Department of Human Services

Pension Rights Project

Help for those in the region with their pension plans.

February 1, 2011 | 2 min reading time

This article is 13 years old. It was published on February 1, 2011.

Pension plans and laws are complex and difficult to navigate without knowledgeable assistance.  That is why the U.S. Administration on Aging established a grant program to fund pension counseling projects across the United States.

The South Central Pension Rights Project (SCPRP) is one of the projects designed to help people in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico with their retirement benefit issues.

The St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAAA), a division of the city’s Department of Human Services, is partnering with the SCPRP by helping to spread the word to residents of the City of St. Louis who have worked in one of these states, or whose pension plan is headquartered or has operations in the region. 

Since it began operations in October 2008, SCPRP has recovered more than $2.5 million in benefits and has assisted more than 300 individuals with their retirement benefit questions. There is never any cost to clients, who are provided assistance regardless of age, income, or the value of the pension involved.

Corporate mergers and bankruptcies, and a volatile stock market mean that more people than ever are in need of help with their retirement benefits. SCPRP answers questions about complicated pension issues, locates and explains hard-to-find retirement plan documents, corrects pension miscalculations, tracks down benefits from past employers, and provides referrals to lawyers, actuaries and other retirement benefit professionals as needed.

SCPRP can assist with retirement income plans offered by private and government employers. They can help clients make more informed decisions about their retirement benefits by making sure they understand and can exercise their legal rights.

Individuals may contact SLAAA at (314) 612-5918 for information or they may contact SCPRP for assistance at (800) 443-2528, or visit their website at www.southcentralpension.org.