The Board believes that ensuring SSA has sufficient resources to avert a potential crisis in service delivery requires priority attention. When Congress enacted the SSI program in 1972, it gave SSA the responsibility of administering the new program largely because of its record of providing high-quality service to aged and disabled individuals. Many of the agency’s field offices were overwhelmed by the large number of applicants who lined up outside their doors, and large backlogs developed. SSA requested a major increase in staffing and instituted massive use of overtime. Despite extraordinary efforts by SSA employees throughout the system, service in many parts of the country for both Social Security and SSI claimants remained far below SSA’s own standards for several years. It took SSA almost a decade to recover from this unfortunate experience and to conduct SSI operations relatively smoothly.
At present staffing levels, we believe that SSA’s service to the public is at high risk of failing to meet the public’s needs and expectations. The Social Security and SSI programs provide vital income support to millions of individuals and their families. SSA’s dedicated workers have a tradition of providing high-quality service to the public. In our observation, they care deeply about safeguarding the funds they dispense and about the integrity of their work. But today, they lack the tools they need to do their job. The Board strongly urges the new Administration and Congress to provide them with the necessary resources and support to fulfill their responsibilities.
The Statement is included in SSA’s 2001 Annual Report on the SSI Program. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 gives Board members the opportunity, individually or jointly, to include their views on SSI in SSA’s annual report to the President and Congress on the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The Board or one of its members has submitted a statement every year since 1998, except for 2024 due to the lack of a quorum.