Social Security Administration (SSA) Releases Audit Report on Program for Issuing Replacement Social Security Cards to Prisoners

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. Click here to view this letter.

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.



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Sunset Advisory Commission Offers Strategies for Texas Legislature to Improve the State's Criminal Justice System

 The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission recently conducted a review of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee. Last month, the Sunset Advisory Commission released a report of its findings, which details ten issues and corresponding recommendations for the Texas Legislature to consider in order to improve the State's criminal justice system.

Several issues and recommendations described in the report offer strategies for making the best use of limited funds:

  • Issue: Keeping low-risk offenders on parole and mandatory supervision who could be released early diverts limited TDCJ resources from where they are most needed.
    Recommendation: Require TDCJ's Parole Division to identify eligible low-risk individuals who are incarcerated, and establish a process for releasing these individuals from parole and mandatory supervision early.

  • Issue: Current law limits the use and effectiveness of medically recommended early release of offenders, increasing state medical costs.
    Recommendation: Authorize judges to permit the early release of people in jail who pose no risk to public safety due to their medical conditions, and require the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments to identify and recommend individuals eligible for early medical release.

To view the complete report, click here.

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Announcements

 Funding Opportunity: Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Program

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding under the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Program.

State, local, and tribal jurisdictions are eligible to apply. Grants are available for eligible jurisdictions to conduct planning, training, implementation and / or enhancement activities for probation and parole officers and other personnel who provide case management, supervision, and relapse prevention services to released sex offenders. Grants are also available for agencies responsible for sex offender registry compliance and the use of electronic monitoring / tracking equipment related to sex offender management. Applicants are encouraged to develop collaborative proposals with other local and state agencies.

Application Deadline: December 7, 2006
For more information about this grant announcement and application requirements, click here.

Upcoming Events:

National GAINS Center and the Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis (TAPA) Center for Jail Diversion: Teleconference - "Dispelling the Myths About Sharing Data between Mental Health and Criminal Justice Systems"
November 13, 2006 at 2:00-3:30pm Eastern Time
http://www.gainscenter.samhsa.gov/pdfs/eNews/Nov13_Net_Conf_Desc.pdf

Workplace ReConnections, Inc.: Community Reconciliation - Reentry Policy and Practice Seminar / Workshop
November 17, 2006 (Cleveland, OH)
http://www.workplacereconnections.org/page/394

Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Series on Reentry Research: Domestic Violence and Reentry
November 17, 2006 (New York, NY)
http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/ce ntersinstitutes/pri/Fall2006Series.pdf

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Recent Coverage of Reentry Issues

  • 11/3/06 "As Release Nears, These Inmates Are All Business" (Washington Post)

    The Prison Entrepreneurship Program, a nonprofit organization based in Houston, incorporates a graduate school-style business plan competition for prisoners who are preparing for their release into the community. The program has instituted a rigorous business curriculum that pairs prisoners with Harvard and Texas A&M University students who help edit their business plans. Executives from local corporations then judge the business plans.

  • 10/30/06 "Nursing Aide in Rape Case Fired Three Times" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

    Nursing assistant Lamin Darboe stayed employed despite being repeatedly suspected of sexually aggressive conduct. His license was renewed shortly before he allegedly raped a female stroke patient in Seattle. State Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, the vice chairman of the House Health Care Committee, said health officials need more access to arrest data to weed out abusive providers. He said he will introduce a bill to expand the scope of Health Department background checks.

  • 10/30/06 "Sex Crime Residency Laws Exile Offenders" (Los Angeles Times)

    As Californians prepare to vote next week on Proposition 83, which would impose residency restrictions on sex offenders, Iowa is becoming an example of the unintended consequences of such measures. Prosecutors, police officials and even victims rights groups say the crackdown has backfired, driving some offenders into rural towns and leaving others grouped at motels, campgrounds, freeway rest stops or on the streets.

  • 10/28/06 "Proposed Religion-Based Program for Federal Inmates is Canceled" (New York Times)

    The Justice Department has canceled its proposal for a religion-based prison rehabilitation program that critics and constitutional law experts contended would have violated the separation of church and state.

Click here to see more collected reentry news from the Reentry Policy Council.

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Recent Published Resources on Reentry Issues

To suggest additional resources for inclusion in the RPC newsletter, please email editors@reentrypolicy.org.

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