	Background

Under the SSI program, SSA pays monthly benefits to individuals who have  limited assets and income and are aged, blind, or disabled. SSA has  estimated that, during fiscal year 2002, it will make SSI benefits payments  totaling approximately $31.5 billion to about 6.4 million individuals. Technological and Other Barriers Contribute to Inefficiencies in the Fugitive Felon Program

In administering the fugitive felon program, SSA faces several  technological and other barriers that create inefficiencies in its processing  of fugitive warrant information to identify ineligible SSI recipients. In addition, both OIG’s and ITC’s program activities are supported by  distinct systems that are not interoperable or compatible, thus further  preventing the efficient exchange of information. However, a number of these states have been  reluctant to enter into agreements or, once they have, have not always  abided by them, largely because of SSA’s and the states’ concerns regarding  the lack of information technology and adequate resources to support the  program. SSA officials acknowledged that the  additional OASI and DI files could significantly increase the program’s data- matching activities. According to SSA systems officials, SSA  currently has a direct, dedicated on-line connection with every state’s  department of social services. In addition, we recommend that the  commissioner direct the program management office and manager to   conduct a detailed assessment of the fugitive felon program’s current  operations and performance, including a complete analysis of the  organizations, processes, information flows, and time frames required to  administer the program, a full accounting of the program’s costs,  estimated and actual program benefits, and current workload  requirements;  identify and prioritize, based on its assessment, those fugitive felon  processes that need improvement and develop a strategy for resolving  technological and administrative barriers preventing their efficient  operation;   continue to examine and propose options for using technology to  automate the currently manual functions involved in exchanging  fugitive warrant information with federal, state, and local law  enforcement agencies and in completing the verifications and referral of  this information, including assessing alternatives to using data-matching  agreements to obtain fugitive warrant information, and determining  whether on-line connections with state and local law enforcement  agencies and/or direct telecommunications connections with the FBI’s  NCIC database could offer viable and more efficient means of sharing  warrant information; and   assess the anticipated technological impact on fugitive felon operations  from the implementation of provisions prohibiting OASI and DI benefits  payments to fugitives, including identifying the additional information  systems support that would be needed to conduct and process leads  resulting from computer matches of warrant information against these  benefits recipients’ files. In addition, regarding our  statement that no program official could explain the overall data sharing  and matching process, SSA disagreed, stating that OIG and SSA officials are  able to explain the process in its entirety. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to examine the technological aspects of the fugitive  felon program in order to (1) identify technological barriers restricting (a)  data matching between the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) and the  Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) databases and (b) ongoing efforts  by SSA to obtain data-matching agreements with state and local law  enforcement agencies; (2) assess the technological impact on SSA and the  FBI should Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability  Insurance (DI) benefits be included in legislation restricting payments to  fugitive felons; and (3) determine whether other databases, such as those  maintained by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Fugitive Felon Program’s Assistance in Apprehending Fugitives and Preventing Them from Receiving SSI Payments

SSA reports that, since its inception in August 1996, the fugitive felon  program has been instrumental in helping identify approximately 45,000  fugitives who improperly collected at least $82 million in Supplemental  Security Income (SSI) benefits.
What GAO Found

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), is the largest cash assistance program in the United States. For fiscal year 2002, SSA expects to pay SSI benefits totaling $31.5 billion to more than six million financially needy individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled. Since becoming operational in August 1996, the fugitive felon program has provided a valuable service by helping SSA to identify and prevent payments to ineligible SSI benefits recipients and helping law enforcement agencies to locate and and apprehend fugitive felons. Nevertheless, several technological and other barriers are contributing to inefficiencies in the program's operations. Certain information systems that SSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) use in processing matched data are not interoperable or compatible, thus also hindering the efficient exchange of warrant information. Contributing to these inefficiencies is that no one office within SSA has been designated to oversee and manage the overall performance of the fugitive felon program. Consequently, no program officials could explain the overall data sharing and matching process. Largely because of the SSA's and states' limited uses of information technology to support the fugitive felon program, many state law enforcement agencies have been reluctant to enter into data-matching agreements with SSA. According to SSA and law enforcement officials, among the factors that made some states reluctant to enter into the agreements were that some states did not maintain central repositories of warrant information and SSA's guidance for formatting, downloading, and manually transmitting the information created additional resource requirements that some states were unable to meet. The enactment of legislation prohibiting OASI and DI payments to fugitive felons could increase SSA's recovery of improperly paid benefits and prevent more potentially dangerous fugitives from fleeing justice. However, the additional matches of warrant records against OASI and DI recipient files could substantially increase the data processing workloads of both SSA and the FBI's Information Technology Center. SSA may be able to improve the fugitive felon program's operational efficiency and outcomes by exploring its existing telecommunications connectivity supporting other federal, state, and local programs. SSA currently has direct, on-line connections with every state that transmits and receives data supporting various other programs, including its program to suspend SSI, OASI, and DI benefits to prisoners.