7Sep 22
- Judith Grozinnia
- 0 Comments
Announcing LIHWAP for 2022
Recent economic events have greatly impacted households worldwide, including in the US. With this in mind, the US Department of Health and Human Services, together with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS), and Division of Energy Assistance (DEA), have decided to release the LIHWAP, which aims to lessen the burden of low-income families.
In this article, you will learn the general guidelines for the assistance program and what it means to be a grantee.
What is LIHWAP?
Formerly known as the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, the LIHWAP is an emergency assistance program initiated by the federal government for low-income households.
By the time of initiation, the LIHWAP had a budget of $1.1 billion, 98.5 percent of which was immediately available to grantees. Among the $1.1 billion, $638 million came from appropriations by Congress through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The remaining $500 million were appropriated from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Who is eligible for the LIHWAP?
Grantees of the emergency assistance program include low-income households which pay a high proportion of their income towards drinking water and wastewater services. The program helps households with low incomes afford their water and wastewater services by directly paying the utility service providers.
A household with at least one US citizen or eligible non-citizen can qualify for the LIHWAP if they check all the following requirements.
● Income of equal to or less than 150% of the federal poverty level
● Disconnected or near-disconnected household services, or have a current outstanding bill
● Is responsible for the water bill.
The income requirement requires you to calculate your household income. If you are also a grantee of other federally funded assistance programs, you have the authority to include or exclude those from your income calculation. However, any amount you receive from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must be excluded from your income calculation.
When can I apply for the LIHWAP?
Interested households can apply for the LIHWAP through September 30, 2020, or until the program funds run out.
How should I spend my grant?
The LIHWAP grant is primarily for drinking water and wastewater services. However, you can spend less than 15% of your grant on administrative costs. This includes costs incurred by sub-recipient organizations that help administer the program.
You can proportion your LIHWAP grant to your bills in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023. This means you can carry over up to 100% of the grant for your bills in 2022 and 2023. However, you must determine all your obligations that will be paid by the LIHWAP funding by September 30, 2023 and spent by December 31, 2023.
Do I need to track my expenses from the LIHWAP?
Just like any other federal government grant, LIHWAP grantees must track, account for, and report on their funding from the program. However, since funding for the program came from two different sources, you must account for your funding from both sources of funding. This means you must track how much you spend from the funds you receive from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 separately.
How can I access my LIHWAP funding?
Accessing your LIHWAP funding from both the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 must be done separately. You can draw your funds from both sources through unique CANs in the federal Payment Management System. The funding from these two sources also has separate grant identification numbers and LIHWAP Notice of Award (NOA) grant letters to help you determine which funds came from which type.
Conclusion
Water is an essential part of daily life. However, not all can afford this utility. The federal US government has made drinking water and wastewater services accessible to low-income families through the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The assistance program has eligibility requirements each grantee must meet and tracking of and accounting for the funding is also required. If you have further questions about the program, you can contact us, and we’ll guide you.
