DEO reporting rules for LIHEAP assistance - Will it reduce my unemployment benefits?

No, you don't have to report LIHEAP assistance when claiming your benefit weeks. LIHEAP is considered a needs-based assistance program, not income. DEO only requires you to report actual earnings from work when you claim weeks. The only things you need to report are: wages earned from working (even part-time), vacation pay, severance pay, and other income from work. Assistance programs like LIHEAP, SNAP/food stamps, or rental assistance don't count as income for unemployment purposes and won't affect your weekly benefit amount.

i got liheap last year while on unemployment. didnt report it n never had an issue. you only gotta report money earned from working

WAIT are we supposed to report SNAP benefits too?!?! I've been on food stamps for 3 months while getting unemployment and NEVER reported it when claiming weeks. Now I'm freaking out that they're going to say I committed fraud and make me pay everything back!!!! Does anyone know for sure what we're supposed to report and what we don't have to????

While LIHEAP isn't reportable income for unemployment, make sure you're still doing your 5 work searches each week. DEO has been extra strict lately about work search requirements. I've seen people get denied benefits because they missed logging their work searches. And this is completely unrelated to your LIHEAP question, but have you had any trouble reaching DEO about your claim? I waited 2 hours on hold last week trying to fix an issue with my work search verification.

But what about other utility assistance? My church helped pay my water bill last month and I didn't report it when claiming. Should I have reported that??

btw applying for liheap can take forever so do it asap. took me almost 2 months to get approved last year

To summarize for everyone who has questions about what to report to DEO when claiming weeks: 1. Report: Wages/earnings from work (even part-time or gig work), severance pay, vacation pay, retirement pay if you just started receiving it, self-employment income 2. Don't report: LIHEAP, SNAP/food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, charity assistance, church help, friend/family loans or gifts The key distinction is whether you performed work to receive the money. If you didn't work for it, it's generally not reportable for unemployment purposes. However, there are exceptions like severance and vacation pay which are considered delayed compensation for work already performed.

I had a similar confusion last year about my son giving me money to help with bills while I was on unemployment. I called DEO (waited forever) and they confirmed that gifts and financial help from family members don't need to be reported when claiming weeks. They're only looking for earnings from work. LIHEAP definitely falls under assistance, not earnings.