[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 175 (Friday, September 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54592-54594]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23016]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and 
Comment Request

    In compliance with Public Law 104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, SSA is providing notice of its information collections that 
require submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). SSA is 
soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate; 
the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to enhance 
its quality, utility and clarity; and on ways to minimize burden on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    I. The information collections listed below will be submitted to 
OMB within

[[Page 54593]]

60 days from the date of this notice. Therefore, comments and 
recommendations regarding the information collections would be most 
useful if received by the Agency within 60 days from the date of this 
publication. Comments should be directed to the SSA Reports Clearance 
Officer at the address listed at the end of this publication. You can 
obtain a copy of the collection instruments by calling the SSA Reports 
Clearance Officer on (410) 965-4145, or by writing to him at the 
address listed at the end of this publication.
    1. Employment Relationship Questionnaire--0960-0040. The SSA uses 
the information collected on Form SSA-7160 to determine whether the 
numberholder is self-employed or an employee. The respondents are 
applicants for Social Security Benefits and/or employers.
    Number of Respondents: 47,500.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 25 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 19,792 hours.
    2. Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (BPAO) Projects--
0960-NEW. On May 31, 2000, SSA announced its intention to competitively 
award cooperative agreements to establish community-based BPAO 
projects. The overall goal of the projects is to disseminate accurate 
information to beneficiaries with disabilities (including transition-
to-work aged youth) about work incentives programs and issues related 
to such programs, to enable them to make informed choices about work.
    The BPAO project managers will collect data from Social Security 
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 
beneficiaries who request BPAO services. The BPAO project managers and 
SSA will use the data to manage the projects and to determine what 
additional resources or other approaches may be needed to improve the 
process. The data is needed to determine the efficacy of the program 
and to ensure that those dollars appropriated for BPAO services are 
actually being used for SSA beneficiaries. The data will also be 
valuable to SSA in its analysis of and future planning for the SSDI and 
SSI programs.
    BPAO projects will collect data on:

     Beneficiary background;
     Beneficiary employment;
     Beneficiary training;
     Beneficiary benefits;
     Beneficiary work incentives;
     Services to which BPAO projects refer beneficiaries; 
and
     BPAO activities performed.

    Number of Respondents: 500,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 250,000 hours.
    II. The information collections listed below have been submitted to 
OMB for clearance. Written comments and recommendations on the 
information collections would be most useful if received within 30 days 
from the date of this publication. Comments should be directed to the 
SSA Reports Clearance Officer and the OMB Desk Officer at the addresses 
listed at the end of this publication. You can obtain a copy of the OMB 
clearance packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer on 
(410) 965-4145, or by writing to him.
    1. Application for Special Age 72-or-Over Monthly Payments--0960-
0096. SSA collects the information on form SSA-19-F6 to determine 
whether an individual is entitled to Special Age-72 payments. The 
respondents are individuals who attained age 72 before 1972.
    Number of Respondents: 10.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 20 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 3 hours.
    2. Request for Self-Employment Information, Request for Employee 
Information, Request for Employer Information-0960-0508. SSA uses the 
information collected on Forms SSA-L2765, SSA-L3365 and SSA-L4002 to 
credit the reported earnings to the proper earnings record. When W-2 
wage data for an individual cannot be identified, the data is placed in 
the earnings suspense file, and SSA sends decentralized correspondence 
(DECOR) to the employee (in certain instances to the employer) in an 
attempt to obtain his/her correct name and Social Security Number. The 
respondents are employees, employers or self-employed individuals who 
are asked to furnish additional information for individuals for whom 
earnings were reported.
    Number of Respondents: 3,000,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 500,000 hours.
    3. State Agency Report of Obligations for SSA Disability Programs--
0960-0421. The data collected on Form SSA-4513 is necessary for 
detailed analysis and evaluation of costs incurred by Disability 
Determination Services (DDS) in making disability determinations for 
SSA. The data collected also helps to determine funding levels for each 
DDS. The respondents are DDSs, which are the State agencies that have 
the responsibility for making disability determinations for SSA.
    Number of Respondents: 54.
    Frequency of Response: 4.
    Average Burden Per Response: 60 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 216 hours.
    4. Statement For Determining Continuing Eligibility for 
Supplemental Security Income Payments--0960-0416. SSA uses form SSA-
8203-BK for high-error-profile (HEP) redeterminations. The information 
is normally completed in field offices by personal contact (face-to-
face or telephone interview) using the automated Modernized SSI Claim 
System (MSSICS). The paper form is used only when a systems limitation 
prevents the interview from being completed on MSSICS. When the paper 
form is used, a tear-off sheet (Pages 7 and 8 of the form) is given to 
recipients at the conclusion of a face-to-face interview or is mailed 
to recipients at the completion of the telephone interview. The tear-
off includes information about how, what, when, where, and why SSI 
recipients report when there is a change in income, resources, or 
living arrangements. The respondents are recipients of title XVI SSI 
benefits.
    Number of Respondents: 920,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 17 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 260,667 hours.
    5. Childhood Disability Evaluation Form--0960-0568. The information 
collected on form SSA-538 is used by SSA and the State DDSs to record 
medical and functional findings concerning the severity of impairments 
of children who are claiming SSI benefits based on disability. The form 
is used for initial determinations of eligibility, in appeals, and in 
initial continuing disability reviews. SSA is revising the form in 
order to make it easier for those who use it to better record their 
medical and functional findings.
    Number of Respondents: 750,000.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 25 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 312,500 hours.
    6. Employment Support Representative Position: Survey of 
Beneficiaries and Community Organizations--0960-NEW. SSA has created a 
new position, the Employment Support Representative (ESR), to provide 
employment support information and counseling to SSA

[[Page 54594]]

disability beneficiaries and community organizations. The positions are 
established initially in a pilot program supporting 51 service areas. 
SSA proposes to test three models, which vary by organizational 
placement and assigned duties of the ESR. SSA will evaluate the models 
to determine which model or feature(s) of the model(s) are most 
effective through information we will collect from individuals and 
organizations who made contact with, or received services from, ESRs in 
each of the models during the pilot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Individuals        Organizations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Respondents...........  1,332.............  894.
Frequency of Response...........  1.................  1.
Average Burden Per Response.....  10 minutes........  15 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden.........  222 hours.........  224 hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    7. Survey of Low-Income and Disabled Children-0960-NEW. The Survey 
of Low-Income and Disabled Children (SOLID KIDS) is designed to collect 
nationally representative data on children and young adults with SSI 
experience, including current and previous SSI recipients and SSI 
applicants. To solicit information, SSA will employ two versions of the 
SOLID KIDS survey. One survey will be directed at children under age 
17. The other, a young adult version, is designed for children who are 
17 or older at the time of the survey.
    The survey is designed to provide SSA with data on SSI recipients 
in the following areas:

     Disability and health status;
     Health care utilization;
     Health insurance coverage;
     Out-of-pocket health care expenses;
     Education and training;
     Service utilization and cost;
     Employment income assets;
     Child care; and
     Housing and transportation.

    This information will allow SSA to answer policy-relevant 
questions, for example, the impact of welfare reform on SSI children 
and young adults, cost of caring for children and young adults with 
disabilities, transition issues for young adults with disabilities, 
service utilization patterns, health care access, and unmet health care 
needs.
    The data will be used for internal research and policy evaluation, 
for briefings, in mandated reports to Congress, in published 
descriptions in the Social Security Bulletin and elsewhere. External 
researchers will have access to public-use files.
    Respondents to the SOLID KIDS survey, children's version, will be 
parent's or guardian's of the sample children under age 17 at the time 
of the survey. The young adult version of the SOLID KIDS survey is 
designed for children who are 17 or older at the time of the survey. 
For young adults who are still living in their parents' household, the 
respondent will be the parent or guardian. For young adults who are 
living away from their parents (for example, in a group home or 
facility, or in their own home or apartment), the respondent will be 
the young adults themselves. In cases where the young adult is living 
outside of the parent's home and is unable to complete the survey due 
to disability, a proxy respondent will be selected.
    Number of respondents: 9,857.
    Number of Response: 1.
    Average burden per response: 58 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 9,528 hours.

SSA Address--Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Frederick W. 
Brickenkamp, 1-A-21 Operations Bldg., 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, 
MD 21235
OMB Address--Office of Management and Budget, OIRA, Attn: Desk Officer 
for SSA, New Executive Office Building, Room 10230, 725 17th St., NW, 
Washington, D.C. 20503.

    Dated: August 31, 2000.
Frederick W. Brickenkamp,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-23016 Filed 9-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P