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Feb 19, 2007

Staffing Problems At Field Offices

I keep going back over the witness statements at the House Social Security Subcommittee hearing last week. This is an excerpt from the statement of Rick Warsinskey of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel (the emphasis is mine):
... SSA’s total staffing including staff in our community based field offices is being cut by approximately 4,000 positions from Fiscal Year 2006 to Fiscal Year 2008. --- It is interesting to note that total Executive Branch Employment is expected to increase 2.1% from FY 2006 to FY 2008 while SSA’s employment is expected to decrease by 6.2%. ...

Last year Field Offices could only fill one out of every eight vacant positions and this year they haven’t been able to replace any of the positions they have lost. The Field Offices have seen a reduction of 2,000 positions in just the last seventeen months. This cut works out to an equivalent reduction of ninety-five Field Offices with an average office having twenty-one employees. ...

The fact that the public can’t get through to SSA on the telephone is creating an overwhelming amount of walk-in traffic in many Field Offices. Waiting times in many Field Offices are running two to three hours long. Some visitors are even experiencing wait times over four hours.

To me, this sounds like Social Security's field offices are heading rapidly towards collapse. They are already unable to answer their telephones. Despite this, their staffing is still being cut. They are rapidly becoming unable to see all of the people showing up in person or to complete vital tasks such as putting those approved for SSI on benefits, processing appeals and handling myriad other matters such as arranging representative payees for incompetent claimants.

4 comments:

  1. We have seen some filling of mainly mgt positions, but the Claims rep(CR) postions are posted and even paneled with thier selection all aligned but too often the postion just goes unfilled. What doesnt make sense is the 1 to 1 filling at the TSC (800#) since it is classified as priority replacement. Why internally we dont move TSR's to CR postions out into the FO's since the TSC postions can be quickly filled. Also at the VA thier phone reps also can make Claims decisions much like a hybrid TSR/CR this could be a partial if not long term solution to claims backlogs. Or even adding SSI old aged claims to claims that can be done at the 800# due to thier little complexity.

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  2. It makes no sense to completely underfund the agency at a time when backlogs and claims are BOOMING. Just wow.

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  3. As a suggestion: Perhaps this blog could list E mail addresses, addresses, and phone numbers where those of us who are concerned about what is happening to SSA can complain.

    I'm sure there are many who read this blog and are upset about the staffing problems, but do not take action.

    I've written to my Congressman buyt just received a standard reply indicating they were dedicated to keeping SSA funded, etc.

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  4. You wonder if in the pervasive atmosphere of gridlock whether the only way to force a solution is by creating a crisis. Take the budget. The last 6 years we have essentially shed a ton of revenue in the form of targeted tax decreases. Now that inevitably expenses exceed income the problem is deceitfully cast as a bloated budget. Our agency is like many others and in the budgetary crosshairs. Within SSA, it makes so little sense taking valuable human resources away from where the work is pending (FO and PSC) to staff a 800# that refers work to where the staff is dwindling. Since the people at the top of this agency are very smart, you have to assume they have a goal in mind. My guess is that Congressmen are like most Americans: we want it both ways. If the reality however is that offices can no longer get the support necessary to perform services and clear work then there will be a strong justification for the agency to promote closings and merging and for Congress to face facts. The stress level will cause many employees considering retirement to leave sooner rather than later, further accelerating the process. Congress will have no choice but to agree to make us like many other unfriendly businesses where you call a 800#, listen to recordings and get frustrated unless you can do it yourself online. Too bad. Both federal employees and especially the public deserve better.

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