Subject


The Community Service Block Grant (CSBG), Low-Income House Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) reside in the Bureau of Economic Self-Sufficiency within the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). These programs provide funding to specific eligible entities within the state to support services focused on the reduction of poverty, the revitalization of low-income communities, and the empowerment of low-income families in rural and urban areas to become self-sufficient. However, the existing formulas that govern the distribution of funds within the state are based on outdated data. To fulfill the mission of each program, it is necessary to update to the formulas based on more recent data to ensure the equitable distribution of funds and to address the needs of low-income Floridians. The University of Florida’s (UF) Program for Resource Efficient Communities and UF’s Shimberg Center for Housing Studies collaborated to support DEO’s effort to revise the funding formulas. The team leveraged extensive expertise in building science, housing assistance programs, energy and water conservation and data analytics to develop a robust, defensible, and replicable formula process for the CSBG, LIHEAP and WAP. On February 17, 2020, UF delivered a final written report and supplemental documentation of the funding formula development process and results. DEO‘s Bureau of Economic Self-Sufficiency will be conducting a hearing for public comment regarding the development of the updated CSBG, LIHEAP, and WAP funding formula. If a person decides to appeal any decision of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity with respect to any matter considered at the public meeting, he or she will need a record of the proceeding. For such purposes, he or she may need to ensure that a record of the proceeding is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be made.