Representative Payee Team

Is Representative Payee monitoring continuing during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Yes.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state Protection and Advocacy (P&A) networks, including Disability Rights New Jersey, will conduct any new representative payee monitoring reviews by phone or mail to comply with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s social distancing guidelines. The P&As are also completing pending reviews initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Protection & Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security Program (PABSS) 

Information on the new Economic Impact payments that will be available for persons who receive Social Security, SSI or SSDI benefits. This information was disseminated by the Social Security Administration, with the information provided by the IRS. It is anticipated that the IRS will start sending these payments to most Americans in April. For additional information on the Economic Impact payments please go to 

To report allegations of EIP misuse we encourage you to contact the office of the NJ Attorney General, Gurbir S. Grewal at 609-292-4925.

February 2

As a second round of stimulus payments are sent out to Americans, some people have received those payments in the form of an Economic Impact Payment (EIP) prepaid card. This form of payment is new, however the cards are legitimate and can be used without fees.   

The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) has created a helpful resource with descriptions and visual representations of the cards so consumers can confirm that the card they received is legitimate, as well as instructions for using the cards without fees and obtaining replacement cards.

January 6

With the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department beginning to deliver a second round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP) as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, there is some critical information and deadlines to keep in mind.  

For recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid, it is important to know that your EIP or “stimulus check” does not count as a resource for purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid, SSI, and other federal programs for a period of 12 months from the receipt of the funds.  

This applies to both the initial $1,200 EIP as well as the more recent $600 EIP.  

With that in mind, the 12 month deadline to use these funds before they are counted as a resource to determine eligibility is quickly approaching. 

 Now is a good time to identify the 12 month deadline from the date you received your initial $1,200 EIP and come up with a plan to use these funds if you have not already.  

For example, if you received your first EIP on May 1, 2020, you must use those funds before April 30, 2021.  

For individuals with representative payees, you may want to speak with them about tracking and using these funds to maintain eligibility for Medicaid, SSI, and other public assistance programs.  

For further information, please visit the IRS and SSA websites. Some helpful links are included below: 

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/second-eip-faqs 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-alert-economic-impact-payments-belong-to-recipient-not-nursing-homes-or-care-facilities 

https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/assets/materials/economic-impact-payments-for-social-security-and-ssi-recipients.pdf 

https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/eip2

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments 

https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2020/#4-2020-1 

https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/ 

October 22

On October 22, 2020, the Social Security Administration (SSA) revised the information available on its COVID-19 webpage about who is eligible for an in-person appointment while its local offices generally remain closed to the public due to the pandemic. They divide their instructions into: 1) Those who need help with their benefits; and 2) Those who need help with a Social Security number (SSN).

For those who need help with their benefits: 

Generally, SSA will schedule an in-person appointment for those “in dire need situations.” SSA defines a dire need situation as when an individual:  

•  Is without food or shelter, including utilities, or is without medical care or coverage and needs to apply for or reinstate benefits from SSA; or  

• Currently receives benefits from SSA and has an urgent need for payment to meet expenses for food, shelter, or medical treatment, and the individual cannot receive a payment from SSA electronically.  

For those who need help with a Social Security number:  

SSA is prioritizing requests for in-person SSN services for: 

•   Individuals age 12 or older applying for their first SSN card.  

•  Individuals who need to update or correct their SSN information (such as their name, date of birth, or citizenship) to obtain income, resources, or medical care or coverage, or other services or benefits (for example filing a tax return, applying for housing, or seeking an Economic Impact Payment).  

SSA encourages those who don’t fit into one of these priority situations to request a replacement SSN card through an online my Social Security account, or by mailing an application for a Social Security card (Form SS-5) to their local office, along with original documents to prove their identity, with the assurance that these documents will be mailed back to the individual.   

However, SSA concedes that since there are “delays processing mail-in SSN card applications, it may take us between two and four weeks to process the application and return the evidence.” In many states, individuals will be punished if they are found to be driving without having their driver’s license on their person, and the law prohibits immigrants from having their immigration documents out of their possession. SSA’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS) contains this warning on the requirements for replacing an SSN card:

May 21

Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson released guidance making clear that individuals with Medicaid coverage who reside in long-term care facilities are entitled to receive their federal stimulus payments and the payments cannot be retained by the facilities.  Further, payments will not be counted as income or considered a Medicaid resource for up to a year. The federal CARES Act provided for economic stimulus payments of up to $1,200 per adult.

You can read more about the new guidance:

April 29

An update from Andrew Saul, Commissioner of Social Security Administration:

• If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you will get your $1,200 economic impact payment from the IRS automatically – you don’t have to do anything.

• But if you get SSI, have not filed a tax return, and you have an eligible child, YOU MUST ACT NOW to get $500 per child in addition to your $1,200 payment

• BY MAY 5, go to the IRS’ Non-Filer web form available at IRS.gov to give information about your children.

• If you miss the May 5 deadline, please go to IRS.gov for further information.

• For information on how Social Security continues to serve the public during this critical time, go to ssa.gov/coronavirus

We have compiled additional resources to provide answers to your questions.