Spotlight Announcement

11/7/2006: Social Security Administration (SSA) Releases Audit Report on Program for Issuing Replacement Social Security Cards to Prisoners

Many people who are incarcerated lose access to important identification documents, such as social security cards, upon their admission to prison or jail. These documents are typically not replaced at the time of release. Without such identification, individuals released from incarceration are often unable to find employment, secure housing, or apply for public benefits that may be necessary to obtain medication or other treatment in the community.

Prior to December 2005, SSA established written agreements, or memoranda of understanding (MOUs), with corrections agencies to help prisoners obtain replacement social security cards. However, SSA announced that it would no longer enter into new MOUs last December. The decision was made pending a review of SSA's compliance with new Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) guidelines that impose more stringent identity verification requirements for federal benefits applicants. At CSG's suggestion, the Association of State Correctional Administrators sent a letter to SSA in response to this announcement, urging the administration to restore its practice of entering into MOUs with corrections agencies.

Shortly after this letter was sent, the Office of the Inspector General, an independent body within SSA, completed an audit of SSA's policies for issuing replacement SSN cards to prisoners. The results were featured in their October newsletter . The audit report detailed key findings:

• Prison officials did not always adequately review and certify information about prisoners' identities before submitting this information with replacement card applications.
  
  
• Local SSA offices did not periodically perform on-site reviews of prison procedures for submitting replacement social security card applications and required evidence.
  
  

The report also offered recommendations to SSA in the event that the administration restores its MOU policy:

• Perform a review at each prison with which it is considering executing an agreement to ensure the facility's procedures for establishing prisoner identity are sufficient to ensure social security number integrity and compliance with new IRTPA requirements.
  
  
• Require that local SSA offices perform annual onsite reviews of prison procedures for submitting prisoner replacement social security card applications and required evidence, and take corrective action as needed.
  
  

SSA has formed a workgroup to implement these recommendations, which may facilitate the reinstatement of its policy of entering into MOUs with corrections agencies to assist prisoners in obtaining replacement SSN cards.

To view the complete audit report, click here. For more information on CSG's work regarding access to federal benefits for individuals released from prison or jail, click here.