FEMA will give COVID aid to grieving families starting Monday

Thousands of dollars in federal relief will be available starting Monday for families that experienced the death of a loved one due to COVID-19. Up to $9,000 will be offered to people who lost a single family member, with a maximum of $35,000 in households that suffered multiple deaths. The money is being made available to help pay for funeral costs. It will be disbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the American Rescue Plan. The aid will definitely be welcome, said Charlie Duke, co-owner of Duke Funeral Home in Grafton and president of the Lorain County Funeral Directors Association. "We've had a lot of people struggling with costs they didn't expect," he said. "A lot of folks were laid off and out of work. That didn't make things any easier." Duke has handled 15 funerals this year for people who died of COVID-19. All but three were cremated as families sought less-expensive and safer ways to honor the departed. Duke said a typical funeral at his business costs between $6,500 and $7,000. Prices elsewhere can run a lot higher — $15,000 isn't out of the question. The U.S. average in 2019 was $7,640, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. But there are many other costs associated with funerals that need to be considered, Duke said. Cemetery lots, flowers, obituaries and headstones inflate the price very quickly. The FEMA money can be used toward funeral services, as well as either burial or cremation. Funding will cover the cost of transferring remains; buying a casket or urn, a burial plot or cremation niche, and a marker or headstone; clergy or other officiants; use of funeral home equipment and staff; costs associated with producing or certifying multiple death certificates; and additional expenses that are required by state or local law. It can be applied to funeral expenses for people who died of COVID-19 dating back to Jan. 20, 2020. There are some restrictions: The death must have occurred in the United States or its territories, and the applicants must be U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals or qualified immigrants. And most importantly, the death certificate must specify that COVID-19 was the cause of death. That will be a problem, because there were no tests for COVID-19 available from January to at least March, and they were in short supply for a time after, Lorain County Coroner Frank Miller said. He worries there will be a flood of requests to correct death certificates. There is no legal requirement to do so, but Miller said he'll help as many residents as possible. Death certificates signed by Miller and former Coroner Stephen Evans will be correct, he said. They "either do or do not list COVID on them for a reason," Miller said. But the vast majority of local death certificates are not signed by the coroner. They are signed by doctors at Mercy Health, University Hospitals or the Cleveland Clinic. There will also be "looser" cases where the exact cause of death will be in question. Miller said they include people who were never tested and died at home. There is no way to go back and review those cases with 100 percent accuracy, he said. Some records will simply be lacking the required information. "We're going to miss some that aren't going to get paid because there simply wasn't the history there," he said. Officials will also be on guard against fraudulent claims, Miller said. FEMA also is acknowledging the potential for Funeral Assistance Program scams. "FEMA will not contact anyone until they have called FEMA or have applied for assistance," its website says. "Do not disclose information such as the name, birth date or Social Security number of any deceased family member to any unsolicited telephone calls or emails from anyone claiming to be a federal employee or from FEMA." In Lorain County alone, there have been more than 400 deaths attributed to the virus. Nationwide, the death toll has surpassed 560,000. Families can apply for FEMA relief by calling a dedicated line at (844) 684-6333. According to FEMA, no online applications will be accepted. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.