An extra $375,000 will be available in crisis money for heating assistance through the state’s five community action agencies, the Department for Children and Families announced last week.
“While this extended stretch of bitter cold weather is affecting all Vermonters, low-income households have been especially hard hit,” DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz said in a statement last week.
The WARMTH grants are available to households that have used up their seasonal fuel assistance and their one-time crisis fuel grant. Households at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, families with somebody over the age of 65, under age 6 or with a disability are eligible.
The February cold set a record in Montpelier, averaging 5.1 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
According to Richard Moffi, fuel and utility director at DCF, the demand on the state’s fuel assistance resources was not as high this year as it has been in previous years. Federal funds came through for the program earlier than usual, fuel prices have been way down, and the bitter cold did not begin until January.
The program has also seen a decrease in caseload. This winter, there are 25,100 household enrolled, down from 26,600 in 2013-14.
Although this year has seen consistently cold weather, last year had the polar vortex, he said.
The infusion of new money for crisis assistance comes as lawmakers are mulling over the governor’s proposed 2016 budget, which would cut $6 million in state dollars from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
For Moffi, the heating assistance program is about addressing households’ immediate needs.
“It’s a day-by-day, week-by-week, or month-by-month program,” Moffi said.