Social Security Administration mails benefit checks to victims’ families

The Social Security Administration has already begun mailing out benefit checks to the families of those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, according to James Kissko, the agency's assistant deputy commissioner for operations. By the end of October, Social Security will have mailed out more than 3,500 benefit checks to the families of victims. Kissko said that following the attacks, the agency took the unprecedented step of making hundreds of telephone calls to tell the families that they were eligible for benefits. The companies that the employees worked for provided the names and telephone numbers of surviving family members to Social Security, he said. Kissko said many families were unaware that they were eligible for survivors' benefits, which can be paid to spouses and, depending on their ages, children. In one case, he said, a husband whose wife was killed in New York was ready to sell his house to make up for the loss of his wife's income, but was able to pull it off the market after being called by a Social Security claims representative who told him he was eligible for survivors' benefits. The agency also initiated emergency procedures and policies to make it easier for victims' families to prove they are eligible for benefits. Normally, families must present a death certificate to be eligible but, in this case, SSA is accepting airplane manifests, lists furnished by employers and other statements that would place the worker at the scene of the tragedy as proof until death certificates can be issued.