From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
Saying that the Rochester field office has one of the poorest records in the state, Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday called on the Social Security Administration to increase staffing to address long wait times and a backlog of cases.
Schumer said the Administration's internal reporting showed that the Rochester office only answered about 41 percent calls from customers seeking help on the phone in January. Those that ventured into the office had to wait an average of 30.4 minutes to be seen by a screener and hours longer to meet with a claims representative to discuss their problem. Hundreds simply gave up and went home. ...
Our office has started keeping a log of the incidents where we send paperwork to the local offices and they later say they didn't get it or just don't process it. We have this happen several times a week. The agency seems to want to centralize everything except the things that should be. It would make much more sense to have applications, signature pages, 1696's, etc. processed in an office that does just that instead of having them processed in local offices where they get lost or just put in a stack on someone's desk to sit for weeks. There is no reason it should take weeks to process these documents. I suspect the reason these tasks are kept in the local offices is to keep jobs in the local communities. It is a disservice to claimants as it delays processing of their cases and results in wasted time and resources (but that is what the government is all about, isn't it?). It is truly amazing how ridiculous some of the things we see are that happen in these local offices. Sometimes, it almost seems that staff are trying to slow things down or make them more difficult on purpose.
ReplyDeleteJust a small reminder to reps, SSA does a lot more than your claims.
ReplyDeleteSo, Anonymous 10:32, is it your point that the claims of people who are disabled and have paid for years into the system for this benefity have to wait until they can't pay their bills and become homeless should not be processed timely and efficiently because the folks at SSA have other things to do? WHile there are many good, hardworking folks at the agency, the flippant attitude of those like anonymous 10:32 is all too common. It's not about the "reps" which apparently you have some disdain for. It's about the people you are supposed to serve, those who paid for benefits they can't get because a piece of paper is sitting on someone's desk. You should go find a job doing something that you give a damn about if you don't care about these folks. I may be a "rep" but I guarantee you I care more about and work harder for these folks than you do.
ReplyDelete@10:32
ReplyDeleteApparently not.
Furthermore, doing things smart and efficient would help with the SSA's workload, don't ya think. Yet, there seems to be a concerted effort to do things in the most inefficient way possible. I may sound like I'm exaggerating and I wish I was. The incompetence, apathy and just sheer stupdity we encounter on a regular basis is just astonishing.
ReplyDelete11:39AM
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a comment for someone who has never worked for SSA. There will always be slow workers and even incompetent workers, but when offices are not given the time to give correct training/procedures because everyone is banging down the door and harping on waiting times, services will suffer. Not every office is the same, but every office is facing the same struggles.
Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between "SSA Employees" and trolls on this site. Neither seem to care about the disabled!
ReplyDelete@10:32 - thanks for the condescending reminder. We are aware they do more than one thing. But waiting months just to process one document is ridiculous. Claiming they never received a form when they did is ridiculous. I doubt you would be so complacent about these delays if your home and livelihood were on the line as it is for so many of our clients.
ReplyDeleteAt my office the 1695s/1696s/fee agreements are passed out by alphabet. CRs that are on their game do them somewhat timely. Those that have fallen behind or just can't keep up are much less likely to do them. While these forms are important, they don't directly delay someone from being paid, other than attorneys.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of the coin are the attorney who fax in the forms every other week and mail in the original as well so in a 2 week period you receive 3 copies of the same form. That takes time to make sure that at least one set of the forms was processed. I understand that forms are misplaced or not worked but when there are 3 or more copies of the same form, that can slow down the process a bit.
When push comes to shove, I'd process a retirement/widows/medicare claim to pay or send a new dib/recon to DDS or hearing to OHO before I'd input atty forms. But, SSA should do both.