EAPConnect

EAPconnect allows you to manage LIHEAP programs at the state and agency level. We know that the first component of the system must be to manage the flow of funds to the agencies who implement the programs locally. To accomplish this, our system provides the management for:

• Reconciliation of payments to household benefits.
• Tracking funding sources and budget amounts at the state level
• Tracking awards to agencies and their budgets for each program and activity
• Tracking payments against agency awards that are either paid to the agency or to vendors for household benefits.
• Tracking repayment of funds against agency awards.

Eligibility and benefit determination is key to ensuring that your households receive their correct benefits. Each state uses a methodology based on the needs of their residents. Eligibility determination methodologies are fairly constant but need to be adjusted annually based on changing demographics and funding levels. EAPconnect provides the ability to adjust the data points used in the determination formulas each year so that the state can adapt to changing rules. For example, some states determine a number of points based on the energy cost. EAPconnect can allow for the energy cost levels and associated points to be adjusted for each program year while maintaining the historical values used in prior year calculations for analysis and reporting.

Eligibility determination is a key component of the intake process. EAPconnect uses a process oriented intake which leads the intake worker through the data entry while providing real-time feedback. By integrating the eligibility rules, documentation requirements, income calculator, benefit calculations, and an active notification process, we help the intake staff ensure that the household data is fully entered and that they receive their full benefits. Our integrated fraud detection provides feedback directly to the intake worker when a case of possible fraud is identified.

EAPconnect utilizes the information entered for the household to automatically determine eligibility and benefit amounts. Users can review these calculations as well as print reports that show the factors used to determine the household benefit. The audit feature tracks any changes to the data that is used to calculate eligibility and benefit determination.

EAPconnect provides users with the ability to manage the vendors receiving payment for LIHEAP clients. We track the types of vendors, contact information, and vendor contracts (MOU) to ensure that payments made to vendors are accurate and that the vendors have met the guidelines of the program.

Payment processing is integrated into EAPconnect. Transmittals (purchase orders) are electronically created and sent to vendors for review and benefit obligation. Vendor responses are then processed and any corrections can be made to household claims. Payments can then be processed and sent to your accounting system to generate the payment directly to the vendor. Claim vouchers can be utilized for post delivery fuels such as wood vendors.

Return of funds are managed through a similar process to capture payments that need to be returned. Both the payment and return of funds processes have full audit trails to ensure that the accounting process can be fully audited.

Security is something that should be designed in from day one on every system today. EAPconnect makes use of several technologies to keep your data as secure as possible. From encryption at rest to encryption in motion, we work to ensure that your data is secure at all times. Beyond encryption, we automatically hide PCI (Personal Confidential Information) from users and track which users view this information. Our system is built upon REST API’s to allow for integrating with other systems. REST API’s are an industry standard that allows for integration with other software systems assuming that the proper security credentials are configured.