[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41994-41996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13782]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2023-0019]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with

[[Page 41995]]

Public Law 104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective 
October 1, 1995. This notice includes one new information collection 
for OMB-approval.
    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 ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA. 
Comments: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Submit your 
comments online referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2023-0019].
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, Mail Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 833-410-1631, Email address: [email protected].

    Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-
2023-0019].
    SSA submitted the information collection below to OMB for 
clearance. Your comments regarding this information collection would be 
most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of this 
publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive them 
no later than July 28, 2023. Individuals can obtain copies of this OMB 
clearance package by writing to [email protected].

State of Georgia's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council's (CJCC) 
Evaluation of the Implementation of the Supplemental Security Income 
(SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Outreach, Access, and 
Recovery (SOAR) Model in County Jails--0960-NEW

Background

    SSA is requesting clearance to collect data necessary to evaluate 
an intervention under the Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program 
(ICAP) with the State of Georgia's Criminal Justice Coordinating 
Council (CJCC). ICAP allows SSA to partner with various non-federal 
groups and organizations to advance interventional research connected 
to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security 
Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs. SSA awarded CJCC a cooperative 
agreement to conduct an intervention and evaluation of Supplemental 
Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) 
Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) model in county jails with 
inmates with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI) across the 
state. In addition to SSA, CJCC has partnered with the following: (1) 
Applied Research Services (ARS); (2) the Georgia Department of 
Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD); and (3) four 
county jails to implement the program.

ICAP CJCC Project Description

    Investigators hypothesize that untreated mental illness and 
repeated psychiatric crises may be a factor in jail recidivism. 
Connection to SSI/SSDI and attendant insurance benefits may help a 
person with SPMI obtain treatment and interrupt criminogenic behavior. 
The intervention will connect respondents in four county jails 
identified as having SPMI to Medicaid Eligibility Specialists (MES) 
hired and trained by the Georgia DBHDD, who will help them apply for 
SSI and SSDI. Respondents in two of the four counties (Fulton County 
Jail and Cobb County Jail) will also have the option of working with a 
Forensic Peer Mentor (FPM), a formerly incarcerated individual who is 
familiar with resources that may help participants increase their 
quality-of-life post incarceration and avoid recidivism. SSA 
anticipates the two DBHDD MESs will each serve 45 participants per 
year, for a total of 90 participants per year.
    To maximize the likelihood of the SSI/SSDI application approval, 
the MES will employ the SOAR method, which uses in-depth medical and 
personal summaries of disability to facilitate the SSI/SSDI application 
process. Researchers will collect data from participant surveys to 
evaluate and study the impact of the intervention. Through the data 
collected through these surveys, along with administrative data from 
SSA, the State of Georgia, participating counties, and DBHDD, SSA hopes 
to address the following research questions:
     Does connection to a SOAR-trained specialist increase the 
likelihood that a person with SPMI in jail will be approved for SSI/
SSDI benefits?
     If a person with SPMI receives SSI/SSDI benefits, are they 
able to connect to treatment resources that they may not have been able 
to obtain before?
     If a person with SPMI connects to treatment resources and 
successfully engages with them, are they able to achieve mental health 
recovery and stay out of jail?
    The respondents are individuals with serious and persistent mental 
illness incarcerated in county jails in the state of Georgia.

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                                                                                                              Average      Average wait
                                                                          Average burden     Estimated      theoretical      time for      Total annual
         Modality of completion              Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual     hourly cost     teleservice     opportunity
                                            respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)      amount          centers     cost (dollars)
                                                                                                            (dollars) *    (minutes) **         ***
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Initial Enrollment Survey (Paper).......              90               1              19              29         * 12.81  ..............         *** 371
Informed Consent (Paper)................              90               1              10              15         * 12.81  ..............         *** 192
Follow-up Survey (Internet or Telephone)              90               2              23              69         * 12.81           ** 19       *** 1,255
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................             270  ..............  ..............             113  ..............  ..............       *** 1,818
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* We based this figure on the average DI payments based on SSA's current FY 2023 data (https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/2022factsheet.pdf).
** We based this figure on average FY 2023 wait times for teleservice centers (approximately 19 minutes per respondent), based on SSA's current
  management information data.
*** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.



[[Page 41996]]

    Dated: June 23, 2023.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-13782 Filed 6-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P