Michigan Department of Health and Human Services electricity utility assistance information
| Submitted | May 20, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Kenichi Serino
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Any available records related to requests for electricity bill assistance under the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP), specifically those from customers of DTE Energy and Consumers Energy or individuals requesting assistance for issues related to these two entities. Please provide all available segregable data, including (but not limited to)
• the amounts owed
• the reason for the need of assistance (for example: electricity was shut-off)
• the location of the residence or site affected, preferably in the form of long zip codes/block codes or street addresses with the last two digits of the house number redacted
Please redact all necessary personally-identifiable information.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Kenichi Serino
From: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Dear Mr. Serino,
Please see attached.
Regards,
FOIA
Bureau of Legal Affairs,
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
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~WRD000
From: Kenichi Serino
Dear Mr. Bierer,
Thank you for your reply. I'm afraid that I'm confused. Is the MEAP program not administered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services? And if so, does the MIDHHS not keep information about the funds spent on MEAP, including whether that money is spent on debt owed by customers to DTE or Consumers Power? Or what kind of assistance the funds are spent on? Or in what areas the recipients of this assistance live?
best,
Kenichi Serino.
From: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Dear Mr. Serino,
No, MEAP is administered by LARA as part of an Interagency Agreement with our Department. MEAP data is maintained by LARA. I did loop back and confirm all this with our assistance program area.
Sorry we could not be more helpful.
Regards,
Donald Bierer
Bureau of Legal Affairs,
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
-
~WRD082
From: Kenichi Serino
Dear Mr. Bierer,
Thanks for your email. While I understand that the funding, or at least some of it, is secured by LARA, they've told me that they do not deal with individual applications. MI DHHS does this (https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71547_5531_62127---,00.html). Information about these applications, in aggregate, is what I am looking for. Are you saying that MI DHHS once it receives an application, does not save any information about that application?
best,
Kenichi Serino
From: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Dear Mr. Serino,
I looped back with the area responsible for assistance programs, and confirmed that MEAP funding is not separated when people apply for assistance. If an individual applied for electric utility assistance, he or she would be applying for State Emergency Relief (SER). You’ll notice that energy assistance is under the heading SER in the link you cited in your previous note. It is this basket of funding that would be applied for when an individual completes an assistance application for energy assistance. SER funding comes from many different sources, both state and federal. SER assistance includes rental assistance, eviction prevention, relocation expenses, utility assistance, home weatherization, burial assistance, etc. So, any data the Department would have is not specific to MEAP or electric utility assistance but to the general pool of SER assistance.
Regards,
Donald Bierer
Bureau of Legal Affairs,
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
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~WRD000
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