Collaboration Efforts with the ACF Office of Head Start ("OHS")
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL
NO. LIHEAP-IM-2008-4, DATED 3/13/08
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
STATE GRANTEES
SUBJECT: Collaboration Efforts with the ACF Office of Head
Start ("OHS")
RELATED Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, as amended
REFERENCES: (Title XXVI of Public Law 97-35, the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended); 45 Code
of Federal Regulations, Part 96; Final Rule
amending HHS block grant regulations (64 Federal
Register, 55843, October 15, 1999).
PURPOSE: To disseminate contact information for State
counterparts with the Head Start State
Collaboration Directors and to provide background
information about the collaboration activities
that the Office of Community Services ("OCS") and
the Office of Head Start have partnered on
recently.
BACKGROUND: Section 2603(4) of the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Act of 1981, as amended through August
1, 1999, ("Statute") defines "highest home energy
needs" to mean: "the home energy requirements of
a household determined by taking into account both
the energy burden of such household and the unique
situation of such household that results from
having members of vulnerable populations, including
very young children, individuals with disabilities,
and frail older individuals."
In Fiscal Year ("FY") 2003, OCS established a
recipiency targeting score for serving LIHEAP
eligible households with either a young child or
an elderly member. OCS based target scores for
the following five years on the baseline actual
score that it determined for FY 2003, which was a
value of 122. Though OCS only expected that the
targeting of young child households would remain
constant at that level, the actual scores for each
of the past three years have shown a decline in
the number of young child households served
through LIHEAP. A recipiency targeting score of
115 was observed for this population in FY 2006,
the latest year for which data are available.
As a result of this information, OCS established a
priority for learning about some of the reasons
behind this decline and to what extent the pattern
can be reversed.
CONTENT: Beginning in the spring of 2007, OCS has been in
contact with several Central Office divisions
within Head Start to identify opportunities for
program collaboration. Last summer, OCS also held
a teleconference with the ACF Regional Offices to
build awareness and understanding of LIHEAP since
the Regions do not have a LIHEAP-dedicated staff
person.
In addition to making contact with Head Start
training and technical assistance (T&TA) providers
about LIHEAP, OCS recently gave a presentation at
the annual meeting of the Head Start State
Collaboration Directors in Washington, D.C. OCS
staff met with approximately 70 State agency and
community action agency staff who function as
Collaboration Directors within their areas.
The meeting sparked a substantial amount of
interest among these Collaboration Directors who
offered to collaborate with LIHEAP in a variety of
ways, including but not limited to: sharing data;
adding LIHEAP and/or home energy-related questions
to surveys and studies; and, adding LIHEAP
information to databases.
OCS distributed a list of all State LIHEAP Grantee
contacts to the Head Start Collaboration Directors
to facilitate communication between the programs.
OCS has also commenced a quarterly LIHEAP Email
Alert that it is sending to the Head Start
Collaboration Directors to keep them apprised of
public health and safety consequences of
inadequate home temperatures.
In furtherance of this collaboration goal,
attached for your reference is a contact list of
all of the Head Start Collaboration Directors.
OCS encourages each State LIHEAP Grantee to
contact his or her counterpart Head Start
Collaboration Director to build an ongoing
relationship for information sharing and joint
efforts where appropriate.
INQUIRIES: Lauren Christopher, Program Analyst
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Telephone: (202) 401-4870
Fax: (202) 401-5661
E-mail: lauren.christopher@acf.hhs.gov
Zack Poimboeuf, Program Analyst
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Telephone: (202) 401-5544
Fax: (202) 401-5661
E-mail: zack.poimboeuf@acf.hhs.gov
ATTACHMENTS: (A). Office of Head Start Contact List of State
Collaboration Directors
_____________/s____________
Josephine B. Robinson
Director
Office of Community Services
