Major Management Challenges and Program Risks

This publication is part of GAO's performance and accountability series which provides a comprehensive assessment of government management, particularly the management challenges and program risks confronting federal agencies. Using a "performance-based management" approach, this landmark set of reports focuses on the results of government programs--how they affect the American taxpayer--rather than on the processes of government. This approach integrates thinking about organization, product and service delivery, use of technology, and human capital practices into every decision about the results that the government hopes to achieve. The series includes an overview volume discussing governmentwide management issues and 20 individual reports on the challenges facing specific cabinet departments and independent agencies. The reports take advantage of the wealth of new information made possible by management reform legislation, including audited financial statements for major federal agencies, mandated by the Chief Financial Officers Act, and strategic and performance plans required by the Government Performance and Results Act. In a companion volume to this series, GAO also updates its high-risk list of government operations and programs that are particularly vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

GAO noted that: (1) the most critical overarching issue facing SSA is the long-term solvency of the Social Security system; (2) since SSA assumed responsibility in 1974 for the SSI program, SSA officials have been challenged to serve the diverse needs of program recipients while still protecting the program's overall financial health and integrity; (3) while SSA paid over $73 billion in 1998 in cash benefits to nearly 11 million Disability Insurance (DI) and SSI blind and disabled beneficiaries (including DI spouses and dependents), SSA's complex process for determining whether an individual qualifies for a disability benefit--the disability claims process--has been plagued by a number of long-standing weaknesses; (4) to cope with increased workload demands--caused, in part, by the forthcoming retirement of the baby boom generation--SSA is counting on its effective use of technology to allow the agency to serve the increasing numbers of applicants and beneficiaries with fewer staff; (5) SSA has made progress in addressing the overarching issue of Social Security's solvency; (6) despite this progress, SSA must take further steps to meet the serious challenges it faces; and (7) with regard to progress concerning specific management challenges, SSA recently issued a report on SSI management.