From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):
... One of SSA’s mission-essential functions is enumeration, the process of assigning SSNs. During the enumeration process, SSA issues a Social Security card (original and any later replacement) to each individual assigned an SSN. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021), SSA processed approximately 12 million applications for original and replacement SSN cards, which is approximately 1 million fewer than it processed in FY 2020 and 5 million fewer than in FY 2019. We reviewed non-automated enumeration services (in-person and mail-in SSN applications) for original and replacement SSN cards during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results
SSA staff did not consistently comply with established enumeration policies and procedures or temporary enumeration guidelines, and the Agency did not have adequate controls over managing evidentiary documents submitted to support SSN card applications during the COVID-19 pandemic.✓ We reviewed a sample of 150 SSN card applications SSA processed between November 2020 and January 2021 and found 41 contained processing errors and 45 contained documentation errors. Based on our sample, we estimated SSA made 188,659 and 128,346 SSN card application processing and documentation errors, respectively.
✓ We reviewed an additional sample of 50 replacement SSN card applications SSA processed between June and September 2021 and found 15 contained processing errors and 19 contained documentation errors.
✓ SSA staff issued multiple SSNs to 27 individuals without cross-referring the SSNs. Therefore, SSA was unaware that each individual had more than one SSN.
✓ Some SSA offices did not report the loss, or suspected loss, of personally identifiable information.
✓ SSA did not have a comprehensive method to track the total number of lost original documents. ...
11 comments:
So the pandemic and it’s ridiculous processes at SSA were a mess…never heard that before.
Next!
You cannot get good help anymore. We're headed straight for Idiocracy, not the movie.
@1:31. You can with adequate funding. But without it, the agency will continue to prioritize cost-cutting and efficiency over all else- for example, limiting its ALJ hiring announcements to the first few hundred applicants to minimize the amount of labor required rather than capturing a broader pool of applicants with more talented/qualified applicants.
live births and immigration dropped during the pandemic, so it's not surprising that fewer enumerations occurred. Whether the decrease reflects additional issues (like people not being able to complete the enumeration process while field offices were closed) would be worth considering.
The errors are definitely concerning. Also of concern: how often did SSA lose documents that were submitted for enumeration? Anecdotally, it definitely happened. Of course, SSA doesn't know how much stuff it can't find!
So many of these errors would be resolved or more easily identified by superior IT infrastructure. There are just far too many human manual entry errors. And hiring more wont fix this.
@3:43 Pm - Well, hiring more IT techs will definitely help both with improving automation and better cybersecurity. The Systems component has been gutted as much as front line. The public isn't aware of that directly do complaints are directed to front line, but IT impact has a much bigger effect on case processing volume.
I work in a component that was completely dismantled and is not operational due to lack of staffing and managerial neglect. I spend my days at home waiting in vain for an assignment only to have days and weeks of nothing to do.
You ever wanna feel like the proverbial "Nowhere Man" from the Beatles? Spend 2 and a half years doing that.
I am outta here the first chance I get.
@8:19 that sounds kind of nice actually. What component are you in?
I’ll trade places with you. Sounds much better than being expected to do the work of 10 people daily for over 2 years.
I’m burnt out and looking for another job.
@8:19 - Nobody is holding you back from getting out of there. Have at it.
I applied for a duplicate card during the shutdown. I sent them my passport card, which they sent back writing that it had been scanned in. But no Social Security card showed up. So after several phone calls, it turns out that they could not find the scan, so they wanted me to provide my ID again. I decided I really didn't need the card that bad. (I have my original, but I laminated it 50 years ago, so my new state won't take it as proof of SSN for a driver's license.)
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