Post by Logan on Jul 8, 2016 3:38:57 GMT -6
One casualty of this year’s state budget cuts is an aid program that assists low-income households with their winter heating bills.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Public Assistance announced Tuesday that its Alaska Heating Assistance Program (AKHAP) will not be funded in the state budget that took effect July 1.
DHSS Public Information Officer Sarana Schell wrote in an email that the program gives households that qualify each year a one-time payment averaging approximately $560 to cover a portion of their heating bills. Between September 2015 and June 2016, around 2,100 families received this funding, Schell wrote. These included 199 families in the Kenai Peninsula census area, a total of 489 individuals.
Among Alaska’s 24 census areas, the Kenai Peninsula was the program’s fourth-largest user in the winter of 2015-2016, behind Anchorage’s 236 households served. The Mat-Su area was the heaviest user, with 281 households receiving heating assistance.
Read more: peninsulaclarion.com/news/2016-07-07/heating-assistance-cut-from-state-budget
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Public Assistance announced Tuesday that its Alaska Heating Assistance Program (AKHAP) will not be funded in the state budget that took effect July 1.
DHSS Public Information Officer Sarana Schell wrote in an email that the program gives households that qualify each year a one-time payment averaging approximately $560 to cover a portion of their heating bills. Between September 2015 and June 2016, around 2,100 families received this funding, Schell wrote. These included 199 families in the Kenai Peninsula census area, a total of 489 individuals.
Among Alaska’s 24 census areas, the Kenai Peninsula was the program’s fourth-largest user in the winter of 2015-2016, behind Anchorage’s 236 households served. The Mat-Su area was the heaviest user, with 281 households receiving heating assistance.
Read more: peninsulaclarion.com/news/2016-07-07/heating-assistance-cut-from-state-budget