The Social Security Administration is starting a three to six month project to screen new representative payees, that is people who handle Social Security benefits for those who are unable to handle their own money. The project will try to screen out those with a history of criminal offenses in categories such as human trafficking, sex offenses, fraud, theft, abuse, forgery and homicide. This is in response to publicity given to a horrible case of representative payee abuse in Philadelphia last year.
Lack of manpower caused by low appropriations may limit Social Security's ability to take this project national.
This fiscal year, they added Individual Payee Reviews to the payee cadre duties for payee agency reviews. It is an onerous project, and to do it right, takes about three or four full work days per individual case, and as a very large percentage of payees don't keep the records needed to make the right assessment, even the good payees.
ReplyDeleteMore oversight is a good idea, but there really isn't any time.
and in many cases, you have a rep payee or no other good alternative at all.
ReplyDelete