Mar 15, 2013

What An Inadequate Budget Does To Public Service

From Acting Commissioner Colvin's testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on March 14.

     What's it like where you are?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish the pics in the COSS' statement came with time stamps. Is this before the office opened or mid-day? It would provide context and be more honest.

Either way it's a bad sign. How happy I am to no longer be a field office manager.

Anonymous said...

Staged for publicity?

Anonymous said...

To 8:02: No, these lines are real. I've seen worse. My guess is that these are lines waiting for the office(s) to open, and many of the folks have scheduled appointments and will be called relatively quickly.

Anonymous said...

You can tell by the length of the shadows on the ground that it's probably early morning (late afternoon/evening wouldn't make as much sense).

Anonymous said...

in a related note...just file online. You can do it anytime and there are no lines.

Anonymous said...

@ 9:30

in a related note, take off your blinders of white privilege and higher socioeconomic status privilege and realize that 1) not everyone has a computer or (because I know you're thinking "public librar") the ability to use one (yes, even in 2013) or inclination to do such personal stuff in public at a library; 2) not everyone with a computer has internet access.

Anonymous said...

Most of those people are likely conducting business that can't be completed online. The office I am familiar with has shorter lines, but they are quite a bit worse than a year or two ago.

Some of this increased congestion is because of shortened public office hours, which don't seem to be related to budget cuts since it doesn't save any money.

Anonymous said...

Note to 10:29, this group looks more "white" than any other racial group by far, so how does this photo represent "white prvilege". I also would not presume the lack of Internet access for those waiting as a reason why these people are waiting.

In addition, it shows couples and other family members likely together to just help or be with one member of the group needing SSA assistance, a very common situation. So how many interviews does this photo represent?

As others comment concerning this photo, those waiting are likely lining up before office opening, with many having appointments. This is not to deny that during certain times and days of the month, office lines and waiting times are longer or shorter than at other periods. Usually, the best times to come to an SSA office is during the last half hour prior to closing. CRs and SRs and management act more quickly to handle "late" interviews and are pulled from other activities to help. Observation from many years of experience demonstrates the ability of CRs and SRs to quickly complete an interview if it is their last interview of the day, or extend an interview to block the assignment of an interview until it is taken by another or until it is time for them to take a break or lunch or to go home because they do not want overtime. The games played by some concerning interviewing the public are amazing. Trying to use this photo without more meaningful information is another type of game to make a point. Will someone please state what is the length of an acceptable line or wait for an interview without an appointment? Will someone state how much the taxpayer should pay to reach that goal and what motivation tools are available to management to achieve that goal? Who will allow employment actions to be quickly taken for those who are not able to timely and accurately handle interviews, including termination for those who cannot meet these needs for the public?

We all wait in line at the grocery store, at the gas station, at the medical office, at the bus and subway station, when checking in at an airport, on the road during the work commute, at the post office and other government offices, etc. The willingness to wait or when to handle your activity is limited by many factors, some that you can control. However, the cost to minimize these expenditures of time must be balanced, and resorting to photos without relevant information does not make a case for what must be done to establish balance.

Anonymous said...

More information is definitely needed to make any rational observation. Having said that, I think if I saw that line, I would call and make an appt. But then again, maybe that's too logical.

Anonymous said...

There are many offices that either do not make post-entitlement apointments, or run out of them quickly. In that case, people have to wait in line to hopefully see someone, and if no one is available, they have to wait til the next day to try again. And no, doing things online is not the answer, since nearly none of SSI can be done over the internet. The 800# is also useless for SSI workloads.

Anonymous said...

People go to social security offices like that because they are allowed. Most places require appointments, it just works out better. But not SSA, just come on in - day after day for a lot of SSI claimants. They have nothing else to do I guess.

Anonymous said...

For reference, someone needs to go to that office one day next week before it opens and take a photo of the line and post in on Photobucket and link it here.

Anonymous said...

Sure appointments are made, but they can run out quickly due to lack of staffing, so, lines.

Anonymous said...

Come to FL and see lines worse than this. It is not staged nor is it a joke.