Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure the Office of Acquisition and Grants, in consultation with the Chief Information Officer, revises relevant guidance to identify the role of contracting officials in the Agile software development process.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration agreed with the recommendation but has not yet taken actions to implement it.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security should direct the Office of Earnings and International Operations to coordinate with the Division of Federal Employees' Compensation to take steps to modernize and improve the process of manually generating benefit amounts with and without federal earnings and exchanging information between the agencies to enable the provision of offset estimates to FECA recipients upon request and to reduce the potential for human error in applying offsets. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should develop and implement policies and procedures for assessing and tracking the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. This includes assessing the impact of its training on agency performance goals related to increased hiring of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should, in collaboration with OMB, solicit input from CMS, FBI, IRS, and state agency stakeholders on revisions to its security policy to ensure that cybersecurity requirements for state agencies are consistent with other federal agencies and NIST guidance to the greatest extent possible and document the SSA's rationale for maintaining any requirements variances. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should fully develop policies for coordinating with state agencies on the use of prior findings from relevant cybersecurity assessments conducted by other organizations. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should revise its assessment policies to maximize coordination with other federal agencies to the greatest extent practicable. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security should, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, develop and document a plan for updating future CAWR MOUs. The plan should identify actions, time frames, and responsible parties, including executive leadership. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security should, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, develop and implement goals and performance measures for the CAWR MOU. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security should, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, develop and document a strategy for assuring that the reviews required by the updated MOU are completed within the specified time frames. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security should, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, clearly define the data elements they exchange with IRS. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should develop and implement a process, documented in policies and procedures, to measure the effectiveness of SSA's corrective actions for OASDI and SSI improper payments. This process should clearly demonstrate the effect SSA's corrective actions have on reducing improper payments. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In commenting on our draft report, SSA stated that it will determine the most cost-effective strategies to remediate the underlying causes of payment errors and monitor, measure, and revise the strategies as needed.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should clarify policies and procedures to remind staff that a diagnosis of a substance use disorder is not necessary to conduct a Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. The agency stated that it had revised related policies in February 2020, and had planned to issue guidance and video-on-demand training to further clarify policies and procedures in this area. However, SSA said its efforts to maintain mission critical activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic have delayed further implementation of this recommendation and a specific implementation date could not be provided at this time.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that staff document their rationale for decisions involving the Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation process. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. The agency said it had planned to issue guidance reinforcing its policy on properly documenting decisions involving the Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation process. However, SSA said its efforts to maintain mission critical activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic have delayed implementation of this recommendation and a specific implementation date could not be provided at this time.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the agency fully implements each of the five key IT workforce planning activities it did not fully implement. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In November 2019, Social Security Administration officials provided the agency's recently issued IT workforce strategy for fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2022. We plan to review the strategy, and when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that (a) the agency's policies and guidance are specific enough so field office staff know how to apply complex suitability criteria for assessing payee suitability, such as by providing a minimum set of specific questions; and (b) additional regional guidance that is made available to staff is centrally reviewed for compliance and completeness. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation but did not specify plans to address it.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should create safeguards in the Electronic Representative Payee System (eRPS) to ensure that field office staff fully document all required information, such as the rationale for their decision, before approving an application. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and identified actions to address it. Specifically, SSA reported that, as part of implementing the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018, planned changes to eRPS will improve documentation of selection decisions. SSA also reported it will also consider additional enhancements to eRPS in the future. We will consider closing this recommendation when this effort is complete.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should complete a plan, including timeframes, for comprehensively evaluating if and how to leverage external sources of information on organizations' suitability, such as by conducting background checks or credit checks on organizations or key staff that handle beneficiaries' funds or requiring organizations to conduct their own background checks on key staff. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and identified actions to address it. SSA officials stated that it is first focusing on implementing provisions of the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 related to background checks for certain individual payees. After completing this work, the agency plans to evaluate conducting criminal background checks and credit checks on organizational payees and their staff. While we agree that implementing background screening pursuant to the law should take precedence, SSA should seek opportunities to implement screening for organizational payees at the earliest opportunity.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should develop and implement mechanisms to systematically obtain and review feedback from organizational payees and communicate findings to SSA management. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation but did not identify plans to address it.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should (a) establish a plan and time frame for periodically reviewing the predictive model's design; (b) consider additional data sources that would allow for additional screening or modeling of potentially high-risk organizational payees; and (c) ensure that subsequent design decisions are documented in sufficient detail so the development process can be more fully understood and replicated, either by SSA or a knowledgeable third party, with minimal further explanation. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation in 2019 and identified actions to address it. The agency stated that it would pursue other data sources to develop additional screening tools and models to identify potentially high-risk organizational payees, but that it is unable to incorporate additional data into the existing model. They reported they cannot use new data to modify the existing model, which was built from cases and transactions that occurred many years ago. We recognize that the current model, which focuses on misuse findings and is based on historical data, presents challenges for both updating and including new data sources. Therefore, as SSA considers additional screening tools and models to identify high-risk, low-volume organizational payees, SSA should develop a plan for revising the existing model that allows for more timely updates and results in documentation of related design decisions. In April 2020, SSA officials reported that the agency is finalizing a plan to revise the existing model and would pursue other data sources to develop additional screening tools and models to identify potentially high-risk organizational payees.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should require field offices to contact payees about missing or problematic annual accounting forms within a specific time frame. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation but did not identify plans to address it.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should revise the annual accounting form to enhance its effectiveness. Such revisions could include (but not be limited to) more fully ascertaining the use of collective accounts, adopting stakeholders' recommendations on using the form to collect more meaningful data, and reflecting best practices from behavioral science insights in the design of the form. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation but did not identify plans to address it.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should enhance the eRPS system to ensure that field offices are (a) alerted when collective accounts are due to be reviewed; and (b) able to take action on expired collective account information and thereby avoid payees' continued use of these accounts without oversight. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and identified actions to address it. SSA officials reported that they would work with staff to ensure staff know where to find alerts for expiring accounts and enhance how eRPS displays information on collective accounts that have already expired. We agree with SSA's proposed actions. However, we adjusted our recommendation to clarify that SSA should enhance eRPS in a manner that ensures staff take action on expired accounts and that payees do not continue to use expired accounts without oversight.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should, as it carries through with its plan to develop a risk assessment for the organizational payee program, ensure that that the plan reflects periodic consideration of findings from onsite reviews and audits. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. In April 2020, SSA officials reported starting its Representative Payee Fraud Risk Assessment. We will consider closing this recommendation when SSA ensures that its risk assessment plan reflects periodic consideration of findings from onsite reviews and audits.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should fully establish and document a process for coordination between cybersecurity risk management and enterprise risk management functions. (Recommendation 58)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: SSA concurred with this recommendation. As of January 2020, SSA stated that it has initiated a formal process for coordination between its cybersecurity risk management and enterprise risk management teams and that this process should be fully established by the third quarter of FY 2020. Once SSA has provided evidence of these actions, we plan to verify whether implementation has occurred.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) should take action to meet the data center-related cost savings established under DCOI by OMB. (Recommendation 34)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on our report, the Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed with our recommendation and began taking action to implement it. After the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the updated Data Center Optimization Initiative policy in June 2019, the agency established a new data center-related cost savings target. The agency subsequently reported meeting its fiscal year 2019 cost savings target of $0. However, given the short time to evaluate implementation efforts between when OMB released the updated policy in June 2019 and the end of fiscal year 2019, we will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to implement this recommendation through fiscal year 2020.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should take action to meet the data center optimization metric targets established under DCOI by OMB. (Recommendation 35)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on our report, the Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed with our recommendation and began taking action to implement it. After the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the updated Data Center Optimization Initiative policy in June 2019, the agency established new data center optimization targets. Subsequently, the agency reported meeting its targets for the virtualization, advanced energy metering, and server utilization metrics. However, given the short time to evaluate implementation efforts between when OMB released the updated policy in June 2019 and the end of fiscal year 2019, we will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to implement this recommendation through fiscal year 2020.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of the Social Security Administration (SSA) updates the agency's guidance on assessing IT investments for suitability for cloud computing services to include a requirement to assess existing investments for these services. (Recommendation 33)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials provided a copy of the agency's updated guidance but the guidance did not include language that addressed our recommendation. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of SSA completes an assessment of all IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 34)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials reported that the agency had completed an assessment of all investments for cloud services. However, our review of the agency's IT Dashboard data in November found that 24 investments remained to be reviewed. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the CIO of SSA establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 35)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) concurred with our recommendation and reported that the agency would take action to address it. In November 2019, SSA officials reported that the agency was working toward implementing a tool that would track cloud savings and avoidances but did not provide a timeframe for when the tool would be finalized. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from SSA regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Social Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of State and Treasury, should establish a formal means to collaboratively address ongoing issues—including issues accessing financial services and employment and obtaining SSNs—that U.S. persons living abroad encounter from implementation of FATCA reporting requirements. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) has taken or plans to take steps to implement GAO's April 2019 recommendation. SSA worked with the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of State (State) to develop and post online frequently asked questions on how to obtain a Social Security number, renounce U.S. citizenship, and comply with U.S. tax obligations. Additionally, in October 2019, SSA said it plans to conduct outreach events for U.S persons living abroad who need Social Security numbers. However, as of December 2019, SSA lacked a collaborative interagency mechanism with Treasury and State to address ongoing FATCA implementation issues, such as recurring issues U.S. persons may have obtaining Social Security numbers. Treasury is responsible for leading efforts to establish such a mechanism; however, SSA's participation in such a mechanism on a continuing basis will help agencies address remaining issues Americans living abroad experience from FATCA.

Recommendation: The Deputy Commissioner for Hearings Operations should evaluate the costs versus the benefits of changing system limitations that hinder users' ability to correctly and efficiently identify and transfer batches of cases. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed and in May 2019 stated that it is in the early stages of developing and rolling out a new case processing system to replace its Case Processing and Management System called the Hearings and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS). HACPS will provide end-to-end disability claims processing infrastructure to support the full life-cycle of a disability claim and give users greater flexibility in correctly and accurately transferring cases to and from hearing sites process. It will include hearings and appeals case processing functionality. In early 2020, SSA reported that there were six releases of HACPS from November 2018 through September 2019 and they expect full implementation by early FY 2021.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should work with RRB to explore options for electronically sharing data and limiting the reliance of the financial interchange process on manual data entry. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA reported that it received a data exchange request from RRB in October 2018. RRB proposed to send SSA a file of beneficiary and earnings data, and receive calculations for sample financial interchange cases. RRB and SSA discussed options for exchanging information electronically. In early 2020, SSA reported that it is developing a Rough Order of Magnitude/Cost Estimate for electronically sharing data and limiting the reliance of the financial interchange process on manual data entry under its existing agreement. The agency has no timeline to complete this effort.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should take additional steps to provide oversight of financial interchange calculations at the individual-case level. This could include periodically reviewing a subset of these cases. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In September 2020, SSA reported that it has developed plans to review of a subset of financial interchange calculations as the individual-case level. SSA anticipates that this review will take place following the completion of RRB's fiscal year 2021-2022 financial interchange calculations. We will close this recommendation once SSA's review successfully takes place.

Recommendation: The Social Security Administration Commissioner should take steps to improve the likelihood that the Notice of Potential Private Pension Benefit Information corresponds to actual retirement benefits in the future, for example, by working with IRS as necessary. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. In November 2019, SSA stated that the agency is meeting with the IRS regularly to discuss Form 8955-SSA, which provides the basis for the information shown in the "Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information" notice. The IRS agreed to incorporate SSA's suggestion to update Form 8955-SSA to explain that the filer should include the individual pension plan participant's full social security number (SSN) on the form. SSA reported that it is working with the IRS to clarify coding instructions for Form 8955-SSA and institute a new edit to its paper processing to ensure accuracy. They are also considering potential data exchanges with filers. We will monitor the agency's progress in completing these tasks.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should develop a set of public performance measures, to include accuracy and consistency, as well as timeliness, of administrative law judges' (ALJ) disability decisions. SSA could consider whether existing quality review or monitoring efforts could provide suitable data for such measures. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and stated that it would address it as part of a comprehensive assessment and refinement of its oversight roles and processes. As of February 2020, SSA officials reported that the agency developed a new review of hearing decisions to assess decisional quality on a national level. Officials said they implemented the review throughout fiscal year 2019 and will draft a report on the findings in fiscal year 2020. As they review results from this review, SSA officials said that they will assess whether existing quality review measures will provide suitable data for performance measures related to timeliness, consistency, and accuracy. Officials said they do not have a timeline for implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of SSA should systematically evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of its quality assurance reviews and take steps to reduce or better manage any unnecessary overlap among them to ensure strategic use of resources. Such steps could include enhancing collaboration where reviews overlap or only conducting the reviews that are most efficient and effective in achieving agency goals for improving accuracy and consistency of ALJ disability decisions. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and stated that it would address this recommendation as part of a comprehensive assessment and refinement of its oversight roles and processes. In March 2018, SSA noted that the Offices of Quality Review and Appellate Operations are now consolidated under the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight (OARO). According to SSA, OARO was created with the purposes of enhancing collaboration, eliminating unnecessary overlap, and enhancing the efficiency of reviews. As of February 2020, SSA officials said that they developed a new review of favorable and unfavorable hearing decisions to provide statistically valid results on the quality of decisions on appealed disability claims at the national level. Officials said they will use the results of this one-time review to help assess the utility of their other quality reviews. Successful completion of these efforts should help to ensure effective use of resources in overseeing the quality of decisions on appealed disability claims.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the Administration's Chief Information Officer verifies the completeness of SSA's inventory of current telecommunications assets and services and establishes a process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory regarding services other than local and long-distance telecommunications. (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: Social Security Administration (SSA) officials stated that the agency is in the process of making significant changes to its procedures and policy for its telecommunications inventory. The officials expect to have a complete inventory of their telecommunications assets and services by 2021. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the Administration's Chief Information Officer completes identification of the agency's future telecommunications needs and aligns its approach with the agency's enterprise architecture. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: Social Security Administration (SSA) officials stated that the agency's priority is to transition its telecommunications services on a like-for-like basis, in order to complete the transition before its existing contracts expire, as well as to receive immediate cost savings. Officials also stated that, once SSA has released its EIS solicitations, they plan to analyze the alignment of their future telecommunications needs with the agency's enterprise architecture. However, SSA has not yet provided documentation demonstrating that it has completed this analysis. We will continue to monitor SSA's progress on these efforts.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the Administration's Chief Information Officer uses configuration and change-management processes in its transition. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) provided documentation demonstrating that it has implemented a change management process, including establishing a change control board that is scheduled to meet on a weekly basis and tracking change requests in its IT Service Management tool. However, SSA has not yet demonstrated that it has implemented configuration management processes for its transition. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to implement these processes.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the Administration's Chief Information Officer identifies the resources needed for the full transition, documents the costs and benefits of transition investments, identifies staff resources needed for the remainder of the transition, and analyzes training needs for all staff working on the transition. (Recommendation 19)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) provided documentation demonstrating that it has identified the staff resources and required training for staff working on the transition. However, SSA has not yet provided documentation demonstrating that it has identified the funding resources needed for the full transition, nor documented the costs and benefits of transition investments, such as for resource requests related to transition program management staff. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the Administration's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify measures of success for the transition, identifies transition risks related to critical systems and continuity of operations, and identifies mission-critical priorities in SSA's transition timeline. (Recommendation 20)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: The Social Security Administration (SSA) has identified transition risks related to critical systems and continuity of operations. In addition, SSA officials stated that the agency is in the process of identifying (1) agency-specific measures of success for the transition and (2) mission-critical priorities that need to be incorporated into its transition timeline. However, SSA has not yet provided documentation demonstrating that it has completed these efforts. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: To address demonstrated noncompliance with section 15(k) of the Small Business Act, as amended, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should comply with sections 15(k)(2), (k)(3), (k)(6), (k)(8), (k)(11), and (k)(15) or report to Congress on why the agency has not complied, including seeking any statutory flexibilities or exceptions believed appropriate.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to develop a long-term facility plan that explicitly links to SSA's strategic goals for service delivery, and includes a strategy for consolidating or downsizing field offices in light of increasing use of and geographic variation in remote service delivery.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said its Space Acquisition Review Board (SARB) continues to meet periodically and focuses on efficiently using the agency's resources to reduce its real estate footprint and proactively addressing organizational and operational changes. In addition, SSA said its goals, results, and future plans of its real estate strategy are documented in its annual Real Property Efficiency Plan. GAO reviewed SSA's Real Property Efficiency Plan for 2019-2023 (dated September 2018). This plan states that SSA is using two model field offices to test how emerging technologies and service delivery methods could result in reductions to field office space agency-wide. However, it does not include specific plans for adjusting its overall physical footprint in light of expanding remote service delivery. To close this recommendation as implemented, SSA will need to demonstrate that it has developed a long-term facility plan--possibly building on its model field office pilot--that links to its strategic goals for service delivery and includes a plan for adjusting its field offices in light of increasing use of and geographic variation in remote service delivery.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to reassess and, if needed, revise its field office space standards to ensure they provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate both unexpected growth in the demand for services and new service delivery technologies.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it published its consolidated and revised Space Allocation Standards and Space Computation Worksheets in June 2019. It said the revised standards include standardized offices, work stations, and employee personal storage space. To close this recommendation as implemented, GAO will need to see evidence that the revised space allocation standards allow more flexibility for growth in demand and new service delivery methods, or at least that SSA considered incorporating such flexibility.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to develop a cost-effective approach to identifying the most common issues with online benefit claims that require staff follow-up with applicants, and use this information to inform improvements to the online claims process.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it has identified the most common reasons for technician follow-up on the iClaims system, and based on these reasons has developed a list of potential future enhancements to iClaim. SSA said it prioritized the enhancements based on which would provide the most relief, but is still determining if enhancements can be made. To close this recommendation as implemented, GAO will need to see evidence that SSA has in fact implemented changes to the iClaim system based on the data it collected on reasons for technician follow-up.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency for its alternative customer services approaches, including desktop icons and video services in third-party sites, to develop performance goals and collect performance data related to these goals.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it has developed performance goals for its SSA Express Icons: 15,000 new visitors annually and 50 new partner sites annually. It also said it continues to work on a dashboard for behavioral based management information data collection for the Icon project. This effort will allow the agency to collect better data regarding customer usage. For GAO to close this recommendation as implemented, SSA will need to demonstrate that it has implemented performance measures for its full range of alternative service delivery methods and is collecting related performance information.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should analyze the SEIE data to determine why a large proportion of transition-age youth on SSI with reported earnings did not benefit from the SEIE and, if warranted, take actions to ensure that those eligible for the incentive benefit from it.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. In August 2018, the agency reported that it was evaluating the accuracy of its SEIE data and once completed, the agency would analyze these data to determine whether there are significant numbers of students with earnings who are not benefiting from the SEIE. In February 2020, SSA reported that it was still working to resolve the issues with SEIE data identified during GAO's audit. SSA does not currently have a timeline for completing its analysis of its SEIE data. SSA also reported that it has submitted legislative proposals in several Presidential Budgets, most recently in fiscal year 2021, that would eliminate earnings reporting for youth, which would prevent similar concerns in the future. GAO will close this recommendation when SSA analyzes SEIE data and, if warranted, takes actions needed to ensure those eligible for SEIE benefit from it, or when all students with earnings receive SEIE because SSA's legislative proposal was enacted.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should analyze options to improve communication about SSA-administered work incentives and the implications of work on SSI benefits, with a goal of increasing understanding of SSI program rules and work incentives among transition-age youth and their families. This should include, but not necessarily be limited to, updating SSAs procedures for staff meeting with SSI applicants, recipients, and their families to regularly and consistently discuss - when applicable--how work incentives can prevent reductions in benefit levels and how work history is considered during eligibility redeterminations.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA disagreed with this recommendation. In August 2018, SSA noted it already requires staff to meet with SSI recipients regularly and instructs staff to discuss relevant work incentives, and that there is no indication that staff are not providing youth with appropriate work incentive information. However, SSA did not explain how it knows or ensures that staff are providing this information and SSA policies do not instruct staff to consistently convey information to youth and families on how work may or may not affect age 18 redetermination. SSA also reported that Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) projects must prioritize working with youth who are referred to them. While we recognize the important role that WIPA projects play in providing work incentives counseling to SSI youth, as we previously reported, WIPA projects have limited capacity for serving youth along with other SSI recipients and disability insurance beneficiaries. In June 2019, SSA reported it had updated a brochure-containing information in English or Spanish on age-18 redeterminations, impact of earnings on benefits, work incentives and contact information to include information on SSA work incentives that may allow recipients who work to keep their Medicaid benefits. As of February 2020, the agency reported that it began sending this brochure to approximately 358,000 youth between the ages of 14 and 17 who receive SSI, and made this brochure available on its website. SSA also reported that it has begun exploring ways to better utilize social media to reach youth. While these are positive steps, we previously reported that written information may not be sufficient for conveying complex information. GAO continues to believe that SSA field office staff are both obliged and best-positioned to explain these rules. Moreover, in response to an SSA request for information in January 2018, SSA received public feedback on how it might improve transition outcomes for youth on SSI through better communication, suggesting that SSA's current communication strategies may not be sufficiently effective. We will consider closing this recommendation when SSA has taken further steps to ensure field staff are providing consistent and accurate information.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should work with the Secretary of Education to determine the extent to which youth on SSI are not receiving transition services through schools that can connect them to VR agencies and services.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA partially agreed with this recommendation, but after discussing it with the Department of Education, reported that significant challenges exist to pursuing certain implementation approaches. In December 2019, SSA reported that it continues to support research to identify the connection between youth on SSI and the receipt of VR services through its Retirement and Disability Research Consortia and its Analyzing Relationships Between Disability, Rehabilitation, and Work programs. SSA also reported that until very recently, data on open VR cases were unavailable at the national level; thus, it has not been possible to actively monitor SSI and VR participation in a timely manner. However, SSA reported that the agency will explore the possibility of using newly available data on open VR cases as resources allow. Determining the extent to which SSI youth are receiving or have access to services may help youth on SSI achieve employment and, potentially, self-sufficiency.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should explore various options for increasing connections to VR agencies and services, including their potential costs and benefits. One option, among others, could be to expand the Ticket to Work program to include youth.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and, in August 2018, SSA officials reported that they had taken several steps to explore and pursue options for increasing youths' connections to vocational rehabilitation agencies and services. Specifically, officials previously reported that they published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register in January 2018 that asks, among other things, for strategies to connect youth receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) with vocational rehabilitation agencies and about options for programs like a Ticket to Work for youth. In July 2019, SSA reported receiving and analyzing almost 200 responses to its RFI and indicated that it plans to discuss its findings with federal partners and other stakeholders. SSA officials also previously reported that the agency reviewed the Social Security Act and that the law precludes SSA from directly or indirectly referring youth on SSI to vocational rehabilitation agencies. Therefore, as of December 2019, the agency reported that it has submitted legislative proposals in several presidential budgets, including its fiscal year 2021 budget justification, that would allow SSA to refer youth to vocational rehabilitation agencies. SSA officials also reported that the agency has initiated demonstration projects to determine whether youth on SSI benefit from referrals to vocational rehabilitation agencies and commissioned reports related to services for youth.. According to information provided in July 2019, one of SSA's demonstration projects analyzes an experimental intervention to improve the outcomes of children receiving SSI by providing personalized information to families about the likelihood that a child will not continue on SSI as an adult, as well as resources to help these youth with the transition to employment. The resources offered will include: math tutoring, SAT/ACT test preparation, and help with applying for vocational rehabilitation services. In addition, according to information SSA provided in July and December 2019, the agency's second demonstration project will involve testing direct referrals to VR in one state for 19 year olds who are or may become SSI or Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries, and involves data sharing between SSA and the state on individuals eligible to participate in the project. This project is scheduled to begin recruiting participants in January 2020. SSA also reported that it has commissioned two reports on youth services that will help it identify implementable polices related to youth. Exploring the potential costs and benefits of employment support services for youth who receive or are at risk of being disability program beneficiaries as adults may help SSA develop programs to support the self-sufficiency of these youth. However, to date, SSA has not indicated that it has explored, or it may be too soon to explore, the costs and benefits of any of the options SSA has considered for increasing access to vocational rehabilitation agencies for youth on SSI.

Recommendation: To implement the goals and policy priorities of the 2020 Federal Youth Transition Plan, the Federal Partners in Transition (FPT) workgroup--the Secretaries of HHS, Education, Department of Labor, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration--should develop a long-term implementation plan that includes milestones and specific agency roles and assignments.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In November 2019, SSA again reported that it meets on a monthly basis in both the Federal Partners in Transition (FPT) steering and general meetings, and that these meetings have created a working, structured, collaborative effort to address the audit recommendation and meet the policy priorities outlined in the FPT 2020 plan. SSA noted that the voluntary, ad-hoc nature of the FPT precludes definitive role assignments and implementation plans. We continue to maintain that being a voluntary initiative does not preclude the FPT from establishing long-term milestones and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Further, a long-term plan can be changed, and need not be definitive. Without a long-term implementation plan that includes milestones and specific agency roles and assignments, it is less likely that the priorities outlined in the 2020 Plan will be achieved.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Social Security Administration (SSA) partially met the following two software application inventory practices, (1) includes systems from all organizational components, and (2) regularly updates the inventory with quality controls to ensure reliability. In March 2017, SSA officials reported that the agency's Office of Systems and Office of Operations continue to collaborate on integrating application information into the Enterprise Application Inventory. The officials reported that regionally developed applications that have been granted authority to operate have been imported into the enterprise application inventory. In addition, the officials stated that the Office of Operations was in the process of redesigning their repository to accommodate requirements to support the Enterprise Application Inventory, including the ability to update and maintain application information in the enterprise repository. Lastly, SSA officials reported that its Office of Information Security and Office of Systems were continuing to work to identify additional headquarters applications and develop process and automation to include applications in the inventory. In June 2019, SSA officials reported that they were continuing to make progress to update the inventory to include systems from all organizational components. However, as of January 2020, we had not received an updated inventory. We will continue to monitor SSA's efforts to develop a complete application inventory.

Recommendation: To ensure the agency has sufficient information about risks to SSI program integrity when making decisions about efforts to address them, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should conduct a risk assessment of the current manual process for connecting and adjusting claim records of SSI recipients who live in households with other SSI recipients, and, as appropriate, take steps to make cost-effective improvements to SSA's claims management system to address identified risks.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In September 2020, SSA stated that it will include its current manual process for connecting and adjusting claims records for SSI recipients who live in households with other SSI recipients as a potential risk in the agency's upcoming Fraud Risk Assessment of the SSI program. According to SSA officials, the Fraud Risk Assessment will assess the current manual process based on its inherent risks, existing controls to reduce the risks, and the residual effects if the agency implements a process to connect SSI recipients' records. In addition, officials said they will determine a risk response as part of this assessment. SSA anticipates conducting the Fraud Risk Assessment of the SSI program by the end of calendar year 2020.

Recommendation: To ensure effective and appropriate recovery of DI overpayments and administration of penalties and sanctions, the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should clarify its policy for assessing the reasonableness of expenses used in determining beneficiaries' repayment amounts to help ensure that withholding plans are consistently established across the agency and accurately reflect individuals' ability to pay.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: As of June 2020, SSA reported taking a number of steps to address this recommendation. According to SSA, it updated its guidance in 2017 to help ensure that staff consistently process various requests from overpaid individuals. SSA also reported that it is taking additional steps to update instructions on how staff should consider whether expenses reported by individuals are reasonable when approving withholding plans. The agency expects these instructions to be complete by the end of fiscal year 2021. We will close this recommendation once SSA releases additional guidance on assessing the reasonableness of expenses.

Recommendation: To ensure effective and appropriate recovery of DI overpayments and administration of penalties and sanctions, the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should adjust the minimum withholding rate to 10 percent of monthly DI benefits to allow quicker recovery of debt.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation and in 2017 estimated that this change would result in an additional $213 million in collections over a 5-year period. The fiscal year 2021 President's budget submission contained a legislative proposal to make this change, and budgets since 2017 have contained similar proposals. As of June 2020, SSA reported that it plans to continue to submit similar legislative proposals. SSA also included the proposal in its regulatory agenda, noting that the change can also be implemented via regulatory change. We will close this recommendation once SSA achieves resolution from Congress on its legislative proposal or from its own regulatory efforts.

Recommendation: To ensure effective and appropriate recovery of DI overpayments and administration of penalties and sanctions, the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should consider adjusting monthly withholding amounts according to cost of living adjustments or charging interest on debts being collected by withholding benefits. Should SSA determine that it is necessary to do so, it could pursue legislative authority to use recovery tools that it is currently unable to use.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: Although SSA initially disagreed with this recommendation, the agency reassessed its response in June 2019 and decided to take additional actions. As of June 2020, SSA is developing a system to track debts (the Debt Management Product) which will have the ability to store, track, and apply interest and penalties to overpayment debts. SSA also reports that it is seeking a regulatory change to clarify procedures to charge interest on debts. While SSA is pursuing these measures to position itself to charge interest on debts, the agency has not yet decided whether it will ultimately do so. We will close this recommendation once SSA makes a decision on how to proceed with charging interest on overpayment debts.

Recommendation: To further ensure the effective screening of work reports, SSA should monitor its process for handling work reports to determine whether staff are taking action on work reports in accordance with proper procedures, and provide feedback to staff as needed.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA continues to disagree with this recommendation as of December 2019. As we reported, when SSA accepts a beneficiary's return to work allegation (work report), staff have 30 days to determine whether additional action is needed, such as a continuing disability review (CDR) to assess continued eligibility and determine whether benefits should be adjusted. However, not all work reports result in a CDR, and GAO reported that SSA lacks an oversight process to help determine whether work reports are not resulting in CDRs when they should. SSA continues to maintain that its staff carefully review work reports and make independent determinations on the need for a CDR. Absent an oversight process to ensure that work reports are properly screened, SSA may be missing opportunities to prevent overpayments for unreported work. SSA further reported that it may decide to complete a CDR through alternative approaches, such as its Continuing Disability Review Enforcement Operation process using Internal Revenue Service data, its Quarterly Earnings Project using Office of Child Support Enforcement data, or its analysis of electronically reported wages. However, SSA did not indicate whether these alternative avenues for conducting CDRs could identify errors made by its staff handling work reports and result in feedback. Implementing this recommendation will help ensure that SSA staff appropriately take action on work reports.

Recommendation: To enhance beneficiary understanding of work reporting requirements, SSA should: (a) Clarify work reporting requirements provided to beneficiaries. (b) Explore options for increasing the frequency of reporting reminders to DI beneficiaries, similar to those currently available to SSI recipients.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: As of December 2019, SSA reported taking several steps to clarify work reporting requirements. For instance, SSA reported it has developed outreach materials to share information with beneficiaries and advocacy groups. However, SSA has not provided sufficient documentation for GAO to determine if it has clarified issues identified in GAO's 2015 report, such as how and when to report work, and that beneficiaries may have to repay overpayments that occur even when they report work. Finally, SSA has not indicated whether it has assessed options for increasing the frequency of reporting reminders to DI beneficiaries. Until SSA can demonstrate that it has improved the clarity of its work reporting requirements and frequency of its work reporting reminders, DI beneficiaries may continue to incur overpayments, or be required to repay overpayments that occurred even though they reported work.

Recommendation: To improve SSA's ability to detect, prevent, and recover potential DI benefit overpayments due to the concurrent receipt of FECA benefits, the Commissioner of Social Security should strengthen internal controls designed to prevent DI overpayments due to the concurrent receipt of FECA benefits by implementing the alternative that provides the greatest net benefits.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: As of January 2020, SSA had taken steps to strengthen internal controls, as GAO recommended in July 2015, but it had not completed its efforts. In January 2020, SSA told GAO that it continues to work with DOL to establish a computer matching agreement to support the FECA data exchange and the agreement is pending at DOL for final review and signature. According to SSA, if the agreement is established, SSA will use the FECA benefit data to improve efficiencies in its ability to offset/reduce DI benefits when an individual is concurrently receiving FECA benefits. GAO will continue to monitor SSA's work in this area. SSA following through with these plans will help the agency identify and prevent potential DI overpayments.

Recommendation: To ensure that 401(k) plan participants have timely and adequate information to keep track of all their workplace retirement accounts, the Social Security Administration's Acting Commissioner should make information on potential vested plan benefits more accessible to individuals before retirement. For example, the agency could consolidate information on potential vested benefits, currently sent in the Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information notice, with the information provided in the Social Security earnings and benefits statement.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA disagreed with this recommendation, but did seek legal guidance to determine if it is permissible to include a general statement encouraging potential beneficiaries to pursue any external pension benefits in its benefit Statement. SSA's Office of the General Counsel determined that it would be permissible as long as it includes information required by law and the information is accurate. However, as of March 2020, SSA continues to believe that adding such information would place SSA in a position to respond to issues or questions about ERISA and private pension plans, which SSA considers to be outside its mission and about which the agency has no firsthand legal or operational knowledge. While we appreciate SSA's concern about providing information or advice about private pension plans, the agency already has a procedure for responding to such inquiries. The agency's Notice of Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information directs recipients to contact DOL with any questions about private retirement savings. We would expect that any increase in individuals asking SSA about their retirement savings, which could result from making information on vested benefits more accessible, could be handled in the same way. SSA said it also believes that the current benefit Statement adequately covers the fact that people need other savings, pensions, and investments and the agency sends notices to people who may quality for other pensions. We welcome SSA's efforts to raise awareness about the role of private retirement savings in ensuring financial security and in to notify individuals of potential benefits. However, these efforts do not supplant the need for individuals to have early and ongoing access to complete information on their potential plan benefits. In February 2018, bipartisan members of Congress introduced legislation that would make this possible. The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2018 (S. 2474) would house SSA's data on potential private retirement benefits in a secure database, which would be searchable online by participants and beneficiaries prior to retirement. Whether the legislation is enacted or not, we continue to believe that SSA should work to make its valuable data on potential vested plan benefits more accessible to individuals before retirement.