2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines for Optional Use in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2009 LIHEAP Programs and Mandatory Use in FFY 2010 LIHEAP Programs
THIS CONTAINS INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION FOR
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN LIHEAP INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TRANSMITTAL
NO. LIHEAP-IM-2009-8, DATED 5/5/09
TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)
GRANTEES
SUBJECT: 2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines for Optional Use in Federal
Fiscal Year (FFY) 2009 LIHEAP Programs and Mandatory
Use in FFY 2010 LIHEAP Programs
RELATED The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI
REFERENCES: of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public
Law 97-35, as amended; 45 CFR 96.85(a), Income
Eligibility - Final Rule, published in the Federal
Register March 3, 1988 (53 FR 6827) and amended October
15, 1999 (64 FR 558580); Annual Update of the HHS
Poverty Guidelines, Federal Register notice dated
January 23, 2009 (74 FR 4199)
PURPOSE: To provide LIHEAP grantees the 2009 Poverty Guidelines
issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS).
BACKGROUND: Section 2605(b)(2)(B) of Public Law 97-35 establishes
150 percent of the HHS Poverty Guidelines as the
maximum income level allowed in determining LIHEAP
income eligibility, except where 60 percent (or, for
Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2009, 75 percent) of a
State's median income is higher. This section also
establishes 110 percent of the HHS Poverty Guidelines
as the minimum income level allowed in determining
LIHEAP income eligibility.
CONTENT: Attachment A presents the 2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines
that were published in the Federal Register on January
23, 2009 by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation of HHS. Attachment B presents the income
figures for 110 percent and 150 percent of the 2009 HHS
Poverty Guidelines
Optional Use
LIHEAP grantees may adopt the 2009 HHS Poverty
Guidelines at any time between the date of publication
in the Federal Register (January 23, 2009) and the
first day of FFY 2010 (October 1, 2009).
Mandatory Use
LIHEAP grantees must, by October 1, 2009 (the beginning
of FFY 2010) or by the beginning of their fiscal years,
whichever is later, adjust their income eligibility
criteria so that they are in accord with these
guidelines.
ATTACHMENTS: A-The Federal Register Notice published on January 23,
2009 (74 FR 4199-4201)
B-100 percent, 110 percent, 150 percent of the 2009 HHS
Poverty Guidelines, adjusted by family size
INQUIRIES Peter Edelman, Program Analyst
TO: Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
(202) 401-5292
E-mail: peter.edelman@acf.hhs.gov
_____________/s______________
Nick St. Angelo
Director
Division of Energy Assistance
Office of Community Services
ATTACHMENT A
[Federal Register: January 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 14)]
[Notices]
[Page 4199-4201]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23ja09-64]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines
AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides an update of the HHS poverty guidelines
to account for last calendar year's increase in prices as measured by
the Consumer Price Index.
DATES: Effective Date: Date of publication, unless an office
administering a program using the guidelines specifies a different
effective date for that particular program.
ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation, Room 404E, Humphrey Building, Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), Washington, DC 20201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about how the
guidelines are used or how income is defined in a particular program,
contact the Federal, state, or local office that is responsible for
that program. Contact information for two frequently requested
programs is given below:
For information about the Hill-Burton Uncompensated Services
Program (free or reduced-fee health care services at certain
hospitals and other facilities for persons meeting eligibility
criteria involving the poverty guidelines), contact the Office of
the Director, Division of Facilities Compliance and Recovery, Health
Resources and Services Administration, HHS, Room 10-105, Parklawn
Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland
[[Page 4200]]
20857. To speak to a staff member, please call (301) 443-5656. To
receive a Hill-Burton information package, call 1-800-638-0742 (for
callers outside Maryland) or 1-800-492-0359 (for callers in
Maryland). You also may visit http://www.hrsa.gov/hillburton
/default.htm.
The Division of Facilities Compliance and Recovery notes that as
set by 42 CFR 124.505(b), the effective date of this update of the
poverty guidelines for facilities obligated under the Hill-Burton
Uncompensated Services Program is sixty days from the date of this
publication.
For information about the percentage multiple of the poverty
guidelines to be used on immigration forms such as USCIS Form I-864,
Affidavit of Support, contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services at 1-800-375-5283.
For information about the number of people in poverty or about
the Census Bureau poverty thresholds, visit the Poverty section of
the Census Bureau's Web site at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/pov
erty/poverty.html. or contact the Census Bureau's Demographic
Call Center Staff at (301) 763-2422 or 1-866-758-1060 (toll-free).
For general questions about the poverty guidelines themselves,
contact Gordon Fisher, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation, Room 404E, Humphrey Building, Department of Health
and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201--telephone: (202) 690-7507--
or visit http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of
1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) requires the Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services to update, at least annually, the poverty
guidelines, which shall be used as an eligibility criterion for the
Community Services Block Grant program. The poverty guidelines also
are used as an eligibility criterion by a number of other Federal
programs. The poverty guidelines issued here are a simplified version
of the poverty thresholds that the Census Bureau uses to prepare its
estimates of the number of individuals and families in poverty.
As required by law, this update is accomplished by increasing the
latest published Census Bureau poverty thresholds by the relevant
percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
(CPI-U). The guidelines in this 2009 notice reflect the 3.8 percent
price increase between calendar years 2007 and 2008. After this
inflation adjustment, the guidelines are rounded and adjusted to
standardize the differences between family sizes. The same
calculation procedure was used this year as in previous years. (Note
that these 2009 guidelines are roughly equal to the poverty
thresholds for calendar year 2008 which the Census Bureau expects to
publish in final form in August 2009.) The guideline figures shown
represent annual income.
2009 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and
the District of Columbia
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Poverty
Persons in family guideline
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1 $10,830
2 14,570
3 18,310
4 22,050
5 25,790
6 29,530
7 33,270
8 37,010
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For families with more than 8 persons, add $3,740 for each
additional person.
2009 Poverty Guidelines for Alaska
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Poverty
Persons in family guideline
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1 $13,530
2 18,210
3 22,890
4 27,570
5 32,250
6 36,930
7 41,610
8 46,290
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For families with more than 8 persons, add $4,680 for each
additional person.
2009 Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii
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Poverty
Persons in family guideline
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1 $12,460
2 16,760
3 21,060
4 25,360
5 29,660
6 33,960
7 38,260
8 42,560
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For families with more than 8 persons, add $4,300 for each
additional person.
Separate poverty guideline figures for Alaska and Hawaii reflect
Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice beginning in
the 1966-1970 period. (Note that the Census Bureau poverty thresholds-
-the version of the poverty measure used for statistical purposes--
have never had separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii.) The poverty
guidelines are not defined for Puerto Rico or other outlying
jurisdictions. In cases in which a Federal program using the poverty
guidelines serves any of those jurisdictions, the Federal office that
administers the program is generally responsible for deciding whether
to use the contiguous-states-and-DC guidelines for those
jurisdictions or to follow some other procedure.
Due to confusing legislative language dating back to 1972, the
poverty guidelines have sometimes been mistakenly referred to as the
"OMB" (Office of Management and Budget) poverty guidelines or poverty
line. In fact, OMB has never issued the guidelines; the guidelines
are issued each year by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The poverty guidelines may be formally referenced as "the poverty
guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42
U.S.C. 9902(2)."
Some programs use a percentage multiple of the guidelines (for
example, 125 percent or 185 percent of the guidelines), as noted in
relevant authorizing legislation or program regulations. Non-Federal
organizations that use the poverty guidelines under their own
authority in non-Federally-funded activities can choose to use a
percentage multiple of the guidelines such as 125 percent or 185
percent.
The poverty guidelines do not make a distinction between farm and
non-farm families, or between aged and non-aged units. (Only the
Census Bureau poverty thresholds have separate figures for aged and
non-aged one-person and two-person units.)
Note that this notice does not provide definitions of such terms
as "income" or "family." This is because there is considerable
variation in how different programs that use the guidelines define
these terms, traceable to the different laws and regulations that
govern the various programs. Therefore, questions about how a
particular program applies the poverty guidelines (for example, Is
income before or after taxes? Should a particular type of income be
counted? Should a particular person be counted in the family or
household unit?) should be directed to the organization that
administers the program; that organization has the responsibility for
making decisions about definitions of such terms as "income" or
"family" (to the extent that the definition is not already contained
in legislation or regulations).
[[Page 4201]]
Dated: January 16, 2009.
Michael O. Leavitt,
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. E9-1510 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4151-05-P
