1). Thus, a discussion of SSA’s organizational culture and its impact on the financial integrity of the SSI program is addressed in chapter 2. We reported in 1987 that SSA’s agencywide operations had been heavily influenced by an organizational culture or value system that placed a greater emphasis on processing and paying claims than on controlling program costs or improving operational efficiency. But SSI program direction and problem resolution have been hindered by SSA’s continued reluctance to take a leadership role in SSI policy development before major program crises occur and the subsequent tendency to react to these crises through a series of often ad hoc and piecemeal initiatives. Program direction has been further impaired by a strategic planning process that has not sufficiently focused on the specific characteristics and needs of the SSI program and its recipients. Recent examples of SSA’s management approach include its reluctance to develop policy options to address problems associated with assessing the SSI eligibility of children and substance abusers, helping SSI recipients enter the workforce, and determining recipient living arrangements. SSA’s reluctance to take a more proactive policy development role was also evident in regard to the recent debate surrounding SSI eligibility for drug addicts and alcoholics (DA&A). We have also documented SSA’s reluctance to play a leadership role in devising a return-to-work plan. As required by the Results Act, SSA developed and submitted its current strategic plan in 1997. Without a comprehensive strategy or plan for addressing specific SSI program problems, it is uncertain whether SSA will focus adequately on those areas that put SSI at the greatest risk or that corrective actions will be sustained over time. To a large extent, these long-standing problems and SSA’s inability to address them are attributable to an ingrained organizational culture that has historically placed a greater value on quickly processing and paying SSI claims than on controlling program costs, and a management approach that has been reluctant to address SSI program problems requiring long-term solutions and/or legislative change. However, our work suggests that SSA has not yet maximized its research and policy development role, nor has it developed adequate SSI program plans to serve as a blueprint for managing the program more strategically, focusing long-term program priorities and defining specific program goals. In implementing the Results Act, SSA recently committed to developing an SSI action plan in fiscal year 1998. However, we do not agree with SSA’s objection to developing specific performance measures to hold managers accountable for thoroughly verifying recipient information and combatting program fraud and abuse.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO provided information on the management problems associated with the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) to a great extent, SSA's inability to address its most significant long-standing SSI problems is attributable to two underlying causes: (a) an organizational culture or value system that places a greater priority on processing and paying claims than on controlling program expenditures; and (b) a management approach characterized by SSA's reluctance to fulfill its policy development and planning role in advance of major program crises; (2) SSA's organizational culture has traditionally valued quickly processing and paying SSI benefit claims more highly than controlling program expenditures by ensuring that only eligible individuals receive benefits; (3) other important financial controls such as aggressively pursuing the recovery of overpaid funds and combatting SSI fraud have also often received inadequate attention; (4) SSI problem resolution and program direction have also been hindered by SSA's hesitance to take a leadership role in SSI research and policy development, and its tendency to react to resulting crises through a series of ad hoc initiatives; (5) SSA's management approach was most evident regarding its reluctance to play a leadership role in recent policy debates surrounding SSI eligibility for children and substance abusers, and its failure to devise a comprehensive strategy to help SSI recipients return to work; (6) program direction has been further impaired by SSA's reluctance to develop agencywide plans that adequately focus on the specific characteristics and needs of the SSI program and its recipients; (7) SSA's current plans do not adequately communicate SSI priorities, goals, and objectives to staff; (8) reversing how the SSI program has traditionally operated will require sustained and expanded attention to developing and promoting tighter payment controls, increasing SSA's role in SSI research and policy formulation, and a willingness to define a long-term vision and strategy for improving program performance; (9) recently, SSA has initiated several measures aimed at improving the financial integrity of the SSI program; (10) as required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, SSA also intends to develop a comprehensive SSI Action Plan in fiscal year 1998, which will serve as a blueprint for long-term program operations; and (11) however, such a plan has not yet been developed, and decisive action is needed to ensure that SSA will focus on those program areas that pose the greatest management challenges and that corrective actions will be implemented and sustained over time.