As the population of older Americans increases in the coming years, and the prevalence of cognitive impairments also increases, the need for Representative Payees to manage individual’s Social Security and SSI benefits will grow. However, the Social Security Administration (SSA) does not have reliable mechanisms for determining who is in need of a Representative Payee. Additionally, the agency will be unable to meet the growing need for representative payees without a sustainable program for the recruitment of new payees.
A new policy issue brief by Justice in Aging, Ways to Meet the Growing Need for Representative Payees, explores the issue and poses some possible solutions.
SSA has one pilot program in Maryland to recruit pro-bono attorneys. The program, while promising, isn’t enough to meet the growing need and raises several questions. Ways to Meet the Growing Need for Representative Payees discusses why this pilot is not enough, what would make it better, and suggests ways the SSA could broaden the scope of its recruitment program for Representative Payees.
This is the third in a series of publications that Justice in Aging is producing with the support of a Borchard Center Foundation on Law and Aging fellowship grant. All the resources can be found here.