211 Winter Warmth Information
The Winter Warmth provides grants to low-income residents who have utility accounts inarrears or are faced with the threat of disconnection because of special circumstancesthat have led to their arrears. The Winter Warmth was created to enable clients to avoidlosing heat and warmth during the cold winter months and operates from November untilthe end of June.
The program is delivered through a network of more than 40 agencies acrossparticipating utility companies’ service areas with overall oversight provided by localUnited Ways. This Program Manual has been developed to guide program implementation. This protocol defines eligibility criteria, application processes, and the roles of agencies
211 call staff will be responsible for:
- Managing client inquiries;
- Pre-screening applicants;
- Intake of basic information
- Relaying information to the United Way of Bruce Grey
GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA
The Program will benefit individuals and families who are clients of the utility providingfunding and who are living below or slightly above the poverty line.
Participating utilities
Westario Power – all clients including those in Wellington and Huron Counties
Union Gas – Bruce and Grey County clients only
Hydro One - – Bruce and Grey County clients only
Pending funding availability, clients needing oil or wood may be assisted as well – Bruce and Grey County clients only
To be eligible for a grant from the Winter Warmth, the applicant must be an existing
customer of the utility providing the funding.
Eligible grant recipients will include:
Households that:
Have a net household income (including employment income, regular family
support payments and Child Tax Benefit, but excluding Universal Child Care
Benefits and Working Family Supplement) equal to or less than the Low Income
Cut-Off (LICO) plus 15%.2 Refer to the Income Eligibility Table
And
Have received a disconnection notice or have already been disconnected, or are inarrears for their energy bills, or are confronted, as a result of special circumstancessuch as illness or job loss or other issues, with the prospect of being unable to paytheir energy bill
And
Have exhausted all other sources of financial support
Clients will only be able to access the program once in a given heating season.
Applications will be assessed to ensure that a grant will result in a sustained benefit tothe client. Clients who would be unable to sustain their energy costs following a grantwill not be eligible. Clients will be assessed for full eligibility by the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office.
GRANT LEVEL
The grant level is set at a maximum of $450/family.
If the applicant owes less than $450, the grant cannot exceed the amount owed.
If the applicant owes more than $450, a maximum grant of $450 may be provided, solong as the client will be able to sustain their energy costs following the grant.
Options for clients who owe more than $450 to sustain their energy costs include:
- Negotiating a mutually agreed upon payment plan with the utility for thebalance owing, and/or
- Supplementary assistance through other emergency funding for thebalance.
If these options are not available the client may be denied assistance on thebasis that they cannot sustain their energy costs.
- Grants do not include amounts owed for deposits, reconnection fees,equipment rental or financing charges.
APPLICATION PROCESS
It‘s anticipated that referrals to the Winter Warmth will come from a variety of sources.
Referral sources will include Utility Customer Service Representatives, communityservice agencies, the 211 Community Service Information line and governmental and/orpolitical representatives who receive queries from clients in need of energy assistance.
Step 1: Pre-screening
Utility privacy requirements per utility
Union Gas – none at intake, form is signed as part of processing
Westario Power – clients are asked to call Westario Power and inform them that the United Way of Bruce Grey has permission to discuss their account
Hydro One – permission form needs to be signed and faxed to 888 432 1432 prior to the United Way of Bruce Grey beginning to process the application
Privacy Consent
“To determine whether you are eligible for Winter Warmth assistance, I will need toask you some questions about your household, income, mortgage or rentalexpenses and utility account. The information requested and collected is for thepurpose of processing your application to the Winter Warmth Program. All of theinformation collected is considered confidential and will not be discussed withanyone outside our agency, the United Way of Bruce Grey and the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office without your permission. Do you consent to providingthe requested information and to signing the Consent to Disclosure of PersonalInformation for the purpose of processing your application?”
To assist with the large number of inquiries during service delivery, operators should pre-screen the applicants on the phone prior to filing an intake form. At Pre-screening, three questions are asked:
1) Are you a [utility] customer?
2) What is your yearly/monthly net household income?
3) How many people are in your household?
Clients, who are not current utility customers, or who do not meet the incomecriteria, are not eligible for the program.
Step 2: Completing the Application
For those who meet the above criteria, operators shouldcomplete the top half of The Winter Warmth Intake Form on the phone with theapplicant.
The Winter Warmth Intake Form should be completed bythe operator during the pre-screening phone call for all applicants. It’simportant to complete the form in its entirety for all applicants.
If the applicant is not eligible, they should be informed and providedwith information on other resources.
Step 3: Advise client of next steps
Each client will be called by the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office to set up a full application process. (It should be noted that the call display for the Credit Counselor comes up as “BLOCKED”)
Clients will need to bring the following documentation:
- 2 pieces of ID (person whose name is on the bill)
- 1 piece of ID For each person residing the residence
- Proof of income
- Proof of rent or mortgage payment
- Bank statement
- Most recent utility bill
Upon completion of the intake form it should be immediately emailed to
Notifying the Applicant
*Important - At no time is the operator permitted to communicate to a client that they will receive a grant through the Winter Warmth Program, without firstreceiving official confirmation from the United Way of Bruce Grey and/or the Grey Bruce Credit Counseling office,who in turn will have received confirmation from the utility company.
Grants are issued by the agency on behalf of the applicant directly to the utility.
The payment is NEVER issued directly to the applicant.
Tracking Community Referrals
There is a place on each application to list where referrals are made to communityservices. It’s important to record each community referral provided to a client asthis allows for the tracking of statistics for program reporting and evaluation.
Confidentiality
The information collected from clients throughout the application process includesinformation of a personal nature, such as income, which would normally be viewedas private and confidential. Lead and Intake Agencies should all take reasonableand appropriate steps to safeguard the confidentiality of this information by storingelectronic and hard copies of the information securely.