Representative Availability Portal for Social Security Administration (SSA) Hearings

Forms and Documents

Forms and supporting documents for this ICR

Document	Type	Status	Availability
Supporting Statement - 0960-NEW (RAP).docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2024-04-23	Repair queued
Addendum - 0960-NEW (RAP).docx	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2024-04-19	Repair queued

IC Document Collections

Information collection document groups

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
267050	Representative Availability Portal for SSA Hearings	Instruction	New

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 0960-0839	ICR Reference No: 202404-0960-005
Status: Active	Previous ICR Reference No:
Agency/Subagency: SSA	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Representative Availability Portal for Social Security Administration (SSA) Hearings
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 06/06/2024
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 04/23/2024
Terms of Clearance: No later than six months after nationwide deployment, the agency will provide OMB a briefing on user feedback it has received regarding the platform and any upcoming enhancements or improvements to the system. OMB may further request that subsequent to this briefing, the agency host a listening session with at least two stakeholder entities who represent or employ multiple individuals using the scheduling system to facilitate direct feedback on the usability of the website.

table that charts list comparision

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	06/30/2027	36 Months From Approved
Responses	36,000	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	48,000	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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Abstract: As part of the appeals process, claimants can request a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Approximately 80 percent of claimants have appointed representatives at the hearing level. When the Social Security Administration (SSA) schedules hearings before an ALJ, it usually considers the availability of appointed representatives, if applicable. Appointed representatives may be members of large firms, appearing at hearings nationwide, or may be solo practitioners servicing a specific geographic location or hearing office. In both situations, it is typical for appointed representatives to represent more than one claimant at any given moment; some represent hundreds of claimants at once. Historically, the process of seeking, tracking, and considering representative availability has been a manual and time-intensive activity. In the past, hearing offices sought representative availability information by contacting each representative individually. More recently, Office of Hearings Operations’ Regional Offices representatives collected availability information. However, the process for gathering and considering representative availability was not standardized and varied greatly amongst Regional Offices. The appointed representative community informed SSA they would appreciate a consistent and standardized electronic process to submit their availability for hearing appearances. In the Spring of 2023, SSA initiated the Enhanced Representative Availability Process (ERAP) to provide representatives with a more standardized and streamlined process to email their availability for hearings. In the interim, SSA also obtained OMB approval to test a new Representative Availability Portal (Portal) to offer the representative community a web-based option to submit their monthly availability to SSA. SSA tested the portal among 11 appointed representative practice groups nationwide. We are currently seeking OMB approval for the national rollout of the Portal, which collects standardized information regarding appointed representative availability for the purpose of scheduling hearings. SSA plans to roll the Portal out to all appointed representatives registered with the Registration, Appointment and Services for Representatives (RASR) application, other professional representatives who regularly conduct hearing business with SSA but are not registered with RASR, and delegated officials from appointed representative’s Designated Scheduling Groups (DSG). A DSG is a representative-identified scheduling group which can include one representative, or multiple representatives. Respondents will need to have a mySocial Security account to use the Portal and be registered into the Portal by SSA systems. Respondents who wish to use the Portal, but who are not registered with RASR, or who do not have a Representative ID, must provide SSA systems with the necessary data, including name and SSN, to complete the Portal registration process. SSA will use the Portal to track availability for hearings for the DSG. Representatives provide hearing availability for the DSG monthly, and SSA considers the DSG-provided availability when scheduling hearings. SSA will announce the response window for the Portal each month. Following the submission deadline, the Portal will ‘‘lock,’’ and respondents will not be able to submit availability through the Portal at that time (although SSA will have the capacity to unlock if there is good cause). We expect use of the Portal will result in receiving consistent structured data from appointed representatives, which will allow for a more streamlined and effective hearing scheduling process. It also meets a long-standing customer-experience request from the representative community. The respondents are appointed representatives, and delegated officials from appointed representatives DSGs who need to submit their availability to SSA for hearings.

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Authorizing Statute(s): None

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 9887	02/12/2024
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 30428	04/23/2024
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

table that charts list of burden

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Representative Availability Portal for SSA Hearings

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ICR Summary of Burden

table that charts list of burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	36,000	0	0	36,000	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	48,000	0	0	48,000	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The Portal is a new standardized, web-based, reporting system that increases the public reporting burden. See the chart above for the burden figures. Note: The total burden reflected in ROCIS is 48,000, while the burden cited in #12 of the Supporting Statement is 36,000. This discrepancy is because the ROCIS burden reflects the following components: time burden + one-time learning costs. In contrast, the chart in #12 of the Supporting Statement reflects actual burden.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $217,687

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

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Common Form ICR:  No

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On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(i) Why the information is being collected;

(ii) Use of information;

(iii) Burden estimate;

(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);

(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and

(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.

Certification Date: 04/23/2024

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