DSL Memo Series
2002-05
ACTION MEMO
June 20, 2002
STATE OF WISCONSIN
Department of Health and Family Services
Division of Supportive Living
To:
Area Administrators/Assistant Area Administrators
Bureau Directors
County Departments of Community Programs Directors
County Departments of Developmental Disabilities
Services Directors
County Departments of Human Services Directors
County Departments of Social Services Directors
Licensing Chiefs/Section Chiefs
Tribal Chairpersons/Human Services Facilitators
From:
Sinikka McCabe, Administrator
Re: ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER (EFT) FOR SSI
Document Summary
This memo explains action that county and non-profit agencies must
take by August 1, 2002 to create electronic funds transfer (EFT) for all
SSI recipients for whom they serve as representative payee.
The Department of Health and Family Services (DHS
) is beginning an
aggressive effort to replace all paper check benefit payments from the
Wisconsin Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program with electronic funds
transfer (EFT). EFT will be required for certain categories of recipients.
Currently, DHS
transmits approximately 55 percent of Wisconsin SSI
payments via EFT. Our goal is to increase this number to at least 85
percent of payments by the end of the next state fiscal year.
The primary reason for this change is to reduce costs for processing,
printing and mailing paper checks. This change will also eliminate
difficulties experienced by recipients and DHS
with lost, stolen and
fraudulently endorsed paper checks. There are approximately 11,000 SSI
recipients in Wisconsin who have agency payees to whom DHS
is sending
paper SSI checks every month.
To facilitate this change as quickly as possible and to delay the
impact on recipients who do not have bank accounts, county and non-profit
agencies may elect to establish a single account into which all payments
are directed for recipients whose benefits they manage, or may establish
an individual account for each recipient. Once these accounts are
establish and DHS
has been notified of the type of account, account
number and bank routing number, DHS
will facilitate transfer of this
information to the Social Security Administration (SA) so that both
federal and state SSI benefits are deposited into this account. The
Department is requiring that county government and non-profit agencies
establish EFT for the SSI recipients whose benefits they manage no later
than August 1, 2002. Timely response will result in sufficient overall
savings in SFY 2003 to meet recent reductions in state administrative
funding and thereby avoid reduction in other more direct services provided
to these recipients by the Division of Supportive Living and its county
and non-profit partners.
Attached are two documents for your use. Please complete a Direct
Deposit Sign-Up Form for each SSI recipient for whom your agency is
representative payee. Submit this form to the Department of Health and
Family Services, P. O. Box 6680, Madison, WI 53716-0680 no later than
August 1, 2002. DHS
will forward these forms, when completed, to the
federal Social Security Administration (SSA) and the recipient's federal
SSI payment, if any, will also be transferred to the account identified on
the form.
The second attachment is a guide for organizational representative
payees from the Social Security Administration's (SSA) web site. You may
wish to visit this web site at http://www.ssa.gov/payee/Guide/conservation.htm
for additional information about your role as an organizational
representative payee.
If you have any questions, please contact Kathleen Luedtke at (608)
266-6890.
REGIONAL OFFICE CONTACT:
Area Administrator
CENTRAL OFFICE CONTACT:
Kathleen Luedtke
608-266-6890
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