A payee or payee applicant's past criminal record is important to the suitability
determination and requires verification before making your selection or retain payee
determination. To perform a criminal background check through eRPS, see GN 00502.113D.3.
Review the criminal information on the Criminal Background Check Results screen in
eRPS and discuss with the payee or payee applicant. To process the VRFCRM work issue,
see GN 00502.302.
Most crimes received in eRPS are either felonies or barred crimes. To verify a non-felony,
you must select one of the four dropdown options on the Criminal History Verification
screen (MS 07410.008):
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Court Document/Prison Release Papers;
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Regional Chief Counsel Opinion;
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Erroneous Criminal Information; or
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Misdemeanor in the Offense Type Field (see field on the Criminal Background Check
Results screen)
After selecting the appropriate dropdown option, you must document the information
requested in the text box.
If a payee or payee applicant indicates they were convicted of any of the crimes listed
in GN 00502.133A, there is no reason to request further documentation. The payee's or payee applicant's
allegation of a conviction for one of these crimes is the only verification needed.
a. Requesting court documents or prison release papers
If you determine the criminal information is incomplete and it affects your determination:
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1.
Inform the payee or payee applicant that they need to provide the appropriate court
documents that reflect the information you need.
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a.
If the Prisoner Update Processing System (PUPS) record does not reflect a release
date, the payee or payee applicant must provide release papers.
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b.
If you need to determine the type of conviction or type of crime, the payee or payee
applicant must produce documentation that provides this information.
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2.
Control for the return of the court documents or prison release papers using the VRFCRM
work issue for the payee or payee applicant and follow up with them via telephone
or mail as necessary. For instructions on how to process the VRFCRM work issue, see
GN 00502.302.
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a.
If, after 15 days, the payee or payee applicant has not contacted you or submitted
the court documents or prison release papers, begin developing for another payee or
consider direct payment.
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b.
If, after 30 days, from the initial request for information, the payee applicant has
not contacted you or submitted the court documents or release papers, “non-select”
the payee applicant and use the Rep Payee Applicant “Note Type” on the Make Note screen
to document the reasons why you did not select the payee applicant. If you cannot
verify the criminal history for a payee who is currently serving after 30 days, use
the following steps:
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Complete the Payee Retention Decision – Criminal History screen (MS 07410.009).
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Answer "Yes" to the "Is a change of payee needed?" question.
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Document the reasons why you removed the payee on the Make Note screen under the Representative
Payee Details Page in eRPS.
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Process a payee application and appoint a new suitable payee or consider direct payment,
if applicable.
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3.
When the payee or payee applicant submits the court documents or prison release papers:
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a.
Review the information carefully; and
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b.
Follow up with the payee or payee applicant to clarify previous answers, if necessary.
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c.
Review the barred crimes state digest in GN 00502.301. This digest breaks down the barred crimes discussed in GN 00502.133A.4 based on the state or territory where they committed the crime.
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4.
Use the Rep Payee Applicant or Rep Payee “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document
the payee's or payee applicant’s criminal history information or prison release information
if it is relevant to the suitability determination, including the following:
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criminal history information:
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state and county of the court's location;
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conviction, including whether the conviction is a felony or a misdemeanor; and
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prison release information:
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prison confinement date; and
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If the payee or payee applicant reports difficulty obtaining the court documents or
release papers, you can assist them by contacting the prison or correctional institution.
For additional guidance on obtaining court documents or prisoner information, see
the list of third-party sources to use to locate missing inmate information in GN 02607.680. For information on when and what information can be disclosed to the prison or correctional
facility, see GN 03301.005 and GN 03316.065.
If the court or prison is in another state or region, you can assist the payee or
payee applicant by sending an SSA-562 (Request for Assistance) to the local servicing
field office of the court or prison. For information on requesting help from other
field offices, see GN 00301.205.
NOTE: If the payee or payee applicant is currently serving as payee for other beneficiaries,
follow current policy instructions on questionable payee choices in GN 00502.132A.2. and the payee preference list in GN 00502.105. A history of criminal behavior by the payee or payee applicant may be an indicator
that they are not suitable to serve as a payee.
b. Requesting an opinion regarding the payee's or payee applicant’s criminal history
If, after reviewing the barred crimes state digest in GN 00502.301, you are unsure whether you should bar the individual from serving as a payee and
you received court documents from the payee or payee applicant, contact the regional
office (RO) and send the court documents to your RO contact.
The RO should take the following actions:
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1.
Contact your appropriate Office of General Counsel contacts and send the court documents
along with a request for an opinion asking whether the payee's or payee applicant's
criminal history would bar them from serving as payee based on the policy in GN 00502.133A.4.
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2.
Forward the opinion from the appropriate Office of General Counsel contacts to the
local FO.
c. Handling erroneous criminal information received from eRPS
If the payee or payee applicant indicates there is an error when you discover a crime
while performing a criminal background check in eRPS, use the following steps in the
order below to determine if you need to verify the payee's or payee applicant’s allegation:
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1.
Compare the payee's or payee applicant’s identifying information with the identifying
information received from eRPS;
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2.
Ask the payee or payee applicant if they ever lived in the state where the crime was
committed;
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3.
If the identifying information is discrepant and the payee or payee applicant denies
ever living in or traveling to the state where the crime was committed, use the Rep
Payee Applicant or Rep Payee “Note Type” on the Make Note screen to document the information;
and
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4.
After documenting the Make Note screen, continue processing the payee application
or retain payee determination. It is not necessary to request further documentation
from the payee or payee applicant.
If the identifying information is correct or the payee or payee applicant lived in
the state where the crime was committed, request further documentation from the payee
or payee applicant:
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Copy and paste the relevant criminal information from the Criminal Background Check
Results screen in eRPS into a Word document and provide the payee or payee applicant
with a printed copy of the criminal information; and
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Request court documentation from the payee or payee applicant and follow the steps
in GN 00502.117B.3.a in this section.