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OMB Control No: 0960-0010	ICR Reference No: 202210-0960-007
Status: Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201906-0960-004
Agency/Subagency: SSA	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Application for Child's Insurance Benefits
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 03/31/2023
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 10/24/2022
Terms of Clearance: Prior to resubmission, the agency will expand its description of information to describe common respondent journeys, beginning with the initiating steps of submitting the SS-4 through to adjudication. In doing so, the agency will describe, at a general level, secondary forms or processes a respondent may have to complete or undergo prior to full adjudication of the SS-4. The agency will describe in additional detail any type of evidence that a meaningful subset of respondents are expected to provide, as well as the agency's capacity to provide the evidence on behalf of the claimant (in the case of, for example, proof of death). The agency will also evaluate the time burden involved in each modality and will revise these estimates upwards to reflect the full burden associated with understanding and completing the information collection.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	03/31/2026	36 Months From Approved	03/31/2023
Responses	515,602	0	631,732
Time Burden (Hours)	555,603	0	115,896
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: Title II of the Social Security Act (Act) provides for the payment of monthly benefits to children of an insured retired, disabled, or deceased worker. Section 202(d) of the Act discloses the conditions and requirements the applicant must meet when filing an application. An unmarried child who has a parent who is retired or has a disability and is entitled to Social Security benefits, or who has a parent who died after having worked long enough in a job where they paid Social Security taxes, is entitled to receive benefits. An unmarried child can receive benefits if they meet one of the following criteria: (1) the child is younger than 18; (2) the child is a full-time student at an elementary or secondary school (grade 12 or below); (3) the child is age 18 to 19 and attending elementary or secondary school full-time; or (4) the child is age 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22. Under certain circumstances, SSA can also pay benefits to a stepchild, grandchild, step-grandchild, or adopted child. Respondents can download and complete Form SSA 4 BK at www.ssa.gov and mail it back to SSA, or they can call SSA to schedule an appointment at the field office, where an SSA employee can interview respondents and enter information into our Modernized Claims Systems (MCS). When applying for benefits for a child, the respondent needs to provide SSA with the following information: (1) the child’s birth certificate or other proof of birth or adoption; and (2) the parent’s and child’s Social Security numbers. Depending on the type of benefit involved, SSA may require other documents for example: if applying for survivors benefits for the child, SSA requires proof of the parent’s death; and if applying for benefits for a child with a disability, SSA requires medical evidence to prove the child’s disability. The SSA representative helping the respondent with their application tells them what other documents they may need, or the respondent can find the information on SSA’s website. SSA uses the information on Form SSA-4-BK to determine entitlement for children of living and deceased workers to monthly Social Security payments. The respondents are guardians completing the form on behalf of the children of living or deceased workers, or the children of living or deceased workers.

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	515,602	631,732	-116,130
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	555,603	115,896	439,707
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: When we last cleared this ICR in 2019, the burden was 115,896 hours. However, we are currently reporting a burden of 94,584 hours. This change stems from a decrease in the number of responses from 631,732 to 515,602. There is no change to the burden time per response. Although the number of responses changed, SSA did not take any actions to cause this change. * Note: The total burden reflected in ROCIS is 555,603, while the burden cited in #12 of the Supporting Statement is 94,584. This discrepancy is because the ROCIS burden reflects the following components: field office waiting time + a rough estimate of a 30-minute, one-way, drive burden. In contrast, the chart in #12 of the Supporting Statement reflects actual burden.

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