Executive Report

THE winter of 1979-80 began with a veritable blizzard of checks from Uncle Sam to help needy people pay their heating bills. Under the Energy Crisis Assistance Act signed by President Carter November 27, slates and individuals across the nation are getting $1.6 billion this winter ($1.35 billion in new funds plus $250 million already available for existing programs). Another $2.4 billion has been set aside for the future. The money is billowing in on three fronts:

1. grants from the federal CommunityServices Administration (CSA) to be distributed by the states through their community action agencies;

2.  block grants from CSA through the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to state governors; and

3.  checks mailed by HEW's Social Security Administration to individual recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.

Illinois' share of the emergency funds, including the SSI money, is approximately $85 million. The amount was determined by formulas which took into account weather conditions, fuel costs, the number of families in poverty and the number of elderly persons in poverty in the state.

Under the Social Security program, Illinois residents who were listed as eligible for SSI checks in December will automatically receive a check for $170 along with their January SSI payment. Persons who are determined to be eligible on or before March 1 will also receive a check as soon as their eligibility is established. SSI recipients who live in institutions are not eligible for the program. It is estimated that about 115,000 people in Illinois will receive the $170 payment.

The state's share of the block grants is $45.0 million which Gov. James R. Thompson assigned to the Department of Public Aid (IDPA). Department officials had submitted a distribution plan to HEW and were awaiting a reply as of November 30.

Finally, $20.7 million goes to the state's Energy Crisis Assistance Program (ECAP) which is funded by CSA. Gov. James R. Thompson designated the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) to administer the program through the state's 24 community action agencies and seven other local agencies. Both the DCCA and the 31 agencies have operated federal energy assistance programs since 1976. This time, however, more money must reach more people. Although no one who is eligible will be turned away, the elderly are being given the first priority. Federal funds were due December 3. The program runs through September 1, 1980. But most funds should be spent by March.

Under ECAP, individuals or households with incomes at or below 125 percent of the CSA poverty guidelines can get their past or present heating bills paid in amounts up to $300. Through agreements negotiated with utilities and fuel vendors, eligible applicants will also get a line of credit of up to $300 and will not have their heat or fuel supplies cut off. In addition, they can receive $100 to buy emergency supplies like food, blankets, medicine or space heaters. Renters who do not directly pay for their heat can receive the emergency assistance.

DCCA launched a crash effort in November to reach people — especially elderly people — who may be reluctant to ask for help. The Department of Public Aid (IDPA) sent out notices to its elderly, blind and disabled clients. The Department on Aging (DOA) is using its area Agency on Aging offices to notify the elderly citizens. Both IDPA and DOA are taking applications at their local offices. The Department of Rehabilitative Services (DORS), the Institute of Natural Resources (INR) and the Illinois Information Services are also involved. Utilities are notifying residential customers of the program, and the local administrating agencies are using their networks — churches, community organizations, Head Start, weatherization programs, etc. — to get the word out. Anyone wishing information on ECAP can call a toll-free statewide number: 800-252-8044. DCCA's division of community services is doing the coordinating, monitoring and auditing of ECAP and has also negotiated standard agreements with the state's major utilities to extend credit lines. The 31 local

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administering agencies are in charge of accepting and verifying the applications, determining who is eligible and how much assistance they will get, and notifying applicants and fuel vendors. The local agencies have a tight schedule to meet. They are to approve applications and authorize payments within six working days. Checks to the vendors are to be issued within 10 days after they have been notified. The agencies must also obtain the agreements with fuel distributors on extending credit and take charge of distributing the emergency aid with the help of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, consumer organizations, churches and other groups. It is an enormous task of mobilizing and coordinating. It involves every social service agency that ever bore an acronym, the private sector and thousands of workers, old and young — some of them veterans of previous programs, others new to the job — many getting crash training courses in workshops held throughout the state in November.

There are also problems. As of November 29, it didn't look like the federal funds were going to come in on time. And difficulties had developed all over the nation with the independent distributors of heating oil. They have been put in a credit squeeze by the big oil corporations. The result is that independent distributors who take part in ECAP's prorated payment plans — which they must do in order to receive the payment — will end up paying high interest rates for bank loans to pay off their own suppliers. In Illinois some 20 independent distributors refused in November to take part in the program.

But the biggest problem may be with equity. The federal largess will not fall equally on all. The SSI payments are distributed to individuals which means some households will receive one check and some more than one. "They [HEW] should have distributed it to heads of households," said one DCCA official. And there's nothing to prevent a person who qualifies for the SSI payment from also getting assistance from ECAP. Also, there's no guarantee that a family receiving an SSI check will spend it to pay the utility bill. Then there's the IDPA program to distribute $45 million in energy assistance to state welfare recipients. That too must be coordinated with the other assistance programs.

All in all, there is not much the states can do except distribute the money as rationally as possible to as many people as possible, hoping it will keep them warm. "We are lucky. Nobody is freezing to death, for example," says Brent Deland, director of the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies. "It's a band-aid approach to a greater problem, but at least the band-aid is there. "

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