U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says a pilot program designed to prevent criminals from becoming managers of a person's Social Security benefits has screened out dozens of people convicted of fraud and violence.
The Pennsylvania Democrat now wants the Social Security Administration to expand and improve the initiative, which was launched last summer in five states and Washington, D.C., after a convicted killer on parole in Philadelphia allegedly kept several mentally disabled people captive while cashing their benefits checks. ...
Under the program, Social Security offices in the Philadelphia region instituted a new policy that barred people convicted of certain crimes — including sex offenses, theft, forgery and abuse — from serving as payees. Applicants were asked specific questions about past criminal behavior and agency employees used an in-house database to cross-check convictions.
Through Jan. 23, 100 people were rejected from becoming payees, Casey said. ...
Social Security Administration spokesman Mark Hinkle has previously said key stumbling blocks to more vigorous screening are the agency's lack of access to government databases with criminal background information and a dearth of staff to perform checks on each applicant.
Yes, databases available to the government should be used in all cases and fully implemented in a timely manner to protect the needs of all. I can think of a few Congressmen and Senators that would fail to be selected as payees based on their own financial abuses, let alone past Presidents who had questions raised about their ablility to practice law. How about the same system made available for individuals wanting to research their attorney representatives for their criminal and civil records? How about needs based programs must include a full review of government databases for income, assets, prior eligibily (for all States, including overpayments) history, etc. for all who apply for and receive benefits. Include a monthly report on EBT card usage to make sure no one is taking advantage of an individual. Yes, database mining is fun and can be easily automated.
ReplyDeleteIf you are applying for or receive any publicly funded benefit (SSI, welfare, food stamps, Medicaid) you should expect no privacy regarding your criminal, financial or work history or any other part of your life that us relevant to administering the program. If you font like it, don't take the funds.
ReplyDeleteIt is necessary to read the original story that led to this in order to appreciate the absolute horror of it. It would be nice if extensive access to NCI was available to SSA, but even if a decent criminal background check wasn't available, horror stories like this wouldn't happen if SSA only took the time to actually interview payee applicants. I quote below from POMS. Does anybody really believe this woman or her accomplices were really interviewed consistent with POMS quoted below? Yes, I'm fully aware of staffing problems, but rep payee interviews are not the place to cut corners. That's particularly true given the "good acquittance" rules. Stories like this are a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteGN 00502.113:
"The payee applicant interview is the first opportunity the field office (FO) has to assess the candidate's suitability to serve as payee. Use the interview to:
determine the applicant's qualifications and motive for filing to be payee,
judge the applicant's ability to carry out the payee's responsibilities;
explain the payee’s duties, reporting responsibilities, and liability of non-compliance of reporting..."
Reading comprehension fail, this is about representative payees (why typically do this for FREE), not claimants.
ReplyDelete"If you are applying for or receive any publicly funded benefit (SSI, welfare, food stamps, Medicaid) you should expect no privacy regarding your criminal, financial or work history or any other part of your life that us relevant to administering the program. If you font like it, don't take the funds."
My reading comprehension is fine. I was referring to the previous post above mine which was talking about the fun of "data base mining". I apologize if I didn't tie it up neatly enough for you. My point was that anyone applying should be held to that standard including payees. Goverment benefits and managing them for someone else should make you an open book.
ReplyDelete