Apr 17, 2014

Social Security Ends Letter Forwarding Service

     From today's Federal Register:

Letter Forwarding is a service we provided to the public since 1945. It is not a program related activity under the Social Security Act (Act). Therefore, we will stop the letter forwarding service. ... 
 DATES: The cessation date for letter forwarding services is May 19, 2014. ...
We provided the letter forwarding service to the public since 1945. ... 
SSA processes the following types of letter forwarding requests (free and for a fee). 
  • Humanitarian (free)--when the health or welfare of an individual is at risk and the requestor provides a compelling reason to show the person would want to be aware of the circumstances. In addition, when an immediate family member (e.g., parent, sibling) is seeking to re-establish contact with another immediate family member. 
  • Monetary purpose (fee $35 in fiscal year (FY) 2013)-- situations in which the individual sought is due something of value, and it is reasonable to assume that he or she is not aware that the asset is due.
     Reading this makes me sad. Yes, letter forwarding has been a very ancillary service but a damned important one to the people being served. This is one of many signs that the Social Security Administration lacks the funding needed to carry out its work in the humane way that the public deserves.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is probably being dropped due to a reorientation towards providing the services called for by the Social Security Act and accompanying regulations.

Just because SSA has access to a massive database of names and addresses does not mean it should be playing mini-post office.

Anonymous said...

Businesses are probably complaining the SSA and other government agencies are taking away a potential lucrative opportunity for them.

Anonymous said...

I was taking an SSI disabled child claim from a boy living with his mother. They did not know where the father was. I did an alphadent search and found the father's SSN and discovered he was deceased. So I took a survivor claim. There were younger half-siblings already receiving benefits in another state. Shortly afterward, we got a message of some sort from the boy's grandmother. She had custody of and was payee for the other two children and when this boy was added to the record, the other children's benefits went down. She then realized that her lost grandchild had surfaced and wanted to connect with him. We found the letter forwarding provision and sent the letter but no one ever told us how it turned out. I have always wondered.

Anonymous said...

Why not just charge an admin fee for all forwarding?

Anonymous said...

I had an elderly woman come into the office a few years ago to see if we could mail her adult daughter a letter for her. The daughter had mental problems and ran away from home. I never knew the outcome but I was grateful that the agency was able to assist in the mother's attempt to reconcile with her child.