Opinion: Keep tabs on aid to victims

Aid organizations face a new problem -- how to spend nearly $1-billion that's been raised for the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The money is pouring in at a rate of $28-million a day, and the people giving -- schoolchildren, businessmen, single parents, waitresses -- deserve the comfort of knowing the money is being ably managed and will be well spent.

The vast majority of these efforts are well-intentioned, organized by corporations and charities with established records of public trust. Americans have every reason to believe the money will get where it's needed.

But the sheer volume of money involved, the massive numbers of those killed and injured and the growing number of public and private agencies helping in recovery efforts across several states make the delivery of cash and other assistance a monumental bureaucratic challenge.

With so many groups playing a role, the danger of losing money to duplication and waste is as great as from outright fraud and theft. Only the government is in a position to oversee the breadth of the humanitarian efforts in New York and Washington, organizing efforts to decide who qualifies for help, and what help is appropriate.

The immediate job is to account for the victims as accurately as possible, and assist those with pressing needs for financial, medical or legal assistance. The next step will be to create a triage system whereby victims' families can be put in touch with the hundreds of groups that are raising money for specific needs.

State officials in New York and New Jersey have done what they could during these early weeks to build an organization on the ground. But state and federal agencies need to create a fair and efficient system for the delivery of victims' benefits. Aid groups are under pressure to circulate the money as quickly as possible; Americans want to see that the money they've raised at car washes and intersections is helping in this time of need.

But the federal and state governments, which worked in such a cooperative manner in the days immediately after the attacks, should resist rushing to deliver aid until a central mechanism for awarding benefits is in place. This tragedy has had a destructive effect on the nation's economy and civil institutions. The government has a major oversight role to play in this public-private rehabilitation effort.

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