Social Security Administration (SSA) Annual Data for
Telephone Interpreter Service (TIS) Call Counts
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(Updated )
This dataset contains data for fiscal years 2019 on and is currently available in the following format(s):
Background
It is essential that SSA employees have the tools to communicate effectively with the public, regardless of an individual's inability to communicate effectively in English. To achieve our commitment to provide fair and equitable service, we offer individuals with Limited English Proficient (LEP) the option to use our TIS, a contract awarded and administered by the Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG), when doing business with us. This service is free of charge to individuals requiring language assistance. TIS interpreters are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, which allows us to provide real time service to all our LEP customers.
Dataset Index
Agency Program Description
SSA is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivor's benefits. To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; future benefits are based on the employees' contributions. Social Security taxes fund the OASDI Trust Funds that we use to pay Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits. SSA also administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a federal needs-based program financed through general revenue funds. Our employees deliver services through a nationwide network of Teleservice Centers. We also have a presence in several United Stated embassies around the globe.
Dataset Description
This dataset displays our national TIS call counts by language for fiscal years 2019 on. After the end of every fiscal year, we will add a new column to this report with the most recent fiscal year data.
Data Collection Description
The vendor gathers our daily TIS usage by monitoring the number of calls received from SSA, the languages we are requesting, and the duration of each incoming call, then forwards the report to us monthly. We expect the TIS vendor will provide quality service and report data as outlined in the contract agreement.
Notes
- A Federal Fiscal Year (FY) is the 12-month period that starts the Saturday after the last Friday of September and ends the last Friday of September. Most years our fiscal year workload reports contain 52 weeks since we include only full weeks, rather than cut off in the middle of a week. Every few years the reporting period is 53 weeks when we apply the end of week cutoff.
- Within the data, an asterisk (*) represents language counts with less than 3 calls.
Data Dictionary
Language: SSA customers' preferred language when requesting assistance using the TIS.
Fiscal Year (FY): The 12-month period that starts the Saturday after the last Friday of September and ends the last Friday of September.