[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 228 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 70756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30082]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Emergency Consideration 
Request

    In compliance with Public Law 104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is providing notice 
of its information collections that require submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). SSA is requesting emergency consideration 
from OMB by 12/06/2000 of the information collections listed below.
    1. Beneficiary Interview and Auditor's Observations Form-0960-NEW.
    The information collected through the Beneficiary Interview and 
Auditor's Observations form, SSA-322, will be used by SSA's Office of 
the Inspector General (OIG) to interview beneficiaries and/or their 
caregivers to determine whether representative payees are complying 
with their duties and responsibilities. Respondents to this collection 
will be randomly selected Supplemental Security Income recipients and 
Social Security beneficiaries that have representative payees.
    Number of Respondents: 150.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 38 hours.

Background Information

    In May of this year Congress held hearings on SSA's representative 
payee program. These hearings were the result of an investigation 
conducted by SSA's OIG involving a representative payee who embezzled 
over $300,000 of Social Security payments, and recent media attention. 
Following these hearings SSA began a number of initiatives to improve 
oversight of representative payees. One of the initiatives requested by 
Congress was for OIG to perform audits of representative payees. 
Specifically, Congress requested an independent OIG review and 
assessment of SSA's representative payee program. In conjunction with 
this oversight, Congress has further advised SSA that briefings on the 
representative payee program are expected and additional congressional 
hearings are planned in early spring. This information collection is 
therefore necessary to comply with the congressional reporting 
requirements in a timely manner and to augment other data needed for 
determining whether representative payees are complying with their 
duties.
    You can obtain a copy of the collection instruments and/or OMB 
clearance packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer on 
(410) 965-4145, or by writing to him.
SSA Address
Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Frederick W. Brickenkamp, 
6401 Security Blvd., 1-A-21 Operations Bldg., Baltimore, MD 21235

    Dated: November 20, 2000.
Frederick W. Brickenkamp,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-30082 Filed 11-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-29-U