Jun 18, 2014

Field Office Closures And Staffing Reductions To Be Subject Of Senate Hearing

     From the New York Times:
The Social Security Administration is closing field offices and reducing services to the public even as demand for those services surges with the aging of the baby boom generation, according to a bipartisan Senate committee report.
The report, to be issued Wednesday by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says the agency has closed more than two dozen field offices in the last year, generally without considering the needs of communities and without consulting beneficiaries or field office managers. ...
The Social Security Administration is closing field offices and reducing services to the public even as demand for those services surges with the aging of the baby boom generation, according to a bipartisan Senate committee report.
The report, to be issued Wednesday by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says the agency has closed more than two dozen field offices in the last year, generally without considering the needs of communities and without consulting beneficiaries or field office managers. ...
Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the committee, said that despite a growing caseload, “in the past five years, Social Security has closed 64 of approximately 1,245 field offices — the largest field office reduction in its history — and shuttered 533 temporary mobile offices.”
      Members of Congress get very upset by field office closures -- and they are a big deal -- but the bigger problem is inadequate staffing at the remaining field offices, teleservice centers, payment centers, hearing offices and the Appeals Council. That affects everyone who interacts with Social Security, not just those who live in areas where a field office has closed and everyone eventually interacts with Social Security.
     The Aging Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon at 2:15 on this issue. Here's the witness list:
  • Tammy DeLong, Aroostook Area Agency on Aging
  • Nancy A. Berryhill, Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Social Security Administration
  • Scott Hale, President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations
  • Brenda Holt, Commissioner, Gadsden County

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the sudden Congressional shock about the NAPA report. Congress directed SSA to contract NAPA for such a report (see House Conference Report 112-331 for Pub. L. 112-74. And now they're having a hearing complaining about a draft of the report they asked for.

Collins and Scott delivered some self-serving BS - they voted for cuts, they're getting cuts.

Anonymous said...

Are we wigging out over a reduction of under 1%?