are really eligible? What is their income, what is their status, what is their disability? Are they really eligible? That takes time.

Ms. KING. Yes; it does. One of the links that we are accomplishing is working with other community organizations that are doing that kind of outreach. We now are making the connection and letting them know who we are. We are going out to pick up those people they identify, bring them in, ensure that they get that medical examination if needed to qualify for disability benefits.

OUTREACH THROUGH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Senator HARKIN. You are saying that a lot of these agencies have that information already. You are just not tapping into it to get that information?

Ms. KING. What I am saying is a lot of those external organizations are identifying people in need, but did not know where to go from there. Now they are learning about SSI, and they know we are there. They know to call us. We are going to ensure that that information is carried out into local communities.

Senator HARKIN. But, now, Ms. King, now just a second. Maybe I misinterpreted what you just said. It sounded like what you just said to me is that a lot of these agencies out there have this information, but they did not know that they could go to SSI?

Ms. KING. One of the things we are finding out is that not everybody is aware of the SSI program.

Senator HARKIN. But those agencies out there, and the people that run them, they are aware of it.

Ms. KING. You mean the Federal agencies. Of course, they are aware of the program.

Senator HARKIN. Agencies on aging.

Ms. KING. Yes.

Senator HARKIN. There are community action agencies that are out there.

Ms. KING. That is right. We are also now, Mr. Chairman, working with organizations that were previously not working cooperatively, or at all with the Federal Government. We are working not only with State agencies, but local agencies. We are working with a lot of nonprofit organizations.

Senator HARKIN. But I still would think, a lot of the time, that the people that run those agencies, they are not dummies. They know how to tap into existing programs. And I guess I just find it hard to believe that these agencies have all these people in there that are eligible for SSI, but they did not know they could go to Social Security to get help. The individual out there living by herself/himself, the disabled person that is eligible, it is these people that do not understand that they are eligible.

Ms. KING. Believe me, Mr. Chairman, I did not make this up. When we held all those meetings with the nonprofit organizations and with all the others who came in at our invitation to begin to formulate some way of moving forward together for SSI outreach, this is what they told us.

The SSI program, indeed, has been on the books since 1974. But the program that is operating today has become broader and a lot more complicated, and people may not know that they are eligible.

That is why it is important for us to explain our role and our program to people who are in a good position to work as partners with

us.

800 NUMBER TELEPHONE SERVICE

Senator HARKIN. I want to refer to the chart on the busy signal. It is obvious there are a lot of people who are trying to call, who are getting a busy signal, instead of an answer to a question. To me this is serious, as you are converting the entire country to the 800 system. We need to know whether or not it is going to work out. I am sure you have reviewed the plans for and monitored the implementation of this system.

What seems to be the problem that we are having with the number of busy signals?

Ms. KING. Mr. Chairman, in fact what you see is a program that is working too well. In planning for this program, apparently, SSA missed the mark and planned for the 800 number to handle about 250,000 calls a day. Indeed, during peak times, our experience has been that we can get anywhere from 800,000 to 1.5 million calls a day.

We have identified what the peak times are. We already knew that peak months would be January and February. What we did not realize is that when we went nationwide with 800 number service, we would be able to capture all the calls previously going into the 1,300 field offices.

We had no way of knowing how many people calling those field offices before were actually getting busy signals. The new technology that we have with the 800 number captures all those calls coming in, including information on busy signal rates not previously available. What we learned initially in October and November was that we had to go back to our old economics 101, government 101 books to figure out a way to better dispatch hour-by-hour our employees handling the 800 telephone lines.

We made some adjustments. I have removed and reinstalled some 1,000 telephone lines going back into 362 field offices, which had been pulled once the 800 number went in. We have reinstalled local lines to alleviate demand on the 800 number wherever we could.

Senator HARKIN. So that 800 number rings where?

Ms. KING. The 800 number will ring when people call the 800 number. But the minute they ask for a local telephone number, our teleservice representatives have been instructed to give that number, if the people want to work with their local offices.

I found it incredible that our telephone representatives were being told that they could not give out the field office telephone number, if somebody really wanted to work with someone they had been working with in the local office for the last 10 years. We have tried to correct that situation.

In Social Security, Mr. Chairman, we have a new concept of jobsharing. In most places job-sharing means two people doing one job. At Social Security job-sharing means one person doing two jobs.

We have benefit authorizers at our processing centers who, at a point in the day when our calls reach a peak, turn to their tele

phones and pick up the lines so that the telephone service representatives can go to lunch. We are open on the line, a live person on the line, from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening.

What we are finding is that from 7 in the morning until 9 in the morning and from 5 in the evening until 7 in the evening people are not calling, the assumption being that we are only open during business hours. So we have combined what we are trying to do with public service announcements, that you will see very shortly, which will say to senior citizens, essentially, have breakfast with Social Security. As you are having your orange juice and coffee, you can call Social Security. There is someone there to answer your call. Or we will show young people, who presumably are currently in the work force running with the sun rising over the Capitol with the voice-over saying, Social Security, we are up and running when you

are.

The idea is to try to move people away from thinking that we are only there from 9 to 5; to make sure they understand that we also are there to serve them from 7 to 9 in the morning and from 5 until 7 in the evening.

It is a tremendous management challenge, Mr. Chairman, and frankly, not one that I would have volunteered for. But since it is here, we are wrestling with it, and I think we are going to get it under control.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE

Senator HARKIN. Ms. King, thank you very much. I appreciate your testimony. We have a vote on the floor now. So, we will just end it here. I have some additional questions I will submit to you in writing.

Ms. KING. I would be happy to receive them, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator HARKIN. And I understand Senator Cochran and Senator Specter have some questions also they will submit in writing. Ms. KING. Thank you.

[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were submitted to the Department for response subsequent to the hearing:]

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE

CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY TAX RATES

Question. Much discussion has occurred in recent weeks about whether the Social Security tax rate should be lowered now to reduce the use of the trust funds as a vehicle to disguise the size of the deficit? What is your view about the wisdom of this proposal?

Answer. I think it essential to preserve the integrity of the Social Security trust funds. To abandon the buildup now could:

Expose workers and retirees once again to the uncertainties and anxieties about Social Security financing that prevailed before the 1983 amendments were enacted.

• Erase the strides we have made in restoring public confidence that the Social Security program is financially sound and can be relied upon to meet its benefit commitments today and in the future.

Repudiate the widely held principle that the Social
Security program should be changed only to serve Social
Security, not Federal budget, objectives.

Impose a heavier burden on future workers for supporting
"baby boom" retirees.

lost hope of reducing non-Social Security budget deficits
so that trust fund reserves could truly be saved.

SSI OUTREACH

Question. Conference report language encouraged you "to include a combination of direct services and contract service with organizations such as the existing network of area agencies on aging and the Administration on Aging."

To what extent has the Commissioner on Aging been involved in developing this outreach initiative, and what contract services are being utilized?

Answer. The Social Security Administration (SSA), the Administration on Aging (AOA), and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreeing to work cooperatively on various projects in fiscal year 1990; Supplemental Security Income (SSI) outreach falls under the umbrella of this MOU. We have had several discussions with AOA on the content and direction of the SSI Outreach Demonstration program. AOA is especially interested in the area of SSI outreach to the needy minority elderly and has established this as a priority area in its recent demonstration program announcement. We will continue to work together to coordinate outreach activities to the elderly.

SSA's SSI Outreach Demonstration program will award

approximately 15 to 20 grants and cooperative agreements; SSA does not plan to contract out the outreach function. On February 2, SSA published in the Federal Register a notice requesting ideas from the public on the content of the priority areas for these grants and cooperative agreements. Based on the priority areas established, we plan to announce the program and request applications in early April with awards being made by September. The Outreach Demonstration program will target urban and rural areas of the country, English speaking and non-English speaking communities, and minority communities. In addition, it will focus on the elderly, the homeless and disabled children.

STAFF MORALE

Question. Commissioner King, last September you sent me the results of a survey showing that general morale of Social Security employees has declined, and indicated that many areas needed immediate improvement. That survey showed 74 percent of employees felt "often or very often overworked" and 38 percent stated that they did not have enough time to do a good job. Fifty-one percent described their morale as poor or extremely poor. What specific steps are you taking to address the concerns of your employees?

Answer. The morale of SSA employees is extremely important to me and will be an ongoing priority. One of my major goals is to provide a work environment that ensures a highly skilled, motivated workforce dedicated to meeting the challenge of SSA's public service commitment. Employee polls consistently show that this dedication exists in the workforce; our job as managers is to provide an atmosphere in which that dedication can flourish.

I have directed that we identify field offices with the most critical staffing needs caused by downsizing. Then we will expedite the recruitment and hiring of new employees.

I have already expedited the allocation of critical production enhancing tools, such as personal computers and claims processing terminals in operating components, and I will continue these efforts. I am also ensuring that we give other forms of relief, such as needed supplies and training, to individual offices in order to facilitate a positive work environment for SSA employees and provide improved service to the public.

I have suspended all numerical performance goals. During the period of suspension, new goals will be developed that focus on my public service-oriented priorities.

Employees in SSA central office and other large work sites will soon have the option of enrolling their children in onsite daycare facilities. To further express my concern for the well-being of the families of SSA employees, an innovative, onsite eldercare facility is also being planned for SSA central office starting in early 1991.

I have established the position of SSA ombudsman, not to deal with the public, but to identify and propose solutions to systemic problems in the Agency.