Calcasieu Parish LIHEAP program still operating amid federal cuts

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Concerns over the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, better known as LIHEAP, are growing after federal workers were laid off earlier this week.

It’s a program that has long helped millions of low-income households that have struggled to cover their energy costs. The program provides heating and cooling assistance to 103,000 households in Louisiana. In Calcasieu Parish that number is 6,000.

With the entire 10-person federal LIHEAP staff now cut, questions about the program’s operations and funding are growing.

“The information being received right now is still very fresh, as far as what our particulars are on the different executive orders that are being issued by our current administration,” Erika Garrison, assistant director of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury’s Department of Human Services, said.

However, LIHEAP providers at CPPJ say drastic changes are not coming anytime soon.

“As of right now, here in our Department of Human Services, we haven’t received any information regarding any types of cuts with our LIHEAP program, so we are still able to provide citizens in our community with assistance with utility needs,” Garrison said.

The police jury says that they will let residents know of any major changes regarding the program.