We use the Notice Language Clearance Process to review and approve new or revised notice language. The clearance process integrates customer feedback and ensures that notices meet agency standards for readability, clarity, appearance, and tone.

First, the notice author coordinates with agency stakeholders to draft the language and create a clearance package for submission using NL 00101.005 and NL 00101.010.

Next, the notice author submits the package with the new language for clearance as outlined in NL 00101.015.

The approval components review the package to ensure the language meets agency standards, policy, and business processes, see subsection D. The package is considered cleared once the notice author receives approval from the approval components.

After receiving approval, the notice author follows the post clearance steps in NL 00101.020.

Anyone (e.g., a product team, component, workgroup) can identify the need for and propose a new notice, new language, or revision to existing notice language.  Some reasons for creating or revising language include:

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  Outreach.

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  A court decision.

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  Customer feedback.

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  A change in law or regulation.

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  A change to a business process or policy.

Avoid duplicating language in our notice systems. Look for existing language that fits your needs before initiating a request to create or revise notice language. You can find much of our existing language in:

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  NL 00700.000

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  The Language Development Facility (LDF)

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  Customer Communications Management (CCM)

Agency stakeholders are the components whose policy area or business processes are affected by the language.

The notice author must identify and include all potential stakeholders. We may use a notice in multiple stages of case processing or a notice may concern a common issue between multiple components. Depending on the issues involved, revised or new notice language may need input from multiple stakeholders.

The person who identifies the need to revise or create language works with the agency stakeholders to determine who will submit the clearance package.  The person submitting the clearance package is the notice author. The notice author collaborates with the stakeholders to draft the new or revised language before submitting the clearance package for approval.

Examples of stakeholders:

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  Office of Disability Policy (ODP): ^ODP Controls – disability and appointed representative related language.

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  Office of Income Security Programs (OISP): ^OISP Controls - non-disability, international, and Medicare related language.

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  Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support: ^ORDES Controls - employment and work incentives for the disabled related language.

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  Office of Program Integrity: ^DCARO OPI Controls - non-standard fraud language and anti-fraud policy and procedures.

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  Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge: ^DCHO HQ OCALJ Controls - hearings offices and national hearings centers.

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  Office of Appellate Operations: ^DCARO OAO Controls - appeals of hearing decisions to the Appeals Council, representative and fee policy, the processing of fraud redeterminations, and fraud referrals under section 1129 of the Social Security Act. 

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  Office of Budget, Finance, and Management: ^DCBFM Controls - financial policy, including direct deposit-related language.

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  Office of the Chief Information Officer: ^OCIO Controls - information about technical feasibility and notice implementation.

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  Office of Electronic Services and Technology: ||DCO OEST - electronic services, and notices used in field offices, teleservice centers, and processing centers.

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  Office of Customer Service: ||DCO OCS - language affecting the Workload Support Unit (WSU), Processing Center (PC) workloads, and Field Office (FO), and the National 800 Number (N8NN) telephone network customer service channels.

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  Office of Communications: ^DCCOMM Controls - key agency messaging and editorial review for plain language.

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  Office of the General Counsel: ^OGC Controls - legal sufficiency, risk, and privacy compliance, to include the sufficiency and inclusion of any required Privacy Notices (e.g., Privacy Act statement, etc.).

These components give final approval by signing off on the approval sheet provided in NL 00101.010. They must give approval before the changes can be implemented.

The notice author works with the stakeholders as outlined in NL 00101.001C to draft new language. Follow the guidelines NL00101.005B in this section. It is up to the notice author to determine how to collaborate with the stakeholders. Some options include:

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  Setting up a workgroup.

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  Creating a team page in Teams.

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  Sharing a central document via OneDrive for comments.

Always review the entire notice, not just the language revised.  

The notice author must consult with the Office of Transformation Customer Experience Office (CXO) (^CX Controls). This will ensure the customer experience is considered and CXO’s Unified Notice Redesign Guidance is incorporated.

The notice author must ensure that all stakeholders agree with the new or revised language before submitting the clearance package for approval.  Incorporating stakeholder feedback during the drafting stage reduces recirculation and review time during the clearance stage, NL 00101.015.  If the notice author can't resolve issues or conflicts for the clearance package, they should escalate the package to the next higher level for resolution.

The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) (^OGC Controls) is available to give advice during the drafting stage, if requested.

The Office of Media and Logistics Management (OMLM) determines whether the proposed requirements can be met on an existing print contract or if a new contract must be awarded.  OMLM will also provide a cost estimate and help the notice author understand whether their desired timeline is reasonable, depending on the contracting options available.  If the proposed requirements or timeline can't be met, they will recommend changes to help the notice author achieve their desired notice production outcomes.

Consult with OMLM at^DCBFM OFLM OMLM Controls to determine if there are contractual or budgetary considerations when:

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  Changing the font.

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  Creating a new notice.

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  Adding or removing enclosures.

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  Changing the page count of the notice.

If an enclosure is available online in our publications catalog, the notice author must determine if we can stop including a hard copy with the notice.

If the notice author decides to remove the mailed hard copy, they should determine if they need to add a hyperlink to the enclosure in the notice. There may be legal implications to removing a hard copy of an enclosure. Always consult with OGC when considering removal of hard copies of enclosures from notices.

If  the new or revised notice will increase printing and postage costs, contact the Office of Budget (OB) at ^DCBFM OB Controls so they can present the new costs to the Office of the Commissioner for approval.

1. 1. 

   Customer Experience Office (CXO) Unified Notice Redesign Guidance - addresses recurring challenges identified in communications research related to language simplification and user-friendly formatting.

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     Provide the Social Security seal or logo, as appropriate, and Beneficiary Notice Control number (BNC#) for legitimacy and consistency.

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     Provide the National 800 Number for customer support.

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     Answer the who, what, where, when, and why on the first page instead of scattering information throughout the notice.

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     Provide exact dates for deadlines and exact dollar amounts when possible so customers don’t have to do the math themselves.

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     Keep content simple and concise for all customers to easily understand.

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     Use a soft tone for increased readability and empathy for the customers.

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     Provide clear next steps and guidance so customers can determine what to do and the resources they have.

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     Provide additional support options for customers’ unique accommodations and preferences.

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     Reorder content to have the explanation at the beginning.

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     Use intuitive formatting (e.g., icons, headers, tables, lists, bold text, accessible font, color).

2. 2. 

   NL 00610.000 - Social Security Administration (SSA) Notice Standards.

3. 3. 

   Quality Initiative for Commissioner's Correspondence (QUICC) Handbook – Provides the Commissioner’s general guidelines for writing and style.

4. 4. 

   Plain Language Hub – Provides agency resources and information about writing with plain language.

5. 5. 

   Federal Plain Language Guidelines – Provides Federal guidelines for plain language.

6. 6. 

   U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual – Provides Federal guidelines for style.

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  Provide background information.

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    Explain the changes.

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      If creating new language, explain why the new language is needed.

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      If deleting language, explain why we no longer need the existing language.

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    Explain when to generate and how to use the language (in which notices and under what situations).

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    Describe the notice's audience.

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    Show where the language should appear in the notice (the order of paragraphs).

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    Provide the desired timeframe to implement the new or revised notice.

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  Provide the estimated number of notices mailed per year.

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  Identify the stakeholders with a vested interest in the language.

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  Identify the systems that generate the notice. Contact ^OCIO Controls for help identifying the notice system.

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  Provide the UTI language ID or snippet name for the new or updated language.

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    Find Language IDs in the Language Development Facility (LDF).

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    Find snippet names in Customer Communications Management (CCM).

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    For notices in other notice systems e.g., the Document Generating System (DGS), Hearing and Appeals Case Processing System (HACPS) and the Disability Case Processing System (DCPS), please follow your current work-flow process to obtain this information if necessary.

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  Provide a list of the enclosures we include with the notice and for each enclosure, explain whether to:

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    Continue to include a copy of the enclosure with mailed copies of the notice.

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    Remove it from the mailed notice because we are providing a link to access online.

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    Remove it from the notice entirely because we no longer require the enclosure.

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  Provide the current language (English and Spanish).

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    Label all language in the notice with the appropriate language IDs or snippet names if applicable.

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    Provide the current fill-ins.

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    Provide the current Flesch-Kincaid reading grade level, see NL 00610.020.

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  Provide the revised language with the new or revised portions highlighted. 

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    Label all language in the notice with the appropriate language IDs or snippet names if applicable.

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    Provide the fill-ins for the revised language with new or updated fill-ins highlighted.

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    Provide the revised Flesch-Kincaid reading grade level.

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  Attach Notice Language Clearance Package Approval Sheet (complete Section A).

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  Attach a clean copy of the full notice prior to the changes as a Word document. If a UTI or snippet is used in multiple notices we only need one sample notice to see the UTI or snippet in context.

1. 1. 

   Send an email to the Office of Income Security Programs (OISP) Notices Team ^OISP NSPS Controls , Operations ||DCO OPSOS , and the other agency stakeholders. Use the subject, “Request: Review and Approval – [Notice Name] – Respond by [Date]” and attach a copy of the clearance package and the Notice Language Clearance Package Approval Sheet.

   NOTE: 

   Consider using a shareable tool, such as OneDrive or Teams, to store documents for a collaborative review environment. When using a collaboration tool, be sure to provide access to stakeholders so they can view and edit the document.

2. 2. 

   Allow at least five business days for review.

3. 3. 

   Recirculate the clearance package until you resolve all comments and obtain full stakeholder agreement.

4. 4. 

   Once the OISP Notices Team, OPSOS, and the stakeholders return the package with their approvals on the Notice Language Clearance Package Approval Sheet, proceed to subsection B.

1. 1. 

   Send the clearance package to ^DCCOMM Controls and  ^CX Controls.  Use the subject, “Request: Review and Approval – [Notice Name] – Respond by [Date]” and attach the approval sheet with the Notices Team, Operations, and stakeholder signoffs.

2. 2. 

   Allow at least five business days for review and approval.

3. 3. 

   OCOMM and CXO collaborate and provide feedback.

4. 4. 

   If you receive comments or recommendations for changes from OCOMM or CXO and you accept them, you must recirculate the package to the OISP Notices Team, OPSOS, and the stakeholders.  Use the subject, “Recirculating for Review – [Notice Name] – Respond by [Date]” when resubmitting for review and signoff.  

5. 5. 

   The package is cleared once the OISP Notices Team, OPSOS, the stakeholders, OCOMM, and CXO approve the language,  Follow the Post-Clearance Steps for a Notice Language Clearance Package in NL 00101.020.

OGC reviews clearance packages to

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  provide advice regarding legal sufficiency and privacy compliance.

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  identify legal risks associated with proposed new or revised notice language.

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  consider the legal impact, if any, of removing an enclosure from a notice or moving an enclosure online.

OGC only provides advice and comments at the staff level.  You may request OGC advice during the drafting stage.

OGC approval only occurs when the notice author chooses to have Associate Commissioner (AC) or Deputy Commissioner (DC) level approval.

OMLM reviews the clearance package to determine if there are any updates that may affect contracts before systems receives the package.

When the new or revised language is available for use, the Notice Author is responsible for the following actions.

1. 1. 

   Notify users that the new or revised language is available by preparing an Administrative Message (AM), Emergency Message (EM), or a Program Operations Manual System (POMS) transmittal.  For issuing instructions in AM or EM, refer to AO 40410.000 and for POMS, refer to AO 40305.000.

2. 2. 

   Update POMS for manual notice language and for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) automated notice language.  (Systems handles documenting POMS for automated notice language other than SSI.)

3. 3. 

   Send a sample copy of the newly implemented notice (in English and, if available, Spanish) from the system(s) that generate it to  ^OISP NSPS Controls for record keeping purposes.