U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
2004 Annual Report
Social Security Administration

Overview of Activities and Accomplishments

• Identifying and removing barriers that homeless individuals face in applying for SSDI or SSI benefits.
  
  
• Identifying areas for improvement in current policy and operating procedures.
  
  
• Developing and expanding SSDI/SSI outreach and application assistance to the homeless by developing a web page for homeless advocates (see www.socialsecurity.gov/homelessness).
  
  
• Addressing service delivery issues through collaboration with Federal partners. (Examples include the Department of Justice’s "Going Home" project, which focuses on serious and violent offenders; the Department of Health and Human Services’ project to provide training for case managers whose clients are homeless and potentially eligible for SSDI/SSI; and the Health Care for the Homeless program which seeks to improve access to health care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment for homeless individuals.)

We provided a comprehensive 3-day program orientation to one group of our cooperative agreement partners in August 2004, and to a second group in January 2005. Following this training, HOPE projects began enrolling homeless individuals and assisting them with filing for SSDI and SSI payments based on disability. From September 2004 through April 2005, HOPE projects enrolled 2,038 homeless individuals and, as of that date, received 306 favorable disability determinations. We continue to monitor the progress of our cooperative agreement partners and gather current information from their quarterly reports, regarding such issues as enrollments and awards, to produce a consolidated report on grantee activities. Consistent with SSA’s high-level focus on this initiative, Deputy Commissioner James B. Lockhart offered welcoming remarks at our first annual conference for HOPE projects in May 2005 in Baltimore. At the conference, SSA provided information about HOPE evaluation plans and provided a forum to share ideas.



Social Security Programs

In 1935, the Social Security Act established a program to help protect aged Americans against the loss of income due to retirement. Protection for survivors of deceased workers was added in 1939, creating the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program. The SSDI program was added in 1956, followed by the SSI program in 1972. For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004:

• 39.6 million Americans were receiving OASI benefits totaling $412.5 billion;
  
  
• 7.8 million Americans were receiving SSDI benefits totaling $75.2 billion; and
  
  
• 7.1 million individuals were receiving SSI benefits totaling $35.2 billion (this number includes SSI expenditures for the 2.5 million beneficiaries receiving both SSDI and SSI benefits).

The combined Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance programs, commonly referred to as Social Security, provide a comprehensive package of protection against the loss of earnings due to retirement, disability and death. Monthly cash benefits are financed through payroll taxes paid by workers and their employers and by self-employed individuals. The monthly benefit amount, to which an individual (or spouse and children) may become entitled under the OASDI program, is based on the individual’s taxable earnings during his or her lifetime.

To qualify for OASI benefits, a worker must have paid Social Security taxes for at least 10 years over the course of his or her lifetime. To qualify for DI benefits, an individual must meet a test of recent covered work before becoming disabled. Disability benefits provide a continuing income base for eligible workers who have qualifying disabilities and for eligible members of their families. Workers are considered disabled if they have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that prevents them from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The disability must have lasted, or be expected to last, for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, or be expected to result in death.

SSI is a means-tested program designed to provide or supplement the income of aged, blind or disabled individuals with limited income or resources. SSI payments and related administrative expenses are financed from general tax revenues, not from Social Security payroll taxes. Children, as well as adults, can receive payments because of disability or blindness. There are general provisions to encourage working and special incentives to those beneficiaries who have disabilities or are blind. The Federal benefit rate and eligibility requirements are uniform nationwide. However, various States provide a SSI benefit supplement. Also, SSI beneficiaries may be eligible for food stamps, Medicaid and social services. Thus, for homeless individuals who are age 65 or older, blind or disabled, SSA plays a critical role in helping provide monthly benefit payments and linkages to medical and nutrition services.

Targeted Homeless Assistance Program

Congress appropriated $8 million in fiscal year 2004 and directed SSA to use the appropriation to provide outreach and application assistance to homeless and other underserved populations. SSA used this earmarked funding to establish the HOPE program in support of the President’s initiative to end chronic homelessness in America within 10 years. This initiative is focused on assisting eligible, homeless individuals in applying for SSI and SSDI benefits. HOPE projects will help SSA demonstrate the effectiveness of using skilled medical and social service providers to identify and work with homeless individuals with disabilities, including assisting them with the application process.

Cooperative agreement funding was made available to public and private organizations, including non-profit, profit-making, and faith-based organizations that possess existing expertise and capacity to conduct outreach activities to locate and engage homeless individuals; are able to provide or arrange for health care services; and are able to provide culturally competent services to all members of the target population, without regard to race, sex, religion, or disability. Currently, we have cooperative agreement partners in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

2005 Budget

Congress provided $8 million in fiscal year 2005 and directed SSA to conduct outreach to homeless and other under-served populations. SSA utilized these funds to continue its cooperative agreement partnership with its 41 grantees for a 3-year period.

Planned Evaluation

SSA awarded an evaluation contract to WESTAT in September 2004. Grantees are expected to work with WESTAT and make data available to them for the evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the value of providing additional training and access to SSA personnel. The evaluation will determine whether the additional resources impact the ability of social service providers to (1) identify homeless individuals who may be eligible for Social Security or SSI benefits and (2) develop the appropriate documentation for disability applications.

• Allowing homeless individuals to receive their monthly checks at the local field office;
  
  
• Assisting individuals in establishing bank accounts for Direct Deposit of benefits and using Automatic Teller Machines; and
  
  
• Allowing individuals to use the field office as a message center, so that disability determination services’ appointments or requests for information are not missed.

• Establishing ongoing relationships with homeless organizations, agencies, shelters, churches, county welfare and local healthcare providers that serve homeless populations in order to provide immediate assistance and resolve issues related to homeless populations;
  
  
• Scheduling appointments with various agencies to facilitate the claims process;
  
  
• Coordinating development between disability determination services and treatment providers to expedite the disability claims process;
  
  
• Arranging for field offices to contact disability determination services to schedule consultative examinations for homeless individuals with no medical sources so that the individual is provided the date and time of the appointment before leaving the field office;
  
  
• Working with the Veterans Administration to assist homeless veterans filing claims or maintaining eligibility;
  
  
• Visiting homeless shelters and hospitals (by field office staff) to take claims or assist individuals with postentitlement actions;
  
  
• Attending meetings of community-based service organizations for the homeless (by field office staff) to provide ongoing information about SSA programs and to maintain good lines of communication;
  
  
• Distributing public information materials to appropriate agencies involved with the homeless and maintaining resource information from those agencies in field offices in order to provide referral services, as needed; and
  
  
• Identifying new community service programs that assist the homeless and developing liaisons.

Training Initiatives

Field office and disability determination services staff provide ongoing training to agencies and community service organizations that serve the homeless. For example:

• Field offices train social workers and advocacy groups on the completion of claims forms and documentation requirements for claims processing;
  
  
• Field office staff participate in workshops to disseminate information on programs and services; and
  
  
• Public Affairs Specialists and field office management establish relationships with legal aid and law enforcement agencies to provide basic eligibility training on SSA programs.

Efforts to Increase Outreach to Homeless Individuals and Advocacy Organizations

While many SSA offices around the country have developed programs and procedures to address target populations, including homeless individuals, the centerpiece to those efforts is the new working relationships developed through our cooperative agreement partners under the HOPE project.

The goal of the cooperative agreements is to demonstrate efficient, replicable and sustainable approaches for identifying individuals who are potentially eligible for benefits under the Social Security or SSI disability programs and providing direct assistance to these individuals in the benefit application process. The core objectives for the projects are to identify homeless individuals who are potentially eligible for benefits and to provide assistance to project participants that results in faster claim decisions and higher initial allowance rates for those who are eligible.

As noted in the Overview of Activities and Accomplishments, cooperative agreement partners enrolled over 2,000 homeless individuals in the HOPE project over the course of the first 8 months of operation.