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Outreach and Enrollment Definitions

Outreach: The LIHEAP statute does not define outreach, but it requires states to "conduct outreach activities designed to assure that eligible households, especially households with elderly individuals or disabled individuals, or both, and households with high home energy burdens, are made aware of the assistance available under this title, and any similar energy-related assistance. . ."

In practice, outreach means the various activities LIHEAP providers engage in to promote and increase program awareness with a attendant goal of increased program enrollment. Outreach may also include outreach activities designed to reach and enroll certain populations, also known as targeting. For example, a LIHEAP office may decide to target or prioritize its outreach efforts, and attempt to reach and enroll more elderly households, more lower income households, more public assistance recipients, etc.

The LIHEAP model plan lists the following outreach strategies, which states are asked to check if they conduct them:

• provide intake service through home visits or by telephone for the physically infirm (i.e. elderly or disabled).
• place posters/flyers in local and county social service offices, offices of aging, Social Security offices, VA, etc.
• publish articles in local newspapers or broadcast media announcements.
• include inserts in energy vendor billings to inform individuals of the availability of all types of LIHEAP assistance.
• make mass mailing to past recipients of LIHEAP.
• inform low income applicants of the availability of all types of LIHEAP assistance at application intake for other low-income programs.
• execute interagency agreements with other low-income program offices to perform outreach to target groups.
• other (Please specify):

Categorical eligibility: A method wherein households receiving benefits through certain other assistance programs: (LIHEAP, food stamps, medical assistance, welfare) are eligible and may be automatically enrolled in a program once their participation in one or more other assistance programs is confirmed The LIHEAP state allows states to designate as categorically eligible those households in which one person is receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, Food Stamps, and some needs-based veteran's programs..

Adjunctive eligibility (also termed presumptive eligibility): Similar to categorical eligibility, wherein enrollees on other assistance program may have their eligibility expedited because they do not need to provide duplicative income information in order to qualify.

Automatic enrollment: an enrollment method wherein clients receiving benefits through certain other assistance programs: (LIHEAP, food stamps, medical assistance, welfare) are enrolled in another program without going through the application process; this is usually accomplished through matching of names on shared databases.

Page last updated: October 21, 2011