The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel
Strategic Plan for 2006-2007
Version 1.2
5 Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of the Panel members are currently documented in the Panel Charter and the Panel’s Operating Procedures. The roles and responsibilities of the Panel staff are to a large degree not explicit in those documents, but are governed by official Federal and SSA personnel rules. Panel members are also subject to Federal rules for Special Governmental Employees (SGEs). All participants must be aware of and follow Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) committee regulations.
The Roles and Responsibilities Matrix on the following pages presents the roles of the:
- Panel Chair
- Panel Members
- Committee Chairs
- Committee Members
- Executive Director
- Panel Staff
in the general responsibility areas of:
- Panel/Staff Organization
- Panel Meetings
- Other Panel/Staff Operations
- Panel Internal Communications
- Panel External Communications
as appropriate to support efficient and effective implementation of this strategic plan.
5.1 Panel Decisions
Judgment decisions are routinely required in operational areas. For example, incoming correspondence requires a decision to be made about what type of action is needed, and the processing of the item proceeds according to its type. The development and review of outgoing communications also depends upon the type of communication, and whether it constitutes a simple answer based upon established information such as the Panel Charter or prior Panel decisions or requires a new Panel decision.
Official decisions of the Panel must be made in open meetings of the Panel, in accordance with FACA regulations, except as determined otherwise in accordance with 5 U.S. Code, appendix 2, and other applicable law. The judgment lies in determining whether a given item of correspondence requires a new Panel decision or not. The following flowchart illustrates the general process.
The flowchart shows that when an item is brought to the attention of the Panel Chair and/or Executive Director, a decision is made as to whether or not the item requires a new Panel decision. If it clearly does not require a Panel decision, it is assigned to staff, which handles the item. (The action may or may not require dissemination to the Panel members.)
If it requires a Panel decision, the Panel Chair and Executive Director decide the type and amount of analysis or fact-finding necessary and assign it as appropriate to Panel staff, an individual Panel member, Panel committee, or ad hoc workgroup for further development. Beneficiary or other external input is obtained if necessary. The item is also placed on the agenda of an upcoming regular or special meeting of the Panel.
At that meeting, the action is reported upon and any analysis or fact-finding is presented to Panel members for deliberation. The Panel then makes its decision in an open meeting in compliance with FACA requirements. Staff executes any resulting staff actions to implement Panel decisions. This responsibility includes maintaining official Panel records.
5.2 Agenda Setting
The agenda for Panel meetings is managed by the Executive Director, on behalf of the Panel. The Panel Chair sets the agenda, in consultation with the Executive Committee, Executive Director, and DFO, however, the criteria for adding items to the agenda for Panel meetings are based upon achieving the decisions necessary for the execution of the Strategic Plan. Panel members may recommend agenda items for future Panel meetings via the Executive Committee. Panel members may elect, via a majority vote at a Panel meeting, to add items to the agenda.
This represents a slight deviation from the current Operating Procedures, which state in various places that the agendas are set by the Panel Chair and the DFO.
