August 14, 2019 – On August 7, 2019, the Office of Community Services (OCS), Division of Energy Assistance issued an Information Memorandum (LIHEAP-IM-2019-01) announcing the release of the FFY19 HHS Poverty Guidelines.
States may adopt the year's new guidelines at any time between the date of publication in the Federal Register and the first day of the next fiscal year or by the beginning of the grantee's fiscal year, whichever is later.
Tables: Income guidelines, optional in FFY 2019 and mandatory in FFY 2020.
• LIHEAP IM 2019-01 HHS Federal Poverty Guidelines for Optional Use in FFY 2019 and Mandatory Use FFY 2020
• LIHEAP IM 2019-02 State Median Income Estimates for Optional Use in FFY 2019 and Mandatory Use in FFY 2020
For LIHEAP, the majority of states use the prior year guidelines until the first day of the next fiscal year in order to avoid changing guidelines in the middle of their program year. Most states start their new fiscal year October 1; however, a few states start theirs July 1 and those states, along with several that operate summer cooling programs, adopt the most recent guidelines in June or July.
To view a table of the new poverty guidelines, visit the Percent of Poverty Guidelines for LIHEAP Components web page on the LIHEAP Clearinghouse web site.
