November 2026

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) is opening enrollment for its Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps residents to pay heating bills during the winter, on Monday, November 2.

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The LIHEAP grant helps income-eligible families to pay their heating bills. Those who receive assistance do not have to repay it.

LIHEAP offers both cash and crisis grants. Cash grants are one-time payments sent to a family’s utility company or fuel provider to help pay their heating bills. The grants range from $200 to $1,000 and are based on household size, income, and fuel type.

Crisis grants are available for families experiencing an emergency situation involving the loss of heat. Families can receive more than one crisis grant, if necessary, until a maximum of $1,000 is reached. Crisis situations include:

Broken heating equipment or leaking lines
Lack of fuel
Gas or electric service that has been shut off
Danger of being without fuel within 15 days or have received a shut-off notice for gas or electric services.

How to Apply

To receive help, families can apply through the COMPASS homepage, by visiting the state’s LIHEAP page, calling the statewide LIHEAP hotline at 1-866-857-7095, or by visiting a local county assistance office.

The 2026-2027 LIHEAP season opened on November 2.

Those who apply do not need to be on public assistance or to have an unpaid heating bill. Applicants can either rent or own their home.

Those applying will need to provide:

The names of people in their household
Dates of birth for all household members
Social Security numbers for all household members
Proof of income for all household members
A recent heating bill

November is National Family Engagement Month, which recognizes the important role that family members play as a child’s first, longest-lasting, and most important teachers, advocates, and nurturers.

To commemorate the month, caregivers can utilize a variety of Trying Together resources that help families to navigate early childhood, including the Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center, the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting (DAP) series, and the Early Intervention (EI) Toolkit.

Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center

The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center supports the early learning needs of young children, families, and early educators in Homewood. The center offers developmentally appropriate activities for children, from birth to age 9; individual and group support for caregivers to set and meet goals for their family; and professional growth opportunities for center-, family-, and home-based early learning programs and relative providers.

The Hub, located at 7219 Kelly Street, offers a variety of weekly activities and programs, including:

Other resources at the Hub include a diaper bank, formula bank, walk-in clothing distribution center, and 412 Food Rescue. For more information, visit the Hub’s web page.

DAP Series

Evidence-based research shows that children’s brains develop rapidly from birth to age 5. Through consistent and caring daily interactions with their children, caregivers are able to build healthy relationships with and best support the early development and learning of their children.

Trying Together developed the Developmentally-Appropriate Parenting (DAP) family resource content series as an effort to empower caregivers to create high-quality experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life.

The 12-part series covers such topics as childhood physical health, Early Intervention, social-emotional development, mental health, race and equity, gender and gender identity, and family dynamics, among other topics.

To view all 12 parts of the series, visit the DAP web page.

Early Intervention Toolkit

Early Intervention (EI) partners with parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators to provide services and support to young children with – or at risk of – developmental delays or disabilities. EI is collaborative and involves listening, discussing, sharing information, modeling strategies, building relationships, and coaching.

Trying Together developed its EI Toolkit for early care and education (ECE) programs in Allegheny County and the children and families they serve.

The goals of the toolkit are to increase mutual understanding between ECE programs and EI services, and to strengthen the collaborative relationship between ECE professionals, EI professionals, and families.

Those who utilize the toolkit will be able to explore and print out resources, such as:

An introduction to early intervention
How to connect families with EI
ECE and EI collaboration
Inclusive ECE environments
Additional resources

Month: November 2026

LIHEAP Enrollment for Heating Bill Assistance Opens November 2