In fiscal  year 2001, 6.7 million individuals received almost $28 billion in SSI  benefits. We believe that sustained management attention is necessary to improve  SSI program integrity. In recent years, SSA has taken action to strengthen its research and policy  development role in these and other areas. These are, in general, the same  challenges we have been highlighting since SSA became an independent  agency. SSA has made  disappointing progress on (1) its efforts to improve its disability claims  process, (2) the need to better integrate return-to-work strategies into all  phases of the disability process, and (3) the need to better plan for future  service delivery pressures and changes. Supplemental Security Income: Long-Standing Issues Require More  Active Management and Program Oversight. Information Technology Management: Social Security Administration  Practices Can Be Improved.
What GAO Found

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provided $450 billion in benefits to 50 million recipients in fiscal year 2001. Since 1995, when SSA became an independent agency, GAO has called for effective leadership and sustained management attention to several unresolved management challenges, including the redesign of its disability claims process, management and oversight problems with its SSI program, future service delivery demands, and implementing its information technology and research and policy development capacity. SSA has much more to do and will need to take bolder action or make more fundamental changes to existing programs.