Thousands of young children lost parents to Covid. Where's help for them?

“And there’s help that we need.”But in a nation where researchers calculate that more than 46,000 children have lost one or both parents to Covid-19 since February 2020, Villegas and other survivors say finding basic services for their bereaved kids — counseling, peer support groups, financial assistance — has been difficult, if not impossible.“They say it’s out there,” Villegas said. Only about half of the 2 million children in the U.S. who have lost a parent as of 2014 received the Social Security benefits to which they were entitled, according to a 2019 analysis by David Weaver of the Congressional Budget Office.Counselors said they find many families have no idea that children qualify for benefits when a working parent dies, or don’t know how to sign up.In a country that showered philanthropic and government aid on the 3,000 children who lost parents to the 9/11 terror attacks, there’s been no organized effort to identify, track or support the tens of thousands of kids left bereaved by Covid-19.“I’m not aware of any group working on this,” said Joyal Mulheron, the founder of Evermore, a nonprofit foundation that focuses on public policy related to bereavement. “This is literally a national, very public health emergency,” Layne said.Still, Villegas and others say they have been left largely on their own to navigate a confusing patchwork of community services for their children even as they struggle with their own grief.“I called the counselor at school. “I am nervous about going to camp, but I am excited about meeting new kids who have also lost someone close in their life,” she said.Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreakJamie Stacy, 42, of San Jose, California, was connected with an online counselor for her daughter, Grace, 8, and twin sons, Liam and Colm, 6, after their father, Ed Stacy, died of Covid-19 in March 2020 at age 52.