Up to 4.6 Million Are Losing Out on Special Benefits : Social Security: Unwieldy application process is confusing elderly poor who qualify for supplemental income.

As many as 4.6 million poor Americans whose age or disabilities qualify them for special Social Security benefits are not receiving them because of a cumbersome application process and inadequate staffing, the agency’s commissioner acknowledged Thursday.

Appearing before a congressional committee, Social Security Commissioner Gwendolyn S. King said that many people eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income benefits do not know about the program, do not understand its benefits or cannot figure out how to apply.

SSI is a welfare program for poor Americans who are either over 65, blind or disabled. To qualify for the benefits, however, applicants must complete a 15-page application that some lawmakers said they had difficulty deciphering.

“It’s more than a little hard,” King said in testimony before the House Select Committee on Aging. “It boggles the mind.”

About 4.6 million people currently receive SSI payments, which were intended to help poor Americans not eligible for welfare programs such as Aid to Families With Dependent Children. Social Security’s main entitlement program--which provides payments for retirees, survivors and the disabled of all ages regardless of income--serves 38 million people.

SSI income standards vary from state to state, but the program generally applies to individuals with monthly incomes below $375, or couples with incomes below $550. Maximum monthly benefits are $386 for individuals and $579 for couples, if they pass stringent guidelines that take into account regular Social Security payments and other income.

King estimated that 35% of those Americans who are qualified to participate in the SSI program currently do not receive benefits. But in response to questions from lawmakers, she acknowledged that the number could be as high as 50%.

Based on the number of current participants, that means 2.5 million to 4.6 million potential recipients are not enrolled in the program.

Other witnesses said that hundreds of thousands of people--including large segments of the elderly, homeless and non-English-speaking communities--have not been reached by the program because of the elimination of 16,000 Social Security agency staff positions since the early 1980s.

A 1988 survey conducted for the American Assn. of Retired Persons found that nearly one-fourth of elderly respondents living near or below the poverty line had never heard of the program and that only 22% actually received SSI benefits.

A Department of Health and Human Services study released Thursday found that most Social Security Administration staff members have no bilingual ability, making it difficult for recent immigrants to understand the program and how to apply for it.

Many are turned away, at least temporarily, from offices that lack bilingual workers, the study found.

“The inspector general’s report provides evidence that for the non-English-speaking . . . inadequate effort by SSA may actually be hindering access to benefits,” said Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the select committee.

King said her agency is giving “priority hiring” to job applicants who can speak Spanish.

Several Washington-area homeless people testified that their applications were rejected repeatedly by SSI administrators who did little to help them.

Mary Rose Gerdes, a 63-year-old Washington resident, testified that she had been addicted to drugs and alcohol and on the streets for more than 20 years when the Social Security Administration rejected her application for SSI.

“I was very frightened,” Gerdes said, indicating that she did not understand the form but “filled it out the best I could.”

Two years later, with help from a Presbyterian Church social worker at the shelter where she had been staying, Gerdes successfully completed the form. She now receives $412 in combined Social Security and SSI aid, lives in an economy apartment and has saved about $400.

“For the first time in my life,” said Gerdes, nervous and shaking, “I feel sort of secure.”

King said that the Social Security Administration has budgeted $3.5 million in outreach programs during the current fiscal year to better inform potential recipients about SSI benefits and how to apply for them.

Bills pending in the Senate and House, including one filed Thursday by Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), would require the Social Security Administration to visit shelters to explain benefits, help homeless people apply and speed the appeals process for those cut off from aid.

However, while emphasizing the agency’s “moral obligation to reach out” to eligible people and help them apply for benefits, King said the agency could increase the number of SSI recipients “without a large infusion of money.”

Building partnerships with private groups that aid the elderly, homeless and disabled will be “the key to success” in getting the word out about SSI, King asserted.

“There are thousands of caring, compassionate people out there,” she said, calling them “a network of limitless potential that we would be foolish not to utilize.”

King’s assessment angered some listeners, who dismissed her emphasis on enlisting private organizations in the outreach effort as an abdication of federal responsibility.

“Ms. King is suggesting that we provide their outreach for them,” said Julie Turner, a social worker employed in Washington homeless efforts.

“I’m not here to push the papers for the federal government, and I’m not trained to do Social Security’s job for them,” Turner said in an interview.

Maria Foscarinis, director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a private advocacy group, told the committee that the agency has abandoned potential SSI recipients.

Staff writer Robert A. Rosenblatt contributed to this story.