TN 1 (01-05)

NOTE: On April 1, 2009, SSA changed its policy of not paying fleeing felons. Follow the instructions below only for felony warrants with offense codes 4901, 4902, or 4999. Follow the Martinez settlement instructions in GN 02613.860 – GN 02613.885 for all other felony warrant codes.

On May 9, 2011, SSA changed its policy and no longer suspends or denies benefits or payments based solely on a probation or parole violation warrant (i.e., warrants with offense codes 5011, 5012, 8101, 8102, or 9999 or “Blank” and an offense charge symbol of “probation or parole violation”). Follow the Clark Court Order instructions in GN 02615.100 – GN 02615.190 for all probation or parole violation warrants.

We will make additional changes to this section, as necessary, in the future.

A. Procedure

Field office procedure will depend on the results of the OIG investigation. Use the information supplied on the OIG OI-5D to determine the appropriate procedure to follow. (See SI 00530.240 to SI 00530.260.)

1. Warrant verification

These cases are time-sensitive and should be worked within 30 days of the date the report is received in the field office to avoid additional overpayments. FO representatives must re-verify with the warrant- issuing agency that warrant information remains active for cases pending in the FO for more than 30 days.

Upon receipt in the field office, check to make sure the warrant was verified. If the warrant is active and the verification date on the OIG OI-5D is more than 90 days old, contact the OIG agent shown on the OI-5D by phone or e-mail. The agent will confirm with the warrant-issuing agency that the warrant remains active.

IMPORTANT: Do not contact an SSI recipient/applicant to verify information received from OIG about his or her fugitive status. Also, examine the case to determine if the mandatory good cause requirements are met, per SI 00530.015.

2. Proper payment status

If good cause can not be found based on the evidence that has been provided, use payment status code N25 to suspend payments because an individual is a fugitive felon or a parole or probation violator. Do not input N25 for months prior to 08/01/96. Do not use payment status code N05. (Payment status code N05 was used temporarily before November 1997.) See SI 00530.500 when applying the rules of administrative finality.

3. MSSICS action

1. Open a stand-alone PE event.

2. Go to the Person Screen Status (PERS) and select ALEF, if listed

3. If ALEF is not listed on PERS, select the SSI Claims Application ACLM) screen. Press enter.

4. Continue through the general identification path. Entry of ACLM will place ALEF in the path.

5. Document data on the ALEF and AWRF/AWRP screens.

6. Suppress the systems-generated notice by entering a "Y" for NOTICE MENU on the Direct SSR Update Menu (UMEN), and then selecting #1 "Notice Suppression" from the Notice Menu (UNMN).

7. Issue a manual Notice of Planned Action, SSA-8155-U2, or an Important Information notice, SSA-8166, as appropriate. (A manual overpayment notice must also be prepared when appropriate.)

4. Notice

Prepare a manual suspension notice per SI 00530.017 (available on DPS) in all OIG referral cases where payment status code N25 is appropriate. Two notices are available in the Post Entitlement folder of DPS – “Fugitive Felons” and “Probation/Parole Violator”.

The DPS notice tells the recipient that SSA cannot resume SSI payments until he or she clears the warrant with the law enforcement agency or establishes good cause. The DPS notice provides the recipient with the agency’s name, address, and phone number as well as information about the warrant.

IMPORTANT: The automated N25 notice generated by MSSICS must be suppressed. If the notice is not suppressed, the recipient will receive a notice appropriate for self-reporters. The automated notice does not include warrant information, good cause language, and instructions for the recipient to contact the law enforcement agency for further assistance.