Kentucky’s bereaved children are missing out on a generous and often crucial benefit. | Opinion

November is Children’s Grief Awareness Month. In Kentucky, 11% of our child population (or 1 in 9 children) will lose a parent or sibling by the age of 18. These death losses significantly impact our children: their education will be disrupted; they will be less likely to attend college; they are more likely to experience poor health; they are 25% more likely to experience mental health challenges; and they are more likely to abuse substances.

They are also more likely to live in poverty.

While the work that I do focuses on that laundry list of challenges faced by bereaved children and young people, during the past year I have done a deep dive into the financial resources available to these children, especially the Social Security Administration’s Child Survivors Benefit.

This is a monthly, per child benefit through the age of 18 available to children when a working parent has died. The average monthly payment for Kentucky children is $980. So, if there are multiple children in an affected family, this benefit can make a huge financial difference, potentially keeping a family out of poverty.

Part of the reason I’m working to promote this benefit is that my daughter received this benefit after her father died, and I know firsthand what a difference this made for our little family. This benefit allowed us to continue my daughter’s after school activities. We didn’t have to move because we suddenly couldn’t afford our rent. We had the resources for the co-pays for an increased number of doctor’s appointments (grieving people tend to get sick more often) and for therapy.

I am also keenly aware that we are one of the very lucky families who knew about this benefit. Unfortunately, more than 50% of children do not receive this benefit, which is the federal government’s most generous benefit after Social Security. This benefit is unknown to most bereaved families. In Kentucky, fewer families in urban areas than rural towns get this benefit, even though (apart from Eastern Kentucky) the greatest number of parentally bereaved children are living in the areas in and around Louisville, Lexington, and Covington.

Lack of knowledge about the benefit isn’t the only barrier for our children. SSA does not have the benefit application online — families must drive to the nearest SSA office to begin the process. Some families are erroneously rejected or believe that if the deceased working father was not on a child’s birth certificate, they are ineligible (which is not the case). All this means that SSA is holding billions of dollars in unpaid child survivors benefits that have been paid into the system by these children’s working parents.

Thankfully, improvements are on the way. The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics is working on a brochure to promote the benefit. The SSA is working with other government teams to look at how they can make this benefit more accessible and get the application online.

To help improve financial stability and hopeful outcomes for Kentucky’s children, you can help spread the word about this important financial resource to families where a working parent has died. For information on this and other free resources and programs available to grieving families and the professionals and educators working with them, visit the website of The Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families at www.kcgcf.org.

Leila Salisbury is the founder and executive director of the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families in Lexington. She invites children with loss to join them for a free Children’s Grief Awareness Day family program on Nov. 21, done in partnership with Bluegrass Care Navigators. Register at www.kcgcf.org/news-and-events