By VINAYA SAKSENA

PROVIDENCE — For low-income Rhode Island residents, help with home heating bills will be arriving soon, most likely next week, according to the office of Gov. Don Carcieri.

If you ask Henry Shelton, that's not good enough.
Shelton is executive director of the George Wiley Center, a Pawtucket-based advocacy group for needy Rhode Islanders. For months, Shelton and company have been pressing Carcieri to do more for those who are likely to struggle with winter heating costs.
Shelton's dissatisfaction centers on the boost the state received this year in relevant federal funds: About $38.8 million, recently awarded through LIHEAP (for the Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program). 
“The governor’s been sitting on that money, and we have a record amount of money coming from the federal government,” Shelton said. “It’s just heartless and there’s no excuse for it, especially since they got more money than last year.”
Carcieri aide Amy Kempe confirmed that the $38.8 million was more than double what the state got in LIHEAP funding last year. However, she took issue with Shelton’s claim that the governor’s office was dragging its heels in distributing those dollars, noting that
“the funds are being released a whole month earlier than they were last year.
“They’re working very hard to get the money out to the CAP (Community Action Project) agencies. The money was not even released from the federal government until the middle of October.”
Kempe also noted that this year the distribution process has more steps, and takes more time: Community-based agencies now serve as go-betweens, furnishing aid applications to local residents, then forwarding completed applications to the state.
Kempe added that crisis grants were available to those whose heat had been shut off midway through the winter season, and urged residents in need of such assistance to contact their local CAP agencies.
She also pointed out that the state had initiated the Heat and Eat program, a move Shelton and his associates had been advocating for, in which food stamp recipients whose heating costs are part of their rent can receive an additional $30 per month in food stamp assistance.
Further, the Office of Energy Resources is offering assistance with home weatherization, Kempe said.  She suggested that anyone interested call that office at 574-9100.
“They go a long way to reduce the cost of energy in the home,” Kempe said of the weatherization measures. “And it’s a long-term solution.”
Kempe said the governor’s office planned to have the LIHEAP funds ready for distribution next week, in time for Thanksgiving, noting that all of the money would not be released at once for fear of running out in mid-winter.
Shelton expressed skepticism about Kempe's timetable, saying that the governor’s office had been making such claims for some time.