Transcript Telephone Lifeline Enrollment

Telephone Lifeline Programs:
Expanding the Enrollment
Roger D. Colton
Fisher, Sheehan & Colton
National Low-Income Energy Consortium
June 2003
“Express Lane Eligibility”:
Primary Way to Increase Enrollment
LIHEAP
Food Stamps
School lunch/school breakfast
SLMB (health care)
PAAD (prescription drug assistance)
WIC (Women Infants & Children)
Unemployment
Dangers of automatic enrollment
Exclusion of nonparticipants (Iowa)
Hispanics underrepresented in:
13 of 18 CAAs (2002)
12 of 18 CAAs (2001)
Dangers of automatic enrollment
Exclusion of nonparticipants (Iowa)
Hispanics underrepresented:
Of 75,000 LIHEAP recipients, additional
4,400 Hispanics would have been needed
to reflect their incidence in population.
Increased Hispanic participation of 230%
needed to reflect population.
Not a reflection on Outreach
Efforts!
Consider the NRRI Report:
“Survey results show that when those of
Hispanic origin look for help, close to half
think first of friends of relatives.”
Not a reflection on Outreach
Efforts!
Consider the NRRI Report:
“The results could suggest that utilities and
commissions need to assess their outreach
to Hispanic customers to inform them of
programs like Lifeline and Link-up.
Nontraditional consumer education such as
grass-roots campaigns might be more
appropriate for hard-to-reach groups such as
Hispanics.”
Conclusion:
Automatic outreach is a necessary component
to LIHEAP outreach,
BUT
cannot be exclusive entrance into Lifeline or
Link-up.
For more information:
[email protected]