
Iowa
Roger D. Colton of Fisher, Sheehan & Colton Public Finance and General Economics. Outreach Strategies for Iowa's LIHEAP Program: Innovation in Improved Targeting, September 2000. Prepared for the Iowa Department of Human Rights. This report considers mechanisms through which Iowa can seek to increase enrollment of low-income households in LIHEAP, as well as to target outreach to selected populations including households with elderly and disabled members and young children. Colton drew on the conclusions from previous studies of other benefit programs, which examined how nonparticipation can result from institutional barriers or lack of desire or need. The recommended outreach initiatives are divided into two parts: 1) those that can and should be pursued at the statewide administrative level and 2) those that can and should be pursued at the local level. For more information, contact: Jerry McKim, Department of Human Rights, (515) 281-0859; jerry.mckim@iowa.gov.
Montana
Cathy Roark, University of Washington. Forecasting Low-Income Energy Assistance Caseloads for Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services, 1998. Prepared for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, this report was submitted as a degree project to fulfill the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Administration. The study sought to identify the factors involved in client decision making around participation in Montana's LIEAP. It used county level data to examine LIEAP participation in Montana from 1992 to 1996. The analysis revealed how some program/policy, economic and demographic factors affect participation by developing a forecasting model to help LIEAP administrators with program planning and budgeting. Unemployment and average benefit payments had a significant positive relationship with LIEAP participation, while policy changes that resulted in LIEAP eligibility restrictions had a negative effect.
Other Outreach Resources
American Association of Retired Persons. project since 1987 that combines research and information dissemination. It has compiled fact sheets and other information on four major federal benefits that provide a "safety net" for older people living in or near poverty. Its research has delineated numerous barriers that older people must overcome in order to get public benefits: lack of information, misinformation, complex application process, communication barriers, e.g., language or illiteracy; access problems such as lack of vehicle or public transportation or being homebound, person attitudes such as a perception that pubic benefits are welfare payments, fear or government, or benefits too low. To request AARP's outreach kit and other materials, contact AARP Fulfillment, 601 E. Street, NW, Washington, DC 20049.
The Children's Partnership. Express Lane Eligibility: How to Enroll Large Groups of Uninsured Children in Medicaid and CHIP, December 1999. Examines how states can utilize programs such as Food Stamps to help find and enroll the roughly 7 million uninsured American children eligible for health insurance. The Children's Partnership has several other publications that discuss E-enrollment and Express Lane Eligibility.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. The Nutrition Safety Net – Help for the Elderly and Disabled: A Primer for Enhancing the Nutrition Safety Net for the Elderly and Disabled, Spring 2000 and The Nutrition Safety Net, At Work for Families: A Primer for Enhancing the Nutrition Safety Net for Workers and Their Children, July 1999. The two companion guides present suggestions for increasing working families and older American's participation in the Food Stamp Program. Assists states and others in identifying participation barriers these households face when seeking nutrition assistance, and identifying program and procedural modifications to break down these barriers and highlights what states and partners are doing to decrease barriers. Assists states and others in identifying possible outreach activities available to increase participation among these households, and identifies possible partners, both in the public and private sector, who might collaborate on outreach and educational activities.
U.S. General Accounting Office. Medicaid and SCHIP: Comparisons of Outreach, Enrollment Practices, and Benefits, April 2000. Report No. GAO/HEHS-00-86. GAO reviewed the Medicaid program and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in ten states focusing on the differences between both programs with regard to outreach, application and eligibility determination, screening and enrollment, and benefits. Appendices and tables detail approaches the states that used for outreach, screening and enrollment.
U.S. General Accounting Office. Elderly Participation in Food Stamps, June 2000 RCED-00-223R, June 2000. The results of a state survey to determine what states had implemented suggestions in the above-listed "Safety Net" publication and a list of innovative state practices targeted to the elderly in ten states.
U.S. General Accounting Office. Food Stamp Program: A Demographic Analysis of Participation and Nonparticipation, January 1990. This publication reviewed why low-income households did not participate in the Food Stamp Program. It found that three fifths of the eligible households gave these reasons for nonparticipation --36.8 percent gave a lack of information, and 25.0 gave program or access problems [i.e. complicated and cumbersome enrollment and application procedures}.