
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990                   TAG: 9004060237
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

BENEFITS DON'T REACH THE NEEDY

The Social Security Administration has erected mind-boggling obstacles to poor, homeless and disabled people who need its help, the agency's top administrator said Thursday.

Social Security Commissioner Gwendolyn S. King, appearing before a congressional committee, said far too many people aren't receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits because they don't know about them, don't understand them or can't figure out how to apply.

"It's more than a little hard," she said of the 15-page application form. "It boggles the mind."

The Supplemental Security Income program provides monthly cash benefits to poor aged, blind and disabled people. It provides up to $386 a month for an individual or $579 a month for a couple for those who meet strict and complex rules that take into account ordinary Social Security payments and other income.

About 4.6 million people receive the benefits, but various studies have concluded that as many as 50 percent of those eligible for SSI are not participating. A 1988 survey conducted for the American Association of Retired Persons found nearly one-fourth of those over 65 living near or below the poverty line had never heard of it, and only 22 percent received its benefits.

King said that when she took the job last year she found the program of SSI benefits "an absolute maze."

"I despaired about the confusion it was causing the people it was intended to serve," she said at a hearing before the House Select Committee on Aging.

The agency, she said, has a moral obligation to find eligible people and help them apply and that it would increase its outreach efforts.

Maria Foscarinis, director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a private advocacy group, delivered a harsh assessment of Social Security. She said the government had failed to help get benefits to homeless people.

"In their hour of need, they need a helping hand," Foscarinis said. "But the Social Security Administration has not only turned its back on them, it has abused them in a vicious manner."

Bills in the House and Senate would require the Social Security Administration to regularly visit shelters to explain benefits, help homeless people apply and provide other assistance.

by CNB