I heard last week that one North Carolina Social Security District Office had such a backlog of work to be done that they had decided not to process any paperwork appointing attorneys to represent claimants before the agency. Until that District Office processes that paperwork, those claimants are effectively unrepresented. Social Security will refuse to deal with the attorneys. The attorneys won't be sent notices sent those claimants. Social Security will refuse to give those attorneys information about those clients' cases. The attorneys won't be able to file appeals on those clients' behalf. Appeal deadlines may be missed.
While at the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representative (NOSSCR) meeting last week, I mentioned this development to a couple of attorneys from other states. The same thing had happened in their states recently.
How widespread is this? Why is this happening even after Social Security finally got its appropriation for this fiscal year? If these field offices can't take care of this workload now, how are they going to catch up later?
9 comments:
Over the years, SSA management has routinely chosen to defer certain workload actions due to lack of finding/staffing. For example, medical CDR's or SSI non-medical redeterminations. I have said for quite some time that until a Commissioner takes action to say, "this year, we are deferring retirement app processing", Congress will choose to not listen to the truth about the effect of funding shortfalls. Retired folks are the ones who vote and make campaing contributions. To be sure, that Commissioner will lose his/her job, but the message will be heard.
Charles, we have been dealing with this issue in Columbus Ohio and one particular district office for a number of months. We routinely fail to receive letters and decision all notices as a result. We have sddressed this issue with our Area Director but the problem continues.
There's plenty of money in the appeals council where they're planning to hire a couple of hundred more new attorneys.
There's plenty of money in the appeals council where they're planning to hire a couple of hundred more new attorneys.
SSA field offices have been unable to process workloads for years. Vast amounts of SSI p/e work goes undone. Non-medical appeals, manual comps, underpayments, etc. go for months, even years without being addressed. Nothing new here.
This has been happening here in Indiana in multiple field offices and is causing great strain. Disability examiners can not talk to us and are not allowed to put on paperwork. My client's are instructed to call me at the first point the agency contacts them, so in the last couple of months I have been working on this issue. I have been told by two separate field offices of the policy and already written to the regional commissioner. Disability examiners are just as frustrated as we are having to send messages to the field office to deal with rep paperwork so that they can talk to us. If you happen to get an approval, they are supposed to make sure the 1696 gets on, but I have already had 2 where that did not happen and they sent letters to the client telling them to pay fee.
@ 10:00 PM. The difference between what you describe as going on for years and the problem being discussed here is that the current failure results in SSA denying claimants the most basic of rights, the right to representation.
Anonymous 8:36 May 19 says there’s plenty of money in the appeals council where they're planning to hire a couple of hundred more new attorneys.
If this is not just some SSA rumor mill product, it is really interesting. First why? The AC is essentially denying 85% of all appeals, had their “work” reduced dramatically when claimants were disallowed the option of applying for a new initial claim while an appeal was pending and was chastised recently by the GAO because they are essentially responsible to no one. I suspect they are beefing up the own motion reviews to further decrease favorable decisions. And no one knows what they do or why. Heaven forbid they explain why they dismiss appeals. This is classic SSA Star Chamber – full of nobodies doing nothing. The field offices actually work and are accountable for what they do. 200 new attorneys? Really, does anyone care?
Somebody should care, for all the reasons you mentioned. Why is the AC hiring hundreds of new attorneys? Who knows. After Barnhart tried to eliminate the Appeals Council because it was a huge waste of agency resources and bogged down the system, AC management officials became slicker at marketing themselves to Astrue and now Colvin. And their marketing strategies have paid off big time -- they've been far more successful in the grab for money from the SSA budget than those who are supposed to be advocating for the FOs.
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