Benefits allocated for 57,422 Low-Income New Mexico Households
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) announced today a second supplemental payment was issued on September 16, 2022, to New Mexicans who were approved for the Low Income Home Energy Program (LIHEAP) between October 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022.
HSD received $22 million from the Federal American Rescue Plan as additional funding for LIHEAP, a program that provides qualified, low-income families with one yearly payment to assist with home heating and cooling costs. Payments are directly made to the HSD LIHEAP customer’s utility vendor.
“This assistance will help New Mexico families alleviate the stress of the additional burden by the rising utility costs,”said Angela Medrano, deputy secretary for the New Mexico Human Services Department. “We are grateful to our federal partners for working with the state to help New Mexicans facing financial hardship.”
Payments will be made directly to the customers’ existing utility vendor, and no application process or further action from the customer is needed.
If you have questions or need additional assistance, please call the HSD Consolidated Customer Service Center at 1-800-283-4465 Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–5 p.m.
HSD is urging all customers to make sure the department has their latest contact information on file to ensure that written communication about their benefits is delivered to them in a timely manner. If customers have recently changed their phone number, they should provide their new contact information on the YESNM website: www.yes.state.nm.us. Customers can simply and easily update their address using the chat functionality there. Step-by-step directions on how to update your address are available here.
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Frequently asked questions:
Will my other Income Support benefits be impacted?
These additional payments will NOT be considered in determining your eligibility for any program administered by the Human Services Department. This includes food, cash, energy, or medical assistance.
How do I know if I qualify?
Customers will not need to fill out an application for this benefit.
LIHEAP supplemental benefits will be distributed to HSD customers who were approved for LIHEAP between October 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022.
We talk, interpret and smile in all languages. We provide written information to our customers in both English and Spanish and interpretation services are available in 58 languages through our provider, CTS Language Link. For our hearing, and speech impaired customers, we utilize Relay New Mexico, a free 24-hour service that ensures equal communication access via the telephone to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or speech disabled.
We talk, interpret and smile in all languages. We provide written information to our customers in both English and Spanish and interpretation services are available in 58 languages through our provider, CTS Language Link. For our hearing, and speech impaired customers, we utilize Relay New Mexico, a free 24-hour service that ensures equal communication access via the telephone to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or speech disabled.
The Human Services Department provides services and benefits to 1,070,231 New Mexicans through several programs including: the Medicaid Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Child Support Program, and several Behavioral Health Services.