2. SSA Has Taken Some Steps to Address the Current Challenges It Faces in Identifying, Selecting, and Monitoring Representative Payees

SSA has faced challenges identifying, selecting, and monitoring  representative payees. For example, field office managers said that some  field offices have been struggling to keep up with payee program  workloads due to staff attrition and that managers themselves sometimes  have to perform payee program duties that claims representatives  typically handle, such as processing payee applications. In addition, SSA  has experienced an increasing number of beneficiaries, such as persons  suffering from mental health conditions or the elderly, who may not have  a suitable payee readily available. However, as of April  4, 2013, SSA officials said this effort did not result in the addition of any  new payees. SSA has also taken steps to address challenges it has had with ensuring  that payees who are assigned are suitable for the task. For instance, in  June 2012, SSA initiated a pilot in its Philadelphia region to screen and  block payee applicants who have been convicted of any 1 of 12 types of  felonies. SSA said that the pilot primarily relies on  self-reported information from payee applicants. Although the database could  help SSA staff in the Philadelphia region better screen payee applicants,  it is limited because it does not contain data from every state. It is not  clear how, if at all, SSA is going to address these limitations. process that allows payees to submit reports online, which saves SSA  time on handling the reports and scanning paper reports. However, it  does not lessen the need for SSA staff to review some of these reports. Nonetheless, the OIG  continues to identify the program as a major management challenge  facing SSA. SSA Has Done Little to Position Itself to Address the Program’s Long-Term Challenges

		Changing Demographics and Resource Constraints Pose Long-Term Challenges for the Representative Payee Program

Changing demographics will challenge SSA’s ability to effectively  administer its Representative Payee Program in the future. Given the  projected growth in the aged population, SSA will likely be challenged to  locate more payees as well as monitor a greater number of them in the  future. Staff and resource constraints also present challenges for the future  administration of the Representative Payee Program. While SSA plans to  assess how easily the pilot can be implemented, it has no plans to  determine whether the pilot actually reduces the incidence of benefit  misuse by payees in the long-run. SSA  acknowledged the need to better understand the future needs of the  program, but it has not determined how many beneficiaries will likely need  payees in the future and their characteristics. each of the options, mostly related to balancing SSA’s efforts to  streamline and simplify the program while adequately protecting  beneficiaries from fraud and abuse. With both of these options, SSA would still have to devote  some level of staff and resources to addressing any findings identified  during the reviews. For example, SSA could use  information from state courts to determine whether or not to appoint a  guardian as a payee or to better target its monitoring practices. For example, SSA has  recognized the potential benefits of some of these options, such as  limiting parental accounting requirements and developing a pool of  payees for hard to serve beneficiaries, and has taken steps toward  implementing them. Over the years, SSA has taken  important steps to improve the program in an effort to prevent misuse of  benefits by payees. Recommendations for Executive Action

To better position itself to address its growing challenges with  administering the program while protecting individuals’ benefits from  misuse, we recommend that the Commissioner of SSA direct the Deputy  Commissioner, Retirement and Disability Policy, to work with relevant  SSA offices to  1.  systematically evaluate the effectiveness of SSA’s criminal bar pilot to  help ensure that it meets its intended purpose of preventing misuse;  2.  estimate the long-term increase in the number of individuals who will  need a payee and their demographic characteristics, as well as the  resources that will be needed to meet this increase in demand; and  3.  develop a long-term strategy for addressing these challenges that  includes developing and testing a range of alternatives that could  streamline program processing to determine and compare their  feasibility and their potential impact on processing times and risk of  benefit misuse. Appendix I: Methodology for Identifying Options and Their Strengths and Weaknesses

We identified options that the Social Security Administration (SSA) could  consider to address the Representative Payee Program’s long-term  challenges by reviewing prior reports on the program such as the National  Research Council’s 2007 review of the program; Social Security Advisory  Board reports, SSA Office of the Inspector General, and GAO reports;  and other reports.
Why GAO Did This Study

Representative Payeespersons who SSA staff appoint to manage Social Security benefits for those unable to do so for themselvesplay an important role in ensuring that beneficiary needs are met. In fiscal year 2012, about 5.9 million payees managed $72 billion in annual benefits for nearly 8.4 million beneficiaries, a number that is likely to grow as the population ages. Congress and others have expressed concerns that SSA may not be well positioned to administer the Representative Payee Program, as currently structured, in the future. This report examines (1) administrative challenges facing the program and steps SSA has taken to address them and (2) long-term challenges and actions SSA has taken or could take to address them.
To answer these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant research, policies, federal laws and regulations, and other documents. GAO interviewed SSA officials and other parties, and visited the Philadelphia Regional Office. GAO also reviewed program trend data and studies on challenges associated with an aging population. GAO reviewed options SSA could consider to address program challenges and conducted interviews to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these options.

What GAO Found

The Social Security Administration (SSA) struggles to effectively administer its Representative Payee Program, despite steps taken to address its challenges in identifying, selecting, and monitoring representative payees. For example, due to increasing workloads and staff attrition, SSA field office managers in some offices said they sometimes have to perform payee program duties that lower level staff typically handle. SSA has also experienced an increasing number of beneficiaries who may not have a suitable payee available. In an effort to address this challenge, SSA hosted a webinar to recruit additional payees. However, SSA officials said this effort did not result in the addition of any new payees. SSA also faces challenges ensuring that payees who are selected are suitable for the task. To help address this challenge, SSA implemented a pilot program in its Philadelphia region to screen and bar payee applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes. The pilot relies on self-reported information from payee applicants, but SSA plans to screen applicants by accessing a commercial database that contains state-level criminal information. This database, however, does not contain information from every state and it is not clear how SSA will address this limitation. SSA also faces challenges monitoring payees' use of beneficiaries' SSA funds--a time-consuming process. SSA developed an electronic accounting process that allows payees to submit reports online, which saves SSA time on handling the reports and scanning paper reports. However, it does not lessen the need for SSA staff to review some of these reports. SSA has also taken other steps to improve the administration of the program, but the SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) nonetheless continues to identify the program as a major SSA management challenge.
Although changing demographics and resource constraints will challenge the future administration of the Representative Payee Program, SSA has done little to position itself for the long term. The projected growth in the aged population, as well as the incidence of individuals with dementia, will have implications for the program, as SSA will have to spend more resources finding and monitoring payees. These challenges are exacerbated by staff and resource constraints, which could make SSA less able to identify and address payee benefit misuse. Some of the steps SSA has taken align with goals in the agency's Strategic Plan. For example, SSA's piloting of a new payee screening and selection process is an effort to better protect the program from fraud, waste, and abuse--one of the objectives included in the plan. Nonetheless, SSA does not plan to assess whether the pilot actually reduces the incidence of benefit misuse in the long run. Further, SSA has not projected the future need for payees, the likely characteristics of beneficiaries, or the resources needed to administer the program. Others have identified a range of options that could help SSA address its long-term challenges by increasing its pool of payees and better targeting its monitoring practices. Experts and stakeholders we interviewed identified trade-offs for each of these options, citing the need to balance the potential benefit of reducing SSA's workloads with the possible increased risk of benefit misuse by payees. SSA has considered some options, but it has not fully assessed and compared the potential benefits and feasibility of implementing these options.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that SSA (1) evaluate the effectiveness of its criminal bar pilot, (2) estimate long-term program needs, and (3) develop a long-term strategy for addressing challenges that includes assessing options to streamline the program. SSA agreed with all three recommendations.