U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Policy

Organization and Staffing

 

Office of Policy Organization Chart—in PDF format.

Descriptions of components and executive staff biographies:

Office of the Deputy Commissioner

The Deputy Commissioner for Policy heads the Office of Policy, sets the agenda of the office, represents the office at the policymaking levels of the Administration, and is the main point of contact between the office and the policy community. The Assistant Deputy Commissioner manages the staff to ensure that its work is timely, complete, and objective.

The Office of Policy comprises three main components: the Office of Retirement Policy (ORP), the Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy (ODIAP), and the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (ORES). ORES is the largest component and is divided into seven divisions. Staff members from two or three components often work together as a team to carry out specific short- or long-term projects.

Acting Deputy Commissioner—Linda Drazga Maxfield.

Assistant Deputy Commissioner—Linda Drazga Maxfield. Linda Drazga Maxfield was named Acting Deputy Commissioner for Policy in September 2007. Concurrent with this assignment, she serves as Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Policy, a position to which she was appointed in October 2006 after serving as Associate Commissioner for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics. During an earlier 1980s tenure with the Social Security Administration, Dr. Maxfield managed SSA's first New Beneficiary Survey and performed analysis underlying the Social Security Amendments of 1983. In the intervening years, she worked in the private sector, specializing in policy analysis and mathematical modeling of income maintenance and social insurance programs at the state and federal levels. She also served as a Senior Research Associate at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She holds a bachelor's degree with distinction and a master's degree in sociology from Stanford University, as well as an M.S. in statistics and a Ph.D. in sociology, also from Stanford.

Executive Officer—Serge Harrison. Before becoming Executive Officer for the Office of Policy, Serge Harrison served for 10 years as Executive Officer for SSA's Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics. He began his SSA career in 1977 as an analyst in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Branch of what is now known as the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA). His career turned from SSI legislative issues to the administrative and management arena in 1984, when he agreed to serve as a staff assistant to the office director. Subsequently, he worked on the staff of the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs overseeing the budget and personnel areas. Mr. Harrison is a native of Naples, Italy, and came to the United States in 1959. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Towson University and is a Vietnam veteran.

Office of Retirement Policy

The Office of Retirement Policy provides policy analysis and development in the areas of Social Security reform and Social Security retirement and survivors benefits. ORP works closely with ORES and ODIAP to conduct in-depth analysis of reform proposals, focusing on their economic and distributional effects, financial implications for Social Security and the federal budget, and administrative issues. In addition, ORP prepares short-turnaround analyses on critical issues for the Commissioner and other policymakers. ORP works with the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs and the Office of the Chief Actuary to prepare material for hearings and with the Office of Communications to prepare speeches for the Commissioner and other informational material on major policies.

Associate Commissioner—Jason J. Fichtner. Jason Fichtner was appointed Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy in 2007. Before that, he was Senior Economist with the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the United States Congress, where he published numerous studies relating to tax distribution analysis, the tax treatment of mutual fund investors, IRAs, and budget policy. Before joining the JEC, he was a Senior Consultant with the Office of Federal Tax Services of Arthur Andersen in Washington, DC. Dr. Fichtner started his DC-based career as an Economist with the Research Division of the Internal Revenue Service. He holds a doctorate in public administration and policy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.

Deputy Associate Commissioner—David Weaver. David Weaver was named Deputy Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy in February 2004. Prior to joining ORP, he worked for 12 years in the Office of Policy's Division of Economic Research. Most of his research has focused on the economic well-being of the Social Security beneficiary population. Dr. Weaver holds a bachelor's degree from Furman University and a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University.

Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy

The Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy develops options and provides policy analysis to improve the information base for the development of policy for the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs. The office conducts broad analysis of current policy and proposals affecting eligibility, income assistance, and disability-related social insurance. It analyzes the interaction of demographic and economic trends with SSA policies, especially those relating to the impact and expenditures of the disability program.

Acting Associate Commissioner—Richard Balkus. Commissioner Michael Astrue appointed Richard Balkus as Acting Associate Commissioner for the Office of Program Development and Research in the Office of Disability and Income Security Programs on July 9, 2007. Richard is concurrently serving as Acting Associate Commissioner for the Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy in the Office of Policy. Before joining the Office of Policy in 1999, Richard was the Field Management Officer to the Chief Administrative Law Judge in the Office of Hearings and Appeals. He started his career with the Social Security Administration in 1979 as a claims representative in the Culver City, California, field office. Richard's recent positions include research and analysis of disability issues and policies affecting the Supplemental Security Income program. He received his B.A. from Whittier College in Whittier, California, and his M.A. from the University of Southern California. Both degrees are in Political Science.

Deputy Associate Commissioner—Susan Wilschke. Susan is the Deputy Associate Commissioner for ODIAP. She started with SSA in 1998 as a Presidential Management Intern. Recent projects include analyzing options for simplifying the SSI program and studying the effects of Social Security reform on disabled workers. She received a Master's degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Kenyon College. Susan recently completed the USDA Graduate School's Executive Leadership Program.

Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics

The Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (ORES) conducts research and evaluations and sponsors three Retirement Research Centers to study the effects of Social Security and income assistance programs, and proposed changes in those programs, on individuals, the economy, and program solvency. ORES statistical programs provide data on OASDI and SSI benefit receipt, payment amount, covered workers, and other program indicators. Administrative record data, sometimes linked to survey data, are also developed for use in Social Security research and policy analysis. ORES develops and operates microsimulation models that estimate distributional effects of proposed changes in Social Security programs. ORES is responsible for disseminating OP's statistical and analytical material through publications and the Internet. As a federal statistical agency, ORES is also responsible for ensuring the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of statistical data and participates in several interagency statistical programs and projects.

Associate Commissioner—Manuel de la Puente. Manuel de la Puente came to SSA from the U.S. Census Bureau. He has an extensive background in the survey methodology, research, evaluation, and publication areas. Manuel received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. degrees in sociology from Columbia University and an M.A. degree in sociology from Fordham University. He received his B.A. in both political science and sociology from Saint Peter's College in New Jersey.

Deputy Associate Commissioner—Susan Grad. Susan Grad has worked in the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics and its predecessors since 1972, with a brief stint at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and six months on the Hill as a LEGIS Fellow. At SSA, she had increasingly responsible positions, beginning as an analyst in the Division of Retirement and Survivor Studies, later directing the Program Analysis Staff and the International Studies Staff, and becoming the Deputy Associate Commissioner in 1995. Ms. Grad is best known for a data series she has produced since 1976 on income of the aged, which is a widely used resource for research and policy analysis. She received a B.A. with distinction from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. from the University of Michigan, both in sociology.

Chief Mathematical Statistician—Vacant.

Division of Earnings Statistics and Analysis. The Division of Earnings Statistics and Analysis prepares and analyzes statistical data pertaining to employment, earnings, and employer classification. It also manages programs for constructing data sets that combine survey and program data and for facilitating the sharing of data with other agencies and researchers.

Director—Marc Sinofsky. Marc Sinofsky joined ORES in June 2006 as Director of the Division of Earnings Statistics and Analysis. Before joining ORES, he served 13 years in the Office of Systems, in both technical and leadership roles, developing SSA's Earnings and Electronic Wage Reporting Systems, as well as the Financial and Administrative Systems. Mr. Sinofsky also served 2 years in the Office of the Chief Information Officer formulating SSA's IT budget and performing overall investment analysis. Before joining SSA, he served for 3 years as a Special Agent performing background investigations for the Department of Defense's Investigative Service. Mr. Sinofsky earned a B.S. degree with distinction from Towson University in 1988.

Division of Economic Research. The Division of Economic Research studies the interactions between Social Security and the economy and assesses the effects of Social Security and SSI on economic well-being.

Director—David Pattison.. David Pattison was named Director of the Division of Economic Research in October 2007. He has been with Social Security since 1977, working primarily on policy simulation models, including the STATS and SOI cross-section microsimulation models, the Microsim dynamic microsimulation model, the Historical Cohort and Projected Cohorts overlapping cohorts models, and the Macro model (now MicMac). He has also done work in distributional analysis, differential mortality, and stochastic modeling of wages and equity returns. He has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

Division of Information Resources. The Division of Information Resources disseminates OP statistical and analytical material through publications and the Internet. Its responsibilities include editorial review, design and graphics, distribution of publications, and promoting the availability and use of SSA research and statistics.

Director—Margaret Jones. Prior to coming to ORES, Margaret worked in a variety of editorial and management positions in product development at the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., a publisher of news, information, and analysis products for legal, tax, business, and government professionals. She holds a B.A. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, a J.D. from George Washington University's National Law Center, and is a member of the Maryland bar.

Division of Policy Evaluation. The Division of Policy Evaluation conducts SSA's policy evaluation activities and ensures that the evaluations are technically appropriate, professionally sound, policy relevant, and timely.

Director—Paul Davies. Paul Davies is the Director of the Division of Policy Evaluation in ORES. He recently served as the Director of the Division of SSI Statistics and Analysis in ORES for 18 months and was formerly an economist in DPE. He was co-Project Officer for the National Survey of SSI Children and Families and was a member of DPE's Financial Eligibility Modeling team. His research has focused primarily on the SSI program. Mr. Davies has recently published papers in Research in Labor Economics, the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, the Journal of Aging and Social Policy, and the Social Security Bulletin. He holds a B.A. in economics from Illinois Wesleyan University (1992), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder (1994, 1996). He joined SSA in 1997.

Division of Program Studies. The Division of Program Studies undertakes cross-national data collection and research on social security programs, public and private pension systems, and income maintenance programs worldwide.

Acting Director—John Kearney. John Kearney is a Senior Analyst in ORES. He began his career with SSA in 1973 in the San Jose, California Field Office. He was one of many new field office employees hired at that time to help SSA deal with the implementation of the SSI program in January 1974. He worked as a claims representative, operations analyst and operations supervisor in various field offices in the San Francisco Region before coming to Baltimore in 1980. As a project leader in the Office of Assessment (now the Office of Quality Assurance), he designed and conducted national quality assurance and policy analysis studies involving the OASDI program. He then became Director of the International Studies Staff in the Office of International Policy, and has been with ORES since 1993. Since coming to ORES, he has served as Director of the Division of Disability Research, Acting Director of the Division of SSI Statistics and Analysis and Acting Deputy Associate Commissioner. He is currently serving as Acting Director of the Division of Program Studies in addition to his other duties. John holds a B.A. from New York University.

Division of RSDI Statistics and Analysis. The Division of RSDI Statistics and Analysis prepares and analyzes statistical data on beneficiaries and payments under the Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance programs.

Director—Linda Martin. In September 2006, Linda Martin was named Director of the Division of RSDI Statistics and Analysis. She is responsible for leading staff who produce several statistical publications on the OASDI program and manage OASDI program data. Before her current assignment, Ms. Martin directed the Data Management Strategic Planning Project, where she was responsible for leading ORES staff through business process improvement and strategic planning activities. Linda is a Senior Fellow with the Council for Excellence in Government. She has a B.S. in economics from the University of Maryland, University College, and an M.A. in economic policy analysis from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Division of SSI Statistics and Analysis. The Division of SSI Statistics and Analysis prepares and analyzes statistical data on beneficiaries and payments under the Supplemental Security Income program.

Director—Joe Steffens. Joe Steffens is the Director of the Division of SSI Statistics and Analysis. Previously, he led the division's SSI Data Team. Before joining ORES in 2004, Mr. Steffens was the leader of the SSI Computations Analysis Team in SSA's Office of Systems. He has a degree in accounting from Towson State University and attended the University of Maryland School of Law.