Findings from a Survey of 9/11-Affected Clients Served by the American Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program

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Executive Summary

The terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, were unprecedented in the history of the nation, and the American Red Cross was one of the first organizations to respond to the day's tragic events. The organization quickly sent personnel to all three attack sites and established service centers, arranged for shelter and feeding of survivors and rescue workers, and implemented programs that would provide support, financial assistance, and care to assist families searching for loved ones or coming to terms with their loss. In August 2002, the Red Cross established the September 11 Recovery Program (SRP) to provide longer-term assistance to the individuals and families with more lasting financial, health, and emotional needs related to the events of 9/11. SRP provided case management services, financial assistance with unmet essential expenses, financial assistance with health and mental health treatment costs, and subsidies for health insurance.

Establishing a program to provide longer-term services to people affected by a major disaster represented a departure from the shorter-term disaster relief service model the Red Cross typically follows. The Red Cross commissioned the Urban Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., to conduct a study of the SRP and provide feedback on service quality and effectiveness from the perspective of clients who were assisted by the program. This report, prepared by the Urban Institute, presents the findings of that study. Data for the study were collected through a telephone survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, of a random sample of SRP clients who received services between 2002 and 2005. A total of 1,501 adults (ages 18 and older) participated in the survey, yielding a response rate of 53 percent.

About two in five respondents (40 percent) received multiple services, usually a combination of financial and family support services. These respondents were more likely to be individuals who had lost a family member (called "beneficiaries" by Red Cross and referred to as "bereaved" in this report) and the seriously injured. Slightly more than one-third of respondents (36 percent) received financial assistance with health and mental health treatment costs only, and about one in five (21 percent) received case management services only.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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