OFFICE OF
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

CLAIMANT REPRESENTATIVES
BARRED FROM PRACTICING
BEFORE THE SOCIAL
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

September 2007

A-12-07-17057

AUDIT REPORT

Mission

By conducting independent and objective audits, evaluations and investigations, we inspire public confidence in the integrity and security of SSA's programs and operations and protect them against fraud, waste and abuse. We provide timely, useful and reliable information and advice to Administration officials, Congress and the public.

Authority

The Inspector General Act created independent audit and investigative units, called the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The mission of the OIG, as spelled out in the Act, is to:

Conduct and supervise independent and objective audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations.
Promote economy, effectiveness, and efficiency within the agency.
Prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in agency programs and operations.
Review and make recommendations regarding existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to agency programs and operations.
Keep the agency head and the Congress fully and currently informed of problems in agency programs and operations.

To ensure objectivity, the IG Act empowers the IG with:

Independence to determine what reviews to perform.
Access to all information necessary for the reviews.
Authority to publish findings and recommendations based on the reviews.

Vision

We strive for continual improvement in SSA's programs, operations and management by proactively seeking new ways to prevent and deter fraud, waste and abuse. We commit to integrity and excellence by supporting an environment that provides a valuable public service while encouraging employee development and retention and fostering diversity and innovation.

MEMORANDUM

Date: September 28, 2007

To: The Commissioner

From: Inspector General

Subject: Claimant Representatives Barred from Practicing before the Social Security Administration (A-12-07-17057)

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to assess the Social Security Administration's (SSA) implementation of section 205 of Public Law 108-203, the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA), with respect to the recognition, disqualification, and reinstatement of claimant representatives.

BACKGROUND

The hearing process begins after an applicant for benefits has been denied at the initial and reconsideration levels. The next step in the appeals process is a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). At the hearing level, a claimant may appoint a qualified attorney or non-attorney to represent them in pursuing his/her disability claim. Hearings are held by one of the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review's (ODAR) 140 hearing offices located nationally. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, ODAR processed 559,000 dispositions where approximately 439,000 of the dispositions involved an attorney or non-attorney. All attorney and non-attorney representatives who practice before SSA must comply with SSA's Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Representatives, which are affirmative duties SSA expects representatives to perform professionally as they assist claimants in obtaining and submitting evidence to further the efficient, fair, and orderly conduct of the Agency's decision process.

In March 2004, the President signed into law the SSPA. Section 205 of the SSPA provides additional protections for claimants against attorney and non-attorney misconduct. The SSPA and SSA regulations authorize the Commissioner of SSA to disqualify a representative if the attorney or non-attorney has been disbarred, suspended, or disqualified from any court, bar, Federal program or Agency he or she was previously admitted to participate in or practice.

Additionally, a representative who has been disqualified or suspended from appearing before SSA as a result of collecting or receiving a fee in excess of the amount authorized, shall be barred from appearing before SSA until full restitution is made to the claimant. We provide additional information on SSPA in Appendix C.

We reviewed SSA's procedures to screen attorneys and non-attorneys to preclude suspended/disbarred individuals from appointment before SSA. In addition, we also contacted Federal agencies with large ALJ cadres to discuss whether they screen and sanction representatives. Finally, we reviewed the availability of resources related to the suspension/disbarment of attorneys and non-attorneys. See Appendix D for our full scope and methodology.

RESULTS OF REVIEW

Prior to the passage of the SSPA, SSA established a screening process to identify representatives whom the Agency had suspended or disqualified. Since then, SSA revised the SSA-1696 form, requiring representatives to certify that they have not been barred by any Federal or State Court or Federal program. However, the Agency has not taken any additional steps to implement the new SSPA provision regarding screening. We found that the current screening process does not proactively match representative data against outside information to detect barred individuals. We also found that SSA's existing screening process could be improved. For instance, we found two cases where Agency-sanctioned representatives were still serving current claimants. Moreover, we found that representatives initially screened by hearing office staff were not always the same individuals identified within the SSA's systems as the claimant's representatives. Our review of other Federal agencies that conduct administrative hearings found these agencies had minimal or non-existent screening processes. We also found that a more comprehensive screening process is possible by using publicly available information from States and other organizations. Our own review of representatives at one hearing office using publicly-available information found a disbarred attorney representing five SSA claimants in FY 2006. We believe SSA could collect additional State bar information from representatives to allow for greater verification in the future. Finally, we found the administrative hearing process for sanctioning representatives could be timelier to protect both claimants and representatives.

SCREENING OF CLAIMANT REPRESENTATIVES

Prior to the passage of the SSPA, SSA had established minimal formal screening procedures to validate whether prospective or appointed representatives had been barred by SSA. Information about who has been suspended or disqualified by SSA was posted on an SSA-maintained list: the List of Sanctioned Representatives. Since the passage of SSPA, SSA has (1) revised the SSA-1696 form, requiring representatives to certify that they have not been barred by any Federal or State Court or Federal program; and (2) developed a List of Non-Attorneys Eligible for Direct Pay. Beyond these procedures, hearing office staff did not use any other formal means to screen representatives to determine if those appointed had been barred by any State, Federal court or Federal program.

Both attorneys and non-attorneys seeking to represent claimants before SSA provide professional and personal information on a SSA-1696. Since the passage of SSPA, the SSA-1696 has also required the representative to answer a "yes" or "no" question as to whether they have been disbarred or suspended from a court or disqualified from appearing before a Federal program or agency. By signing the form, representatives certify under penalty of perjury that all information provided is correct. SSA staff also noted that the Agency also learns of possible representational misconduct through claimant complaints or Agency employees who detect it in the course of their official duties. In such cases, SSA staff develops evidence concerning the potential violations of the Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Representatives and refer them to the Office of General Counsel's Office of General Law.

The representative's assertion is recorded within ODAR's CPMS with the rest of the representative's information from the SSA-1696. At the time hearing office staff copy the information to CPMS they are also required to validate if the representative seeking appointment is disqualified or suspended by matching the representative's name against SSA's List of Sanctioned Representatives. This master list of sanctioned representatives is maintained on a SSA webpage and linked to CPMS. As of May 2007, SSA had 134 disqualified or suspended representatives on this list (see Figure 1 below). After checking the list, hearing office staff note within CPMS either a 'yes' or 'no' to indicate whether the representative is on the sanctioned list. If the representative's name is found on this listing, the representative is notified that he/she cannot represent the claimant before SSA.

Figure 1: Sanctioned Representatives at SSA
(As of May 2007)

In addition to the List of Sanctioned Representatives, ODAR hearing office staff also checks the non-attorney information against the Agency's List of Non-Attorneys Eligible for Direct Pay. This non-attorney listing was established under SSPA as part of a 5 year nationwide demonstration project that extends to certain non-attorney representatives of claimants under Titles II and XVI the option to have approved representative's fees withheld and paid directly from the beneficiary's past due

benefits. Hearing office staff must ensure the non-attorney representative is on this list before authorizing them for direct payment within the CPMS system. While this list is not the same as a sanctioned list, non-attorneys approved under this program who fail to maintain certain standards, such as continuing liability insurance coverage, are annotated on the list as being ineligible. Once the representatives submit evidence that they have renewed their insurance policy, they again become eligible to participate.

ADEQUACY OF THE SCREENING PROCESS

We found sufficient evidence to support the accuracy of the information in the List of Sanctioned Representatives. Our comparison of claimant representatives to the sanctioned list found two representatives who were disqualified by SSA while representing claimants before SSA during the period of our review. We also found that the representative information in SSA's systems was not always consistent with the SSA-1696.

Sanctioned List Accuracy

We found adequate support for the disqualified/suspended representatives placed on SSA's List of Sanctioned Representatives. Providing SSA employees with accurate and timely information concerning sanctioned representatives both facilitates the effective enforcement of SSA's decisions to suspend or disqualify representatives, and protects claimants and the claims process from individuals who have violated SSA's conduct rules or who are not qualified to be representatives.

To assess the accuracy of the listing, we reviewed a sample of eight attorneys and non-attorneys who had been disqualified/suspended by SSA and placed on the Agency's List of Sanctioned Representatives. We requested Office of General Counsel (OGC) litigation folders and compared the ALJ decisions and sanction dates imposed to information on the listing. Our sample showed that OGC posted information that accurately reflected both the ALJ decision and the correct date for imposition of the sanction.

Practicing Representatives

To assess the adequacy of the screening process, we compared the names of representatives who attended hearings before ODAR in FY 2006 to the May 2007 List of Sanctioned Representatives. We compared the last names of attorneys and non-attorneys who represented claimants in FY 2006 and compared them to the 134 names on the List of Sanctioned Representatives. We found two cases where it appeared sanctioned representatives were representing claimants before SSA after they were disqualified. An attorney was disqualified and placed on the List of Sanctioned Representatives by SSA in August 1997 and represented two claimants from April 2003 until May 2007. A non-attorney was disqualified in September 2001 and represented a claimant from March 2005 until July 2006. We referred this information to the appropriate hearing offices. In both cases, hearing office staff have confirmed our findings and agreed that these claimant representatives should not have practiced before SSA.

Management Information

We found the representative's name listed in CPMS did not always agree with the representative's name located on the SSA-1696. When this representative information is inconsistent, ODAR cannot ensure the representative(s) actually appointed has attested to statements regarding disbarment/suspension actions.

We reviewed a sample of 50 claims folders to determine whether the SSA 1696, or other written statements in the claim folder, matched information in CPMS. We found four folders (8 percent) where the SSA-1696 and CPMS information did not match. In two cases information from the SSA-1696 showed a different representative than CPMS, and in the remaining two, there was no information in CPMS although the SSA-1696 was in the claims folder. When discrepancies exist between the SSA-1696 and CPMS, SSA cannot be certain the representatives have certified that they have not been disbarred, suspended or disqualified by other courts, nor is the information available for comparison to the List of Sanctioned Representatives.

OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES

We found that other Federal agencies with claimant representatives have minimal or non-existent screening processes for representatives prior to their appointment. We contacted staff at five Federal entities with large ALJ contingents and asked them to outline the procedures used to screen the representatives appearing before them. We found that although each entity had legislation to sanction attorneys for misconduct or lack of qualifications, none could identify screening procedures for the representatives prior to their appointment or during their official duties as representatives (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Federal Agencies with Large ALJ Cadres
Interviewed for this Report
(ALJ Counts Provided by Each Agency)

OTHER SCREENING RESOURCES

A number of resources are available to SSA if the Agency were to expand its screening to include outside resources. Many State disciplinary websites are available to check attorneys who are currently disbarred or suspended. In addition, the American Bar Association (ABA) plans to expand its current service to screen attorneys using a central data bank culled from state and federal courts and other regulatory agencies. However, SSA may need to capture additional information from attorneys to use such services to improve the effectiveness of future verifications.

Available State Data

SSA can verify the disbarred/suspended status of lawyers by using resources from individual State disciplinary agencies and commissions, bar associations or State court web-sites to prevent lawyers who have been disbarred or suspended elsewhere from appearing before SSA. These web-sites offer public information on disciplined attorneys to be responsive to the public and allow consumers to protect themselves from negligent, unscrupulous or incompetent attorneys.

To determine the usefulness of such State-based services, we reviewed the names of 371 attorneys who represented claimants at hearings in the Atlanta North Hearing Office in FY 2006. We found that 205 attorneys were listed with the State Bar of Georgia as members in good standing and one attorney had been disbarred by the Georgia Supreme Court in October 2005. A further review of hearing office records found that this disbarred attorney represented five claimants before SSA during FY 2006. For instance, one of his clients was denied benefits at a September 2006 hearing. We referred this attorney's name to the Atlanta North Hearing Office to determine if the hearing office was aware of the attorney's disbarment and, if so, took any action related to this case.

We were unable to determine the "good standing" of the remaining 165 attorneys since they were not listed on the State Bar of Georgia site. It is possible that these attorneys were members of other State bars. However, the SSA 1696s did not contain sufficient information to pursue this matter further. Attorneys would need to provide SSA with both the name of the State(s) where they are members of the bar as well as their State bar number(s) and/or other relevant State bar identifiers. If SSA collected this additional information, they would be able to verify the standing of the attorneys directly with State bars via telephone, mail or the Internet.

SSA recently initiated a new process to collect additional identifiers from attorneys, including taxpayer identification numbers, as well as the State(s) where the attorney has been admitted to practice law. This additional information is collected on the Request for Appointed Representative's Direct Payment Information (SSA-1699) and is maintained in a database for later retrieval. This form and database could also be used to collect and maintain information, such as an attorney's State bar number(s), so SSA could periodically verify the attorney's good standing with the relevant State bar(s).

Available National Data

Centralized fee-based data is also available to assist SSA with screening. The ABA's National Lawyer Regulatory Data Bank contains information from public records from each United States jurisdiction concerning sanctions against attorneys. A centralized repository of disbarred/suspended attorneys could eliminate the need to verify attorneys with Bar associations in the 50 States. While the current verification process entails sending a letter for each attorney being screened, ABA staff stated the Data Bank will be available as an on-line service in 2008. Such a service could allow SSA to periodically screen all attorneys.

REPRESENTATIVE SANCTION HEARINGS

Our review of SSA's administrative hearing process for sanctioning claimant representatives found that it can take a year or more. SSA cannot protect claimants against unprofessional or unethical conduct, or protect representatives against unfounded complaints, if there are unnecessary delays in administering the sanction process. As part of due process, a representative is allowed to continue to practice before SSA until a decision is made to sustain the charges.

We reviewed a sample of OGC administrative sanction folders and found that once a case went from OGC to ODAR for a final decision, it took between 5 and 17 months for the designated hearing officer to hear the case. OGC reviews referrals and determines if the representative may have committed a violation. If OGC decides to file charges, they must serve a notice containing a statement of charges on the representative. If a representative files an answer, and that answer satisfies the General Counsel that SSA should not sanction the representative, OGC will withdraw the charges. However, if OGC does not withdraw the charges, ODAR will designate an ALJ to hold a hearing on the charges. After the hearing, the ALJ determines whether to sustain the charges and issues a decision.

For example, from 1992 through 1994 an attorney successfully represented four claimants before SSA, but was erroneously issued four duplicate checks from SSA, two payments in 1994, and two payments in 1995, totaling $11,287. The attorney never responded to letters from SSA requesting refunds for the four payments. SSA attempted over the course of several years to have the money refunded. SSA did not serve notice of the charges until February 2001, and disqualified him in January 2002. We also learned that this same attorney was disbarred by the New York State bar in November 1994 for failing to account for assets worth $837,129 and subsequently pled guilty to grand larceny. He received a prison sentence of 3 to 10 years in a New York correctional institution.

SSA recently streamlined the administrative hearings process for sanctioning claimant representatives. Since July 2007, OGC is filing requests for hearings in representative sanction cases with the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge (OCALJ) directly. Previously, cases went through the Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs who approved holding a hearing, and then to the Associate Commissioner for Hearings and Appeals who designated an ALJ to hear the case. In addition, OCALJ has assembled a volunteer cadre of ALJs who are available to hold sanction hearings expeditiously. As noted earlier, a more expeditious process should benefit both claimants and their representatives.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

While SSA has a screening process in place to match representatives against internal lists, a more comprehensive screening against lists maintained by other entities would offer greater assurance that representatives have not been disbarred or suspended from any court, bar, Federal program or Agency he or she was previously admitted to participate in or practice before. In addition, this enhanced screening may require the collection of additional information from the attorney, such as the State(s) he/she are admitted to practice law and his/her State bar number(s). SSA could also improve the integrity of the data it already collects to ensure claimants are properly protected and attorneys certify that they are not disbarred, suspended, or disqualified.

To improve the screening of representatives and ensure the integrity of representative data, we recommend SSA:

1. Require hearing offices to ensure the claimant representative's name in CPMS relates to the name on a completed SSA-1696.

2. Ensure staff compares the claimant representative's name to the List of Sanctioned Representatives each time a SSA 1696 is added to CPMS.

3. Collect additional claimant representative data that can assist with verification of their "good standing," such as their State(s) of admission and their State bar number(s) for attorneys.

4. Develop a pilot to verify whether claimant representatives have been disbarred, suspended, or disqualified against lists maintained by other entities to determine the costs and benefits of such controls. These entities could include State bars and/or other entities that collect and maintain similar disciplinary data.

AGENCY COMMENTS

SSA agreed with our recommendations and plans to take corrective action. The full text of the Agency's comments is included in Appendix G.

Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr.

Appendices

APPENDIX A - Acronyms
APPENDIX B - Appointment of Representative Form
APPENDIX C - Intent of Claimant Representative Oversight
APPENDIX D - Scope and Methodology
APPENDIX E - Representative & Fee Query Screen
APPENDIX F - Request for Appointed Representative's Direct Payment Information (SSA-1699)
APPENDIX G - Agency Comments
APPENDIX H - OIG Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments

Appendix A
Acronyms

ABA American Bar Association
ALJ Administrative Law Judge
CPMS Case Processing and Management System
FY Fiscal Year
GN General Notices
OCALJ Office of Chief Administrative Law Judge
ODAR Office of Disability Adjudication and Review
OGC Office of General Counsel
OGL Office of General Law
OIG Office of the Inspector General
POMS Program Operations Manual System
SSA Social Security Administration
SSPA Social Security Protection Act of 2004

Appendix B
Appointment of Representative Form
(SSA-1696)

Appendix C
Intent of Claimant Representative Oversight

A goal of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA) was to provide better oversight of representatives and protect claimants. Prior to SSPA, attorneys disbarred in one jurisdiction, but licensed to practice in another jurisdiction, could be recognized as a claimant's representative. The SSPA provisions were intended to close this loophole to prevent any licensed attorney from being automatically authorized to represent a claimant if barred in any jurisdiction.

In the Senate Report 108-176, the Committee commented in its "Reason for Change" section that it remained concerned that SSA did not yet have a system in place to verify whether a person seeking appointment as a claimant representative was in fact an attorney, and further stated that SSA had no system to determine whether an attorney who sought appointment had been disbarred.

While these comments reflect the Committee's thoughts that specific proactive steps would need to be taken by SSA for the Commissioner's authority to be exercised, the ultimate language of the legislation did not require the Commissioner to take specific steps; it left the implementation to the discretion of the Commissioner.

Appendix D
Scope and Methodology

To accomplish our review, we:

Reviewed Section 205 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 and relevant House and Senate Reports on the legislation.

Met with Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) staff and gained an understanding of how ODAR (1) recognizes the appointment of attorneys and non-attorneys to represent claimants before the Social Security Administration (SSA) and (2) screens attorneys barred by other Federal courts or programs and/or State courts to preclude them from appearing before SSA.

Met with Office of General Counsel (OGC) staff and gained an understanding of the responsibilities, process and time it takes to sanction or disbar a representative once referred to the Office of General Law (OGL) within OGC.

Reviewed a sample of eight OGC litigation folders from representatives with documents of the disciplinary proceedings for each case selected. To select our sample, we randomly selected one folder (individual) from each of the eight States that had six or more sanctioned representatives. We compared the relevant documents within these eight cases against information on SSA's List of Sanctioned Representatives and tracked the time it takes once ODAR appointed a Hearing Officer until a decision was reached on a sanction case by an Administrative Law Judge.

Reviewed 50 randomly selected Appointment of Representative (SSA-1696) forms and compared them to the representative data in the Case Processing and Management System (CPMS) from five hearing offices in Region IV to determine whether attorney and non-attorney information were consistent.

Reviewed the names of Representatives with dispositions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 obtained from CPMS and compared them to SSA's List of Sanctioned Representatives.

Determined which Federal agencies have the largest number of attorneys or non-attorneys appointed and interviewed managers at those agencies to determine how they screen, qualify and disbar attorneys or non-attorneys to identify useful information and best practices for SSA. We contacted staff at the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Compared the names of 390 attorneys representing claimants in the Atlanta North Hearing Office, extracted from the FY 2006 CPMS dispositions file, to the State Bar of Georgia Member services internet data file to determine their discipline and bar status.

Contacted the American Bar Association staff to discuss the availability of nationwide statistics on attorney disciplinary actions.

We performed limited data reliability tests on the claimant representative data for FYs 2005 and 2006 and found it was reliable for the purposes of this audit. We were unable to determine the precise number of attorney and non-attorneys due to data limitations within CPMS. The principal entities audited were ODAR under the Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review, and OGL under the Office of General Counsel. We performed our audit between October 2006 and May 2007 in Falls Church, Virginia. We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Appendix E
Representative & Fee Query Screen

The Representative & Fee Query Screen is replicated below from the Case Processing Management System (CPMS). Hearing office staff input information from the Appointment of Representative form (Form SSA-1696) and use the information in CPMS to inform them of who is representing the claimant.

Representative & Fee - Query Previous Menu Item
| Next Menu Item

Representative Information
Appointment of representative filed: Yes
Name: Eleanor Rose Berardi
Attorney: Yes
Sanctioned: No
Firm:
Address: 1234 Anywhere
Anywhere, MD 21284
United States
Phone: 410-222-2222
Extension:
Fax:
Email:
Dates of representation: 08/25/06 to Present
Fee waived date:
Direct payment waived date:

Appendix F
Request for Appointed Representative's Direct Payment Information (SSA-1699)

About You
Name: ELEANOR ROSE BERARDI
Social Security Number: ***-**-7807
Tax Mailing Address:
(We will send the 1099-MISC to this address.) 1234 Anywhere
Anywhere, MD 21284
UNITED STATES
Your Professional Information
Registered to receive direct payments as: Attorney
Admitted to practice law and am in good standing at the following court: U.S. District Court, District of Maryland, MD
Business Affiliation(s) In Your Work as an Appointed Representative
About this Affiliation Correspondence and Contact Payment Preference
ELEANOR ROSE BERARDI
Sole Proprietor, Single-Member LLC/LLP 1234 Anywhere
Anywhere, MD 21284
UNITED STATES

Tel: 4102222222 Check to:
1234 Anywhere
Anywhere, MD 21284
Signed via Electronic Signature, dated Fri Aug 25 12:32:02 EDT 2006
Source: Sample input form taken from the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review's website.

Appendix G
Agency Comments

SOCIAL SECURITY

MEMORANDUM

Date: September 24, 2007

To: Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr.
Inspector General

From: David V. Foster
Chief of Staff

Subject: Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Draft Report, "Claimant Representatives Barred from Practicing before the Social Security Administration" (A-12-07-17057)--INFORMATION

We appreciate OIG's efforts in conducting this review. Our comments on the recommendations are attached.

Please let me know if we can be of further assistance. Staff inquiries may be directed to Ms. Candace Skurnik, Director, Audit Management and Liaison Staff, at 410 965-4636.

SSA Response

COMMENTS ON THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG) DRAFT REPORT, "CLAIMANT REPRESENTATIVES BARRED FROM PRACTICING BEFORE THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION" (A-12-07-17057)

Thank you for the opportunity to review and provide comments on this draft report. Our responsibility to ensure claimants' representatives comply with our Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Representatives and the authority provided to us in Section 205 of the Social Security Protection Act to disqualify a representative (attorney/non-attorney) based on a disbarment or suspension by a court or bar, or disqualification by a Federal agency or program are important aspects of SSA's stewardship responsibilities. We appreciate your review of this area and helpful recommendations.

Regarding the specific findings, we are pleased that this review found sufficient evidence for all the suspension cases reviewed thereby validating the accuracy of the information in the "List of Sanctioned Representatives" maintained by our Office of the General Counsel. Regarding the adequacy of the screening process, we agree that more can be done. However, we need to carefully evaluate the workload and potential resource impact that any additional screening may place on our already scarce resources. Regarding the data mismatches, when comparing information contained on the SSA-1696 - Appointment of Representative Form and the data in our Case Processing Management System, there are a number of contributing factors that would result in name mismatches. For example, some representatives use a business name and signature; however, their legal names as reflected in our records are different, this can result in an erroneous mismatch. Finally, we appreciate your acknowledgement of our screening process efforts as compared to other Federal agencies and the reference to our expanded process to collect additional identifiers from attorneys to aid in the accuracy of the screening process.

Our responses to the specific recommendations are provided below.

Recommendation 1

SSA should require hearing offices to ensure the claimant representative's name in CPMS matches the name on a completed SSA-1696.

Comment

We agree. By March 31, 2008, we will issue an appropriate reminder to our regional and hearing office management teams asking that staff ensure that the representative's name in CPMS matches the name on the completed SSA-1696.

Recommendation 2

SSA should ensure that the staff compare the claimant's representative's name to the List of Sanctioned Representatives each time a SSA 1696 is added to CPMS.

Comment

We agree. Our current hearing office staff training reflects this practice. We will include language to reinforce this practice in a reminder to our regional and hearing office management teams which is scheduled to be issued by March 31, 2008.

Recommendation 3

SSA should collect additional claimant representative data that can assist with verification of their "good standing," such as their State(s) of admission and their State bar number(s) for attorneys.

Comment

We agree. We are planning systems work in fiscal year (FY) 2008 to develop an electronic i1696 application to enhance the data collection process.

Recommendation 4

SSA should develop a pilot to verify whether claimant representatives have been disbarred, suspended, or disqualified against lists maintained by other entities to determine the costs and benefits of such controls. These entities could include State bars and/or other entities that collect and maintain similar disciplinary data.

Comment

We agree. We plan to develop a pilot in FY 2009. The pilot will be contingent on the FY 2008 systems work (including the availability of sufficient data) and adequate staff resources.

Appendix H
OIG Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments

OIG Contacts
Walter Bayer, Director, Philadelphia Audit Division, (215) 597-4080
Michael Maloney, Audit Manager, Philadelphia Audit Division, (703) 578-8844

Acknowledgments
In addition to those named above:
Mary Ann Braycich, Senior Program Analyst
Nick Milanek, Senior Auditor
Yaquelin Lara, Auditor
Brennan Kraje, Statistician
Annette DeRito, Writer-Editor

For additional copies of this report, please visit our web site at www.socialsecurity.gov/oig or contact the Office of the Inspector General's Public Affairs Specialist at (410) 965-3218. Refer to Common Identification Number A-12-07-17057.

Overview of the Office of the Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is comprised of our Office of Investigations (OI), Office of Audit (OA), Office of the Chief Counsel to the Inspector General (OCCIG), and Office of Resource Management (ORM). To ensure compliance with policies and procedures, internal controls, and professional standards, we also have a comprehensive Professional Responsibility and Quality Assurance program.

Office of Audit
OA conducts and/or supervises financial and performance audits of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) programs and operations and makes recommendations to ensure program objectives are achieved effectively and efficiently. Financial audits assess whether SSA's financial statements fairly present SSA's financial position, results of operations, and cash flow. Performance audits review the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of SSA's programs and operations. OA also conducts short-term management and program evaluations and projects on issues of concern to SSA, Congress, and the general public.

Office of Investigations
OI conducts and coordinates investigative activity related to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in SSA programs and operations. This includes wrongdoing by applicants, beneficiaries, contractors, third parties, or SSA employees performing their official duties. This office serves as OIG liaison to the Department of Justice on all matters relating to the investigations of SSA programs and personnel. OI also conducts joint investigations with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

Office of the Chief Counsel to the Inspector General
OCCIG provides independent legal advice and counsel to the IG on various matters, including statutes, regulations, legislation, and policy directives. OCCIG also advises the IG on investigative procedures and techniques, as well as on legal implications and conclusions to be drawn from audit and investigative material. Finally, OCCIG administers the Civil Monetary Penalty program.

Office of Resource Management
ORM supports OIG by providing information resource management and systems security. ORM also coordinates OIG's budget, procurement, telecommunications, facilities, and human resources. In addition, ORM is the focal point for OIG's strategic planning function and the development and implementation of performance measures required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.