Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, including those in St. Lawrence County, will see a change in how they receive their monthly benefits beginning Wednesday, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) says.

SSI provides financial support to eligible aged, blind or disabled individuals to help meet their basic needs. This change in program administration will not impact the SSI benefit amount someone receives, OTDA said.

Beginning Oct. 1, eligible New Yorkers will receive two benefit payments instead of one. The first will come from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and the other will come from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance SSI State Supplement Program. Recipients will continue to receive the same total amount each month and will continue to receive payments at the same time of the month and in the same way they currently do, either by direct deposit or check, OTDA said.

New York State will realize significant savings each year by having OTDA administer the SSP benefits directly instead of paying the U.S. Social Security Administration to administer this program on its behalf, OTDA said.

More info: www.otda.ny.gov/programs/ssp or 1-855-488-0541 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Answers to frequently asked questions may be found at http://otda.ny.gov/programs/ssp/transition.asp