Burke: Outreach to vulnerable populations during pandemic

People who struggle with low-income, limited English proficiency, homelessness or with mental illness have historically relied on meeting with us in person at our local offices to get the help they need. Currently, Social Security offices are open only for in-person appointments for limited, critical situations, depending upon local office conditions.

If you cannot use our online services, please call your local office or our national 800 number for assistance. If we cannot help you by phone, your local office can determine if an in-person appointment or other option may be available to help you.

To serve those who need us most, we’ve partnered with community-based groups to launch a national outreach campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to increase public awareness of our Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance benefit programs and support third-party groups that are assisting vulnerable individuals to apply for benefits. The SSI and SSDI programs provide critical financial assistance, and, in many cases, grant access to health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.

Key components of our outreach campaign include:

• Working with community-based groups that can assist with taking applications for SSI and SSDI.

• Launching a national advertising campaign on TV, radio, and social media, with emphasis on benefits for children with disabilities.

• Adding new online tools and informational pages, including resources for people helping others access our services at www.ssa.gov/thirdparty, outreach materials for partner groups working with vulnerable populations at www.ssa.gov/thirdparty/groups/vulnerable-populations.html and updated information for faith-based and community groups, including a new toolkit and fact sheets about SSI and SSDI, at https://www.ssa.gov/thirdparty/groups/faithandcommunity.html.

We want to thank the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for working with us and sharing our website and products with their national network of community leaders.

We also want to thank members of the claimant advocacy community for their collaboration on this campaign. We will feature their perspectives on serving vulnerable populations on our blog over the coming weeks. Please be sure to visit and subscribe at blog.ssa.gov to receive alerts when we publish new articles from our partners, and share the latest information about our national outreach campaign.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is on June 15.

On this day, and throughout the month, communities, seniors, caregivers, governments, organizations and the private sector unite to prevent the mistreatment of and violence against older people.

Social Security imposter scams are widespread across the United States. Scammers use sophisticated tactics to deceive you into providing sensitive information or money. They target everyone — even the elderly — and their tactics continue to evolve.

Most recently, Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General has received reports of phone scammers creating fake versions of the identification badges most Federal employees use to gain access to Federal buildings.

The scammers may text or email photos of the fake badges to convince potential victims of their legitimacy. These badges use government symbols, words and even names and photos of real people, which are available on government websites or through internet searches.

If you receive a suspicious letter, text, email, or call, hang up or do not respond. You should know how to identify when it’s really Social Security. We will never:

• Text or email images of an employee’s official government identification.

• Suspend your Social Security number.

• Threaten you with arrest or other legal action unless you immediately pay a fine or fee.

• Require payment by retail gift card, wire transfer, internet currency or cash by mail.

• Promise a benefit increase or other assistance in exchange for payment.

• Send official letters or reports containing your personal information via email.

We only send text messages if you have opted in to receive texts from us and only in limited situations, including the following:

• When you have subscribed to receive updates and notifications by text.

• As part of our enhanced security when accessing your personal my Social Security account.

If you owe money to us, we will mail you a letter with payment options and appeal rights.

We encourage you to report suspected Social Security imposter scams — and other Social Security fraud — to the OIG website at oig.ssa.gov. You may read our previous Social Security fraud advisories at oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/news-release. Please share this information with your friends and family to help spread awareness about Social Security imposter scams.

Chris Burke is a Social Security district manager based in Glendale.