The Social Security Administration’s Enumeration Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Submitting OIG:

Report Description:

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) complied with its enumeration policies and procedures and had adequate controls over managing evidentiary documents submitted to support Social Security number (SSN) card applications during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Date Issued:

Friday, September 30, 2022

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Social Security Administration

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

A-15-21-51015

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Type of Report:

Audit

Special Projects:

Pandemic

Questioned Costs:

Funds for Better Use:

Number of Recommendations:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
15-21-51015.pdf	1.63 MB

Related Open Recommendations

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
1	Open	No
Develop and periodically conduct comprehensive refresher training on topics including but not limited to: - processing original Social Security Number (SSN) cards for individuals aged 12 or older and emphasize requirements and documentation of the in-person interview; - acceptable forms of evidentiary documents, and - processing new (different) and replacement SSN cards when adoption
2	Open	Yes
Update quality control reviews to include comparison of SSNAP inputs to an applicant-submitted Form SS-5 and evidentiary documents, and provide feedback to the technicians who made input errors (such as race and ethnicity) or did not use the appropriate evidentiary documents.
3	Open	Yes
Revise enumeration policy to include clear instructions for when Form SSA-5002 is required and how to properly document the form.
4	Open	No
Update Program Operations Manual System (POMS) to provide current instructions for enumeration notices and archive outdated policy.
5	Open	No
Retain enumeration notices in the Online Retrieval System for individuals with assigned SSNs.
6	Open	No
Create and implement automated tools to assist staff in navigating through enumeration evidentiary document requirements.
7	Open	No
Take corrective action on all keying errors and cross-referencing errors we identified.
8	Open	No
Require managers to verify that incident reports are submitted through the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Loss Reporting Tool before they approve reimbursement to customers for replacing lost original documents.
9	Open	Yes
Update the National Mail Handling Business Process to include standard Agency-wide mitigation steps for misdirected mail including original documents.
10	Open	No
Complete the privacy assessments for the WorkTrack application.

Recommendation Number

Recommendation Status

Significant Recommendation

Additional Details

Open

Develop and periodically conduct comprehensive refresher training on topics including but not limited to: - processing original Social Security Number (SSN) cards for individuals aged 12 or older and emphasize requirements and documentation of the in-person interview; - acceptable forms of evidentiary documents, and - processing new (different) and replacement SSN cards when adoption

Open

Yes

Update quality control reviews to include comparison of SSNAP inputs to an applicant-submitted Form SS-5 and evidentiary documents, and provide feedback to the technicians who made input errors (such as race and ethnicity) or did not use the appropriate evidentiary documents.

Open

Yes

Revise enumeration policy to include clear instructions for when Form SSA-5002 is required and how to properly document the form.