Supporting Statement for Form SSA-1588-SM
Beneficiary Recontact Report
20 CFR 404.703 & 404.705
OMB No. 0960-0502
Justification
Introduction/Authoring Laws and Regulations
Section 202(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (Act) states that a surviving spouse of an individual who died and was fully or currently insured is entitled to mother's or father's benefits, as long as this spouse did not re-marry, and an entitled child of the deceased is in their care. Sections 20 CFR 404.703 and 20 CFR 404.705 of the Code of Federal Regulations authorize the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to request information SSA needs to decide whether entitlement to benefits continues. SSA may stop benefits if we do not receive the requested information for establishing continuing entitlement.
Description of Collection
SSA investigates recipients of disability payments to determine their continuing eligibility for payments. Research indicates recipients may fail to report circumstances that affect their eligibility. Two such cases are: (1) When parents receiving disability benefits for their child marry; and (2) the removal of an entitled child from parents’ care. SSA uses Form SSA-1588-SM to ask mothers or fathers about both their marital status, and children currently under their care, to detect overpayments and to avoid continuing payment to those no longer entitled. Form SSA-1588-SM is a pre-filled form; SSA completes certain fields electronically before we send it to the recipient. SSA sends Form SSA-1588-SM to widowers once a year for the first three years after entitlement; then six years after entitlement; and then nine years after entitlement. SSA employees then evaluate the information listed on the form for program compliance. Respondents are recipients of mothers’ or fathers’ Social Security benefits.
Use of Information Technology to Collect the Information
SSA did not create an electronic version of Form SSA-1588-SM under the agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act plan, because this is an agency‑initiated form on which SSA pre-fills information before releasing the form to the recipient.
Why We Cannot Use Duplicate Information
The nature of the information we collect and the manner in which we collect it precludes duplication. SSA does not use another collection instrument to obtain similar data.
Minimizing Burden on Small Respondents
This collection does not affect small businesses or other small entities.
Consequence of Not Collecting Information or Collecting it Less Frequently
If we did not use Form SSA-1588-SM to determine if recipients are still eligible to receive payments, SSA may issue incorrect payments to recipients. We cannot collect this information less frequently, as we need to continue to ensure eligibility to avoid fraud. There are no technical or legal obstacles to burden reduction.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances that would cause SSA to conduct this information collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.
Solicitation of Public Comment and Other Consultations with the Public
The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice published on May 2, 2019, at
84 FR 18913, and we received no public comments. The 30-day FRN published on July 18, 2019 at 84 FR 34469. If we receive any comments in response to this Notice, we will forward them to OMB.
Payment or Gifts to Respondents
SSA does not provide payments or gifts to the respondents.
Assurances of Confidentiality
SSA protects and holds confidential the information it collects in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
Estimates of Public Reporting Burden
Modality of Completion |
Number of Respondents |
Frequency of Response |
Average Burden Per Response (minutes) |
Estimated Total Annual Burden (hours) |
SSA-1588-OCR-SM |
76,944 |
1 |
5 |
6,412 |
The total burden for this ICR is 6,412 hours. We based these figures on current management information data. We did not calculate a separate cost burden.
Annual Cost to the Respondents (Other)
This collection does not impose a known cost burden on the respondents.
Annual Cost to the Federal Government
The annual cost to the Federal Government is approximately $250,000. This estimate accounts for costs from the following areas: (1) designing, printing, and distributing the form; and (2) SSA employee (e.g., field office, 800 number, DDS staff) information collection and processing time.
Program Changes or Adjustments to the Information Collection Request
When we last cleared this IC in 2016, the burden was 7,864 hours. However, we are currently reporting a burden of 6,412 hours. This change stems from a decrease in the number of responses from 94,364 to 76,944. There is no change to the burden time per response. Although the number of responses changed, SSA did not take any actions to cause this change.
Plans for Publication Information Collection Results
SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.
Displaying the OMB Approval Expiration Date
OMB granted SSA an exemption from the requirement to print the OMB expiration date on its program forms. SSA produces millions of public-use forms with life cycles exceeding those of an OMB approval. Since SSA does not periodically revise and reprint its public-use forms (e.g., on an annual basis), OMB granted this exemption so SSA would not have to destroy stocks of otherwise useable forms with expired OMB approval dates, avoiding Government waste.
Exceptions to Certification Statement
SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
SSA does not use statistical methods for this information collection.
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