Energy Assistance Research Paper

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The Energy Assistance Program: Taking a Successful Turn Britney Hopkins Kaplan University Caroline Samples The energy assistance program can be a great benefit to those in low income housing. It helps those in need of financial help pay for heating and cooling through harsh summers and winters. For those who heat with electricity it can be a smooth and easy process if accepted. For those that heat with gas the process is much more difficult. Low income communities use different heating sources not all are the same. The most popular used in these types of communities is electricity. Although all of the low income communities use electricity a lot of the dwellings heat with gas. This where the problem comes in. The energy assistance program…show more content…
Studies show that, low income home energy assistance program benefits seem to reach families at the highest social and medical risk with more food insecurities have higher rates of low birth weight children (Frank, 2006). The reason behind this is that the money for food is spent on the electric bill when no assistance is provided. In result many children are born with a low birth weight and some even experience a life line of hospital visits. Some children even have a hard time focusing in school because of the lack of energy. Children are blocked from living a somewhat normal life all because the household could not get the financial assistance needed in order to help with their electricity…show more content…
The fact is that most of these areas that the families live in are low income properties. Low income properties offer rent that is based of the total income that is brought in the household. Households headed by a single parent often report reliance on energy assistance program particularly in rural areas where rates of receipt are greater than 20 percent (Bean, 2011). Where does that leave them when assistance is not approved? They have to take their last to try and insure that their family is protected from the heat in the summer and from the chill in the winter. The process they have to go through does not make the situation any better. After filling out the application, going through the wait to be approved, and in the end not getting approved can be very stressful and a big hassle. By this time, the bill is currently due and families are left to look for last minute option to keep their services from getting disconnected. Sometimes the effort to find an alternative is unsuccessful and families are left to fend for their self and their children through the unpredictable

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