Effective Date: January 11, 2006
(71 F.R. 1867)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY
THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
SYSTEM NUMBER: 60-0255
System name:
Plans for
Achieving Self-Support (PASS) Management Information System, Social Security
Administration, Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Office of Public Service
and Operations Support.
Security classification:
None.
System Location:
Social Security Administration
Deputy Commissioner for Operations
Office of Public Service and
Operations Support
In addition, Plans for Achieving
Self-Support (PASS) documents may be temporarily transferred to other locations
within the Social Security Administration (SSA). Contact the system manager to
inquire about these addresses.
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
This system
maintains information on disabled and blind individuals who are Supplemental
Security Income applicants or recipients and who have submitted plans for
achieving self-support under sections 1612(b)(4)(A), 1612(b)(4)(B), and
1613(a)(4) of the Social Security Act.
Categories of records in the system:
This system
contains the beneficiary's name; Social Security number (SSN); disability
diagnosis; occupational objective; information as to whether the individual's
plan was developed by a third party and, if so, the identity of the third
party; if the PASS was disapproved, terminated or suspended, the basis for that
action; information relating to his or her earnings and employment at the
beginning and end of the PASS; the nature and costs of those goods and services
which the individual has purchased or proposes to purchase under his or her
plan; information about goods and services actually purchased with respect to
an approved plan; and information about plans that were not approved (e.g., the
basis for denial of approval of a plan).
Authority for maintenance of the system:
Sections 1602,
1612(b)(4)(A), 1612(b)(4)(B), and 1613(a)(4) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382, 1382a, 1382b).
Purposes:
SSA uses the information in the system for
workload control, program evaluation purposes and to help determine the number
and types of individuals that are successfully returning to work as a result of
the PASS.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories
of users and the purposes of such uses:
Disclosure may
be made for routine uses as indicated below. However, disclosure of any information
defined as ``returns or return information'' under 26 U.S.C. 6103 of the
Internal Revenue Code will not be disclosed unless authorized by a statute, the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or IRS regulations.
1. To third-party contacts when the party
to be contacted has, or is expected to have, information relating to the
individual's PASS, when:
(a) The individual is unable to provide the
information being sought. An individual is considered to be unable to provide
certain types of information when:
(i) He or she is
incapable or of questionable mental capability;
(ii) He or she cannot read or write;
(iii) He or she cannot afford the cost of
obtaining the information;
(iv) He or she has
a hearing impairment, and is contacting SSA by telephone through a
telecommunications relay system operator;
(v) A language barrier exists; or
(vi) The custodian
of the information will not, as a matter of policy, provide it to the
individual; or
(b) The data are needed to establish the
validity of evidence or to verify the accuracy of information presented by the
individual in connection with his or her PASS; or SSA is reviewing the
information as a result of suspected abuse or fraud, concern for program
integrity, quality appraisal, or evaluation and measurement activities.
2. To a congressional office in response to
an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of the record.
3. To the Department of the Treasury,
Internal Revenue Service, for the purpose of auditing the Social Security
Administration's compliance with the safeguard provisions of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
4. To the Office of the President for the
purpose of responding to an individual pursuant to an inquiry received from
that individual or from a third party on his or her behalf.
5. To a contractor or another Federal
agency, as necessary for the purpose of assisting the Social Security
Administration (SSA) in the efficient administration of its programs. We will
disclose information under this routine use only in situations in which SSA may
enter into a contractual or similar agreement with a third party to assist in
accomplishing an SSA function relating to this system of records.
6. To the General Services Administration
and the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. 2904
and 2906, as amended by the NARA Act of 1984, information which is not
restricted from disclosure by Federal law for the use of those agencies in
conducting records management studies.
7. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a
court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal, when:
(a) SSA or any component thereof, or
(b) Any SSA employee in his or her official
capacity, or
(c) Any SSA employee in his or her
individual capacity when DOJ (or SSA when it is authorized to do so) has agreed
to represent the employee, or
(d) The
DOJ, a court or
other tribunal, or another party before the tribunal, is relevant and necessary
to the litigation, provided, however, that each case, SSA determines that such
disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
8. To the Secretary of Health and Human
Services or to any State, the Commissioner shall disclose any record or
information requested in writing by the Secretary for the purpose of
administering any program administered by the Secretary, if records or
information of such type were so disclosed under applicable rules, regulations
and procedures in effect before the date of enactment of the Social Security
Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining,
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
Records in this system
are stored in magnetic media (e.g., computer hard drives) and on paper. Paper
printouts of these data are made when required for study. The system also
contains photocopies of benefit application forms, keyed application forms, and
other claims documentation, when relevant to the PASS system.
Retrievability:
Records are
retrieved from the system by the name or SSN of the individual who submitted
the PASS.
Safeguards:
Safeguards for automated data have been
established in accordance with the Systems Security Program Handbook. This
includes maintaining computer disk packs or other magnetic fields with personal
identifiers in secured storage areas accessible only to authorized personnel.
SSA employees having access to the computerized records and employees of any
contractor who may be utilized to develop and maintain the software for the
automated system will be notified of criminal sanctions for unauthorized
disclosure of information about individuals. Also, contracts, if any, will
contain language that delineates the conditions under which contractors will
have access to data in the system and the safeguards that must be employed to
protect the data.
Paper documents are stored either in
lockable file cabinets within locked rooms or in otherwise secured areas.
Access to these records is restricted to those employees who require them to
perform their assigned duties. Access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_g.htm for additional
information relating to SSA data security measures.
Retention and disposal:
Computerized
records are maintained for a period of six years and three months after the end
of the fiscal year in which final adjudication was made. Paper records produced
for purposes of studies will be destroyed upon completion of the study.
Photocopies of forms and documentation will be destroyed upon approval or denial
of the PASS. Original copies of the forms and documentation are maintained in
the Claims Folder System, 60-0089. Means of disposal are appropriate to the
storage medium (e.g., erasure of disks, shredding of paper records, or transfer
to another system of records).
System manager(s) and address(es):
Associate Commissioner
Office
of Public Service and Operations Support
Social Security Administration
Notification procedures:
An individual can determine if this system
contains a record about him/her by writing to the system manager(s) at the
above address and providing his/her name, SSN or other information that may be
in the system of records that will identify him/her. An individual requesting
notification of records in person should provide the same information, as well
as provide an identity document, preferably with a photograph, such as a
driver's license or some other means of identification. If an individual does
not have any identification documents sufficient to establish his/her identity,
the individual must certify in writing that he/she is the person claimed to be
and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request for, or
acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false pretenses
is a criminal offense.
If notification is requested by telephone,
an individual must verify his/her identity by providing identifying information
that parallels information in the record to which notification is being
requested. If it is determined that the identifying
information provided by telephone is insufficient, the individual will be
required to submit a request in writing or in person. If an individual
is requesting information by telephone on behalf of another individual, the
subject individual must be connected with SSA and the requesting individual in
the same phone call. SSA will establish the subject individual's identity
(his/her name, SSN, address, date of birth and place of birth, along with one
other piece of information, such as mother's maiden name) and ask for his/her
consent in providing information to the requesting individual.
If a request for notification is submitted
by mail, an individual must include a notarized statement to SSA to verify
his/her identity or must certify in the request that he/she is the person
claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request
for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false
pretenses is a criminal offense. These procedures are in accordance with SSA
Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).
Record access procedures:
Same
as Notification procedures. Individuals requesting access to their
records should also reasonably describe the records they are seeking. These
procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).
Contesting record procedures:
Same
as Notification procedures. Individuals contesting the contents of a
record in the system should also reasonably describe the record, specify the
information they are contesting and the corrective action sought, and the
reasons for the correction, with supporting justification showing how the
record is untimely, incomplete, inaccurate, or irrelevant. These procedures are
in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.65(a)).
Record source categories:
Information in
this system is obtained from other SSA systems of records such as the Claims
Folder System, 60-0089 and the Supplemental Security Income Record and Special
Veterans Benefits, 60-0103, from information provided by the beneficiary, and
from investigations conducted by SSA employees relating to beneficiaries' PASS
activity.
System exemptions from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
None.