II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1451

To establish an Office of Outreach Coordination in the Social Security Administration to coordinate outreach activities and services, to provide grants

to local governments and nonprofit organizations for outreach activities

and services, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 13 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 7), 1993

Mr. RIEGLE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To establish an Office of Outreach Coordination in the Social

Security Administration to coordinate outreach activities

and services, to provide grants to local governments and

nonprofit organizations for outreach activities and services, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SSI Outreach Act of

5 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) many individuals, including senior citizens,

2 homeless individuals, children, and disabled individ3 uals, face extraordinary difficulties in securing bene4 fits under the Social Security Act, the Food Stamp

5 Act of 1977, and other Federal programs, to which

6 they are otherwise entitled;

7 (2) without the benefits under such programs

8 these individuals, lacking any resources, are unable

9 to secure other vital necessities;

10 (3) many barriers exist that prevent potentially

11 eligible individuals from securing benefits under

12 such programs, including—

13 (A) communication barriers such as illit14 eracy in English or a foreign language and sen15 sory impairments;

16 (B) disabilities which limit mobility and

17 connections to social services organizations;

18 (C) homelessness often coupled with men19 tal illness, drug addiction, or alcoholism;

20 (D) distrust or fear of government bu21 reaucracy;

22 (E) concern that eligibility will preclude fu23 ture work attempts;

24 (F) lack of transportation;

25 (G) lack of access to a telephone;
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1 (H) lack of an understanding of how to

2 contact Social Security Administration field of3 fices;

4 (I) lack of any connections to social service

5 organizations; and

6 (J) cognitive or other mental impairments

7 which limit a person’s ability to understand

8 benefits, rights, or procedures.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to over10 come the barriers to securing benefits under the Social

11 Security Act and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 faced by

12 many homeless individuals and other hard to reach popu13 lations by establishing an office in the Social Security Ad14 ministration which will be responsible for coordinating

15 outreach activities and services, including an outreach

16 grant program. The grant program will help establish in17 novative approaches to identify individuals potentially eli18 gible for such benefits and to aid such individuals in the

19 application process for such benefits.

20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF OUTREACH CO21 ORDINATION.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

23 Human Services (hereafter referred to in this Act as the

24 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, within 180 days after the date of the

25 enactment of this Act, establish within the Social Security
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1 Administration an Office of Outreach Coordination, to be

2 administered by a Director of Outreach Coordination

3 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’)

4 who shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Social Se5 curity.

6 (b) DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.—The Director

7 shall—

8 (1) administer the grant program established

9 under section 4 and provide technical assistance to

10 the entities receiving grants under such section;

11 (2) formulate and provide information and tech12 nical assistance to Social Security Administration

13 field offices regarding—

14 (A) outreach policies and methods; and

15 (B) local outreach activities and services;

16 and

17 (3) implement the requirements of section 1635

18 of the Social Security Act.

19 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND NON20 PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR OUTREACH.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, through the

22 Office of Outreach Coordination in the Social Security Ad23 ministration (established under section 3), provide grants

24 to local governments and nonprofit organizations submit25 ting applications to the Secretary under this section, to
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1 conduct outreach activities and services targeted at home2 less individuals and other hard to reach populations, as

3 determined appropriate by the Secretary.

4 (b) GRANT CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall provide

5 grants under this section only to entities that demonstrate

6 to the Secretary that the entities—

7 (1) have experience with low-income people;

8 (2) have, in the case of entities applying for

9 grants to work with a specific hard to reach popu10 lation, sufficient experience in working with such

11 population, including—

12 (A) knowledge of the community in which

13 such population lives; and

14 (B) proficiency in any applicable foreign

15 language;

16 (3) are able to conduct outreach activities and

17 services appropriate to the targeted hard to reach

18 population, including—

19 (A) regular visits to places frequented by

20 homeless individuals, including soup kitchens,

21 homeless shelters, street sites, and day centers;

22 (B) the provision of information to individ23 uals and organizations regarding eligibility for

24 benefits under the Social Security Act and the

25 Food Stamp Act of 1977, and provision of ap-
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1 plications to apply for benefits under such pro2 grams;

3 (C) the provision of assistance to individ4 uals in completing applications to establish eli5 gibility for benefits under the Social Security

6 Act and benefits under the Food Stamp Act of

7 1977; and

8 (D) the provision of assistance to individ9 uals with respect to—

10 (i) obtaining appointments for any

11 medical examination required in order to

12 obtain benefits for which such individuals

13 may be eligible under the Social Security

14 Act so that all such examinations take

15 place within 2 weeks after submission of

16 the application for benefits under such Act;

17 (ii) obtaining and developing evidence

18 of disability and supporting documentation

19 for nondisability-related eligibility require20 ments under the Social Security Act; and

21 (iii) other matters relevant to obtain22 ing benefits under the Social Security Act,

23 including arranging transportation, and

24 where appropriate, arranging for persons
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1 to accompany applicants to any necessary

2 medical examinations; and

3 (4) are able to meet such further requirements

4 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to

5 carry out the purposes of this section.

6 (c) ASSISTANCE TO APPLICANTS AND BENE7 FICIARIES WHO ARE HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS IN OB8 TAINING NEEDED GOODS AND SERVICES.—An entity that

9 receives a grant under this section to conduct outreach

10 activities to homeless individuals may use some of the

11 funds received under the grant to assist homeless individ12 uals in gaining access to appropriate services in the com13 munity, including permanent housing assistance, nutri14 tion, physical and mental health care, and case manage15 ment services.

16 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary

17 shall provide that each entity receiving grants under this

18 section shall be required to prepare and submit to the Of19 fice of Outreach Coordination an annual report on the use

20 of grant funds and on the activities of the entity under21 taken to carry out the purposes of this section.

22 (e) GRANT FUNDS.—In order to provide for grants

23 under this section, the Secretary shall set aside and utilize

24 no less than .37 percent of the amounts available on an
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1 annual basis for the administrative expenses of the Social

2 Security Administration.

3 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—The Secretary

4 shall—

5 (1) promulgate such regulations as may be nec6 essary to carry out this section within 240 days

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act;

8 (2) notify local governments and nonprofit or9 ganizations of the availability of grant funds under

10 this section within 270 days after the date of the en11 actment of this Act; and

12 (3) begin to award grants under this section as

13 described in subsection (a) within 360 days after the

14 date of the enactment of this Act and annually

15 thereafter.

16 SEC. 5. SPECIAL PROCEDURES RELATING TO HOMELESS

17 INDIVIDUALS.

18 (a) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF APPLICA19 TIONS.—Within 240 days after the date of the enactment

20 of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to

21 ensure that, in determining disability for purposes of

22 awarding benefits under the Social Security Act, priority

23 consideration shall be given to applications received from

24 homeless individuals.
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1 (b) ASSISTANCE IN FILING DOCUMENTS FOR APPEAL

2 AND IN SEEKING REPRESENTATION.—If the Secretary is3 sues a decision to deny, suspend, reduce, or terminate ben4 efits under the Social Security Act to a homeless individ5 ual, the Secretary shall take affirmative steps to locate

6 the individual and—

7 (1) inform the individual of the importance of

8 appealing such decision; and

9 (2) if the individual indicates a desire to file

10 such an appeal, assist the individual in filing the

11 necessary forms.

12 (c) PROCEDURE GOVERNING THE POTENTIAL DE13 NIAL OR SUSPENSION OF BENEFITS FOR A HOMELESS IN14 DIVIDUAL.—

15 (1) DETERMINATION.—Before the Secretary de16 cides to deny, reduce, suspend, or terminate benefits

17 under the Social Security Act to a homeless individ18 ual on the grounds that the individual must provide

19 additional information before receiving, or continu20 ing to receive, such benefits, the Secretary shall de21 termine whether the individual is likely to have dif22 ficulty in responding to the request due to—

23 (A) a mental or physical impairment;

24 (B) advanced age;

25 (C) inability to communicate in English;
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1 (D) lack of transportation;

2 (E) lack of a fixed address; or

3 (F) any other comparable limitation.

4 (2) ACTION.—If the Secretary determines that

5 an individual has one of the limitations described in

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

7 (A) take affirmative steps to locate the in8 dividual and assist the individual in filing an

9 appeal from an adverse decision regarding such

10 benefits, and in securing the evidence required

11 to establish eligibility for, or to restore, such

12 benefits; and

13 (B) try to contact the individual by tele14 phone and, if unsuccessful, make a personal

15 visit to the last known address of the individual,

16 contact individuals in the neighborhood, friends,

17 or the post office, of the individual, and, to as18 sist in these efforts, contact social agencies,

19 shelters, soup kitchens, and any other agencies

20 that provide services to homeless individuals.

21 (3) RESTORATION OF BENEFITS.—If the efforts

22 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para23 graph (2) are unsuccessful, and such benefits are de24 nied, suspended, reduced, or terminated, and the in25 dividual within 12 months of such denial, suspen-
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1 sion, reduction, or termination contacts the Social

2 Security Administration with the necessary informa3 tion to seek restoration of benefits, the Secretary

4 shall—

5 (A) immediately resume payment of such

6 benefits; and

7 (B) from funds retained in the local office

8 accounts, pay the benefits of the individual for

9 the current month and for subsequent months

10 until regular monthly payments of benefits re11 sume.

12 (d) REGULATIONS ON PRESUMPTIVE DISABILITY.—

13 Within 60 days after the date of the enactment of this

14 Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to ensure

15 that presumptive disability payments made under section

16 1631(a)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act and emergency

17 advance payments made under section 1631(a)(4)(B) of

18 such Act are fully available to homeless individuals.

19 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

20 (a) EVALUATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall prepare

22 an evaluation of the activities carried out under this

23 Act.
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1 (2) CRITERIA.—At a minimum, the criteria

2 used by the Secretary in evaluating such activities

3 shall—

4 (A) fully take into account the special cir5 cumstances of the individuals reached through

6 the outreach activities conducted under this Act

7 and the need of such individuals for personal8 ized attention and follow-through assistance;

9 and

10 (B) emphasize the extent to which—

11 (i) the procedures used to carry out

12 the outreach activities take into account

13 such circumstances; and

14 (ii) the assistance made available to

15 such individuals through such activities

16 meets such need.

17 (b) REPORTS.—Not less frequently than annually,

18 the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees

19 of Congress a full and complete report containing the eval20 uation described in subsection (a) and such recommenda21 tions for additional legislative or regulatory action as the

22 Secretary may determine to be appropriate.

23 SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

24 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘homeless individ25 ual’’ means any individual—
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1 (1) who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate

2 nighttime residence; or

3 (2) whose primary nighttime residence is—

4 (A) a supervised publicly or privately oper5 ated shelter designed to provide temporary liv6 ing accommodations (including a welfare hotel,

7 a congregate shelter, and transitional housing

8 for the mentally ill);

9 (B) an institution that provides a tem10 porary residence for individuals intended to be

11 institutionalized; or

12 (C) a public or private place not designed

13 for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping ac14 commodation for human beings.

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