THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601060229
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
The cold is already here. If forecasts hold, snow is coming soon. And that's bad news for low-income Virginians who depend on a federal program to help pay their heating bills.
They're having to make do with far less this winter.
The Energy Assistance Program allotted Virginia $14.1 million this season, a decrease of $7.2 million or almost 34 percent from the winter of 1994-95.
In the same time, the number of approved applications for assistance also dropped, but by less than 10 percent, to 106,232 Virginia households. Overall, the amount of heating aid available per home fell 27 percent, from $181 down to $133.
``It affects a lot of people,'' said Joseph L. Hadley, fuel-assistance coordinator for Norfolk's Division of Social Services.
``We've had a mild winter so far, . . . but winter's here, now,'' Hadley added. ``Ultimately, it does affect how much of their personal money they're going to have to spend on their heating.''
Since 1981, the federal government has sent money to the states to help their poor residents with cold-weather utility costs. The amount has been decreasing for several years. This year, funds were held up briefly because of the ongoing federal budget battle.
Applications were accepted for five weeks in October and November, and benefit amounts statewide were set using a system that considered the number and ages of people in a home, the type of heating system and the home's location, with the colder, snowier western and northern parts of the state ranked higher in need than relatively mild Hampton Roads.
The maximum amount awarded to eligible households this year was $180, down 25 percent from last year's maximum. The minimum amount given - $72 - was a drop of 48 percent.
Local Social Services offices, which only determine eligibility, still are accepting requests for help in crises, such as heating-system failures, to be paid from a $4 million fund set aside for such emergencies.
``Bottom line: People will get assistance, based on the amount of resources that we have available,'' said Martin D. Brown, a state Social Services spokesman.
In Norfolk, for instance, there have been 4,000 to 5,000 applications for heating assistance, and a couple of hundred of emergency requests since Nov. 1, said Noel D. Finney, program administrator for the Department of Human Services. Emergency requests will be accepted until March 15, or until the money runs out, Finney said; last year, the program had to end in February. Churches and other private agencies helped pick up the slack.
``It was never meant to meet a household's winter heating needs,'' Finney said of the program. ``It was a supplement.''
Some cities, such as Portsmouth, also received smaller allocations this season to administer the energy-assistance program, said Judy L. Mallory, chief eligibility supervisor with Portsmouth Social Services.
So far, the lower heating allotments haven't drawn much reaction, officials said.
``It hasn't really seemed to have affected us,'' said Betty Liston, business administrator with the Salvation Army of Hampton Roads, which helps needy residents with emergency requests. ``We're running about the same thing as last year. We're busy, but we're not overwhelmed. . . . We're constant.''
The Salvation Army administers emergency heating aid raised by Virginia Power and Virginia Natural Gas Co. under the utilities' Energy Share program, in which customers can contribute to heating funds on their monthly bills.
The good news, Virginia Power reports, is that Energy Share contributions were up slightly through Dec. 11 over the same period last year, to $275,740.
KEYWORDS: HEATING ASSISTANCE by CNB