Missouri’s energy-assistance program sees no significant increase in applications as state dips into leftover federal funds
Euphenie Andre
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
As SNAP benefits during the ongoing government shutdown continue to be debated in court, other assistance programs are still working to stay afloat, including the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
The program is currently assisting elderly and disabled residents, whose application period opened in October. LIHEAP recently opened its application period to all households last week.
Missouri is currently using leftover federal money from last year to fund the LIHEAP program. A Missouri Department of Social Services spokesperson said the state expects to continue processing payments through mid-November, depending on the number of applications received.
“Right now, we are using funding from last year to kick off the new program. Right now, we’re serving households with people with disabilities and seniors with our utilities assistance program. And then starting in December, we’ll serve anybody that’s income-eligible for the program,” said Darin Preis, who is the executive director of Central Missouri Community Action, which helps more than 9,000 families across Mid-Missouri through LIHEAP.
Preis said there is no significant increase in applicants said.
“We’re seeing the usual number of people coming in,” Preis said. “Honestly, there have been so many people year over year who need utility assistance and are struggling, that we’re not really seeing an uptick in applications right now.”
In Columbia, the city has seen an increase in requests for utility assistance. According to a city spokesperson, the city distributed $188,100 in aid last October. This year, that amount nearly doubled to $362,100, using funds from the Columbia/Boone County Department of Health and Senior Services.
For November, the city saw payments rise from $86,400 last year to $225,300 this year — nearly triple the amount.
A state spokesperson said there is a separate pot of money set aside for crisis payments. Based on last year’s data, those funds should last until around September 2026, unless a significant surge in demand causes them to run out sooner.
“If this federal shutdown last too much longer, it’s going to start to create more and more waves of need and more and more who are struggling,” Peris said.
According to reports from CNN, even after the government reopens, it could take several weeks for the Department of Health and Human Services to allocate LIHEAP funds to the states. This timeline may be further delayed this year, as HHS eliminated its LIHEAP team during a major reorganization in the spring.
In the previous fiscal year, LIHEAP received approximately $4 billion in funding, and similar appropriations were in the process of moving through Congress before the shutdown.