OIG Says Withheld Benefits Never Paid

From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

We identified 13,739 previously entitled child beneficiaries over age 18 who had past due benefits that were withheld pending the selection of a representative payee. When these child beneficiaries attained age 18 and therefore were presumed capable of managing their own benefits, SSA [Social Security Administration] should have paid the withheld benefits directly unless it had information that the beneficiaries had impairments that prevented them from managing their benefits. ...

SSA needed to improve controls to ensure child beneficiaries who attained age 18 were paid benefits that had been previously withheld pending the selection of a representative payee. Based on a random sample of 50 beneficiaries, we found SSA did not pay an estimated 13,464 beneficiaries approximately $31.2 million in withheld benefits (see Appendix C). We also found that, when SSA suspended their benefits, 40 of the 50 beneficiaries were age 15 to 17 and therefore might have been eligible for direct payment.