LIBERTY, NY — On January 4, 2021, the Home Energy Assistance Program’s (HEAP) emergency benefit component opens and will begin accepting applications.

Emergency benefits are available to assist eligible households with a heating emergency or a heat-related domestic emergency. Regular component benefits, if available, must be utilized first to resolve heating emergencies for eligible households.

Temporary relocation for housing emergencies, and propane tank deposits to obtain new propane vendors, are available under the emergency benefit component in emergency situations only, such as relocation due to eviction or when a home is uninhabitable.

All applicants for the emergency benefit may apply via telephone or in-person—not via the MyBenefits web portal. The phone number is 845/807-0142. Applications can be completed over the phone and do not require a face-to-face interview. Please call before coming to the Department of Family Services, as offices are still operating on a limited-access basis.

The applicant must be facing a heating emergency or heat-related domestic emergency under one or more of the following conditions:

• The applicant’s utility service is terminated or is scheduled for termination.

• The applicant’s electric utility service necessary to operate the primary heating equipment is terminated or is scheduled for termination.

• The applicant is without heating fuel; has less than a one-quarter tank of oil, kerosene, or propane; or has less than a 10-day supply of other heating fuels.

To be eligible for consideration, the applicant must be the customer of record for the utility or deliverable fuel account. Also, the applicant and all household members must meet the resource limit requirements: no more than $2,000 in available liquid resources (or $3,000 if the household contains a member age 60 or older).

For more information, call the county’s HEAP Office at 845/807-0142.