GAO called on SSA to develop a service delivery plan that describes, in detail, how it will deliver quality customer service in the future while managing growing work demands with constrained resources.
The plan should identify the extent that new business processes will allow SSA to accommodate growing demand or whether additional resources are needed to achieve its strategic goals, according to GAO-09-24.
It also said the plan should establish standards for field office customer waiting times and phone service to help identify and improve offices with poor service.
SSA published a new strategic plan in September 2008 calling for the elimination of backlog of disability hearings and an increase online retirement filings to 50 percent of applications.
However, SSA told GAO that the plan is not intended as a service delivery plan detailing how the agency will address the service needs of the retiring baby boom generation, and GAO said it remains unclear how that plan would mitigate the increasing SSA workload.
