CONGRATULATIONS!
Your son just became member of the "Enumeration at Birth" club. This program is designed to help states receive more money under the Federal Revenue Sharing Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 6701 et seq.), by enumerating as many individuals as possible. There is a procedure you can follow to have your son's number removed. It's found in the Social Security Administration's Program Operations Manual System (POMS). First, you will need to go to the nearest SSA field office and DEMAND they remove the number. Now the SSA will not want to do this. In fact there is a special procedure in the POMS [TN 16 6-90] they follow in their attempt to convince you to keep your child's number. Let's look at this procedure. A parent may object when a child is assigned an SSN. If a child is issued an SSN card via the Enumeration at Birth program and the mother states she answered "no" to the enumeration question when providing birth information for the newborn, assume that the State inadvertently keyed "yes", and follow these steps: Step 1. Explain that the child will need an SSN, by at least age 2, if he/she will be listed as a dependent on an income tax return. If the parent accepts this explanation and will keep the SSN card, stop. If this is not acceptable, go to step 2. Step 2. Explain that on SSA's records, the account will remain dormant, unless earnins ar posted on the record. If the parent accepts this explanation and will keep the card, stop. If the parent accepts the explanation but does not want the SSN card, take the card and destroy the card (RM 00201.060). Explain that when an application is later made for an SSN card the same number will be assigned. If the parent insists that we delete the SSN record, explan that the deletion action may take several months (Go to step 3.). Step 3. Document the parents objection and advise the parent that the case must be sent to central office (CO) for review. Explain to the parent that if we delete the applicant information from the SSN record, a subsequent SSN request (likely before the child is age 2) will result in a different SSN. In addition, if and when the parent files for an SSN for the child in the future, he/she should enter "no" in item 10 on the SS-5. As you can see, they will try to get you to keep the number. Do not let them intimidate you, DEMAND they follow procedures and remove it. If you would like a copy of the procedure from the POMS, let us know.Parent Objects to Assignment of SSN to Child Under the Enumeration at Birth Program:
Procedure:
THE NONE STAFF