The Paperwork Reduction Act requires federal agencies who want to collect information from the public to go through some formalities, one of which is publishing a notice in the Federal Register., about any new information collection forms. Here is an excerpt from a Paperwork Reduction Act notice that Social Security recently posted in the Federal Register:
Centenarian Project Development Worksheets: Face-to-Face Interview; Telephone Interview; Third Party Contact ... SSA [Social Security Administration] is conducting interviews with centenary beneficiaries age 103 and older to assess: (1) If the beneficiaries are still living; (2) to prevent fraud, through either identity misrepresentation or representative payee misuse of funds; and (3) to assess the well-being of the beneficiaries. SSA's San Francisco field offices are currently using this survey and we intend to expand its use to all other SSA field offices.
This strikes me as a waste of employee time and resources. I hope it is not expanded nationwide.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't anything new -- SSA used to do these checks in the past, though the last time I recall personally having done them is about 12-15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteOur manager at the time used to handle it like a little awards ceremony for the claimants - he'd present them with a fancy certificate.
agree with first comment...waste of time and money, which neither the centenarians nor the agency have much to spare
ReplyDeleteAs a manager doing these contacts, I can confirm that it is a waste of time and money. Being over 103 could be a reason to investigate some cases, but not everyone needs a personal visit and interview. We usually see the person asleep in a bed, ask for their driver license (like all 103 year olds have valid ID), and move on to the next.
ReplyDeleteUseful writing , Incidentally , others are wanting a 2014 IRS 8404 , my colleagues came across a blank version here http://pdf.ac/a3Pur2.
ReplyDelete