Social Security Field Offices In Trouble

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its annual survey of its members. Some highlights (emphasis added):

• Recent funding for SSA [Social Security Administration] has been inadequate to provide for the immediate needs of the public. Only 13.1% of FO/TSC [Field Office/Teleservice Center] managers believed that SSA’s budget is sufficient to provide good public service. ...
• Present staffing levels at SSA FOs and TSCs are inadequate. Inadequate funding affects SSA at all levels but is most directly felt by the public through service delivery of FOs and TSCs. 77.4% of respondents reported having insufficient staff to keep workloads current. Only 20.1% thought that their offices were adequately staffed. Managers estimated that they would need an additional staffing increase of 13.5% to have enough resources to provide adequate levels of service. Managers specifically attributed the effect of inadequate staffing levels on the ability of their offices to provide public service in several areas:
• FO Waiting Times – 67.2% of FO managers reported that office waiting times are longer or significantly longer than they were just one year ago. As the most significant reason for long waiting times, 83.1% of FO managers identified issues related to inadequate staffing – high volume of walk-in traffic (56.7%) and insufficient staff (26.4%). ...
• Employee Training – Less than half of managers agreed or strongly agreed that their staffs receive adequate training (49.1%). ...
• Quality of Work Product – While only 22.5% of managers said that the quality of work produced in their office had improved in the last two years; nearly one-third of managers (33.6%) reported that the quality of work produced in their offices was worse or significantly worse. ...
• Electronic services (eServices) is a beneficial service delivery option but has not had a significant effect on reducing FO/TSC involvement with claimants who use eServices. 58.4% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that recent SSA policy changes to facilitate eServices have improved public service. However, it is not having a significant effect on reducing public demand for services from FOs/TSCs. Only 33.6% of managers believed that it has helped to reduce public demand for services from their office while 54.5% reported that eServices has had either no effect on demand for services or has actually increased demand.

Commissioner Astrue has not addressed these problems in any meaningful way.