From an NBC News Blog (emphasis added):
President Donald Trump said Monday his administration's coronavirus task force updated its guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak.
There would be 10 or more people in the waiting room of most, if not all, Social Security field offices for most of the day. That would also be the case at some times of the day for many Social Security hearing offices.He said the administration recommends all Americans, including young and healthy, should homeschool children, avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, stop discretionary travel and avoid bars and restaurants. ...
The Field Office I was in today was absolutely deserted. One of the workers told me that Friday was busy. There were never ten people in that office and we were all separated by many feet.
ReplyDeleteon a different note, nonetheless, I imagine you are correct. All this aid that we nice well-meaning liberals want to send to the waitresses and bartenders requires someone to process the applications. Someone has to work.
Just announced the FOs are closed to publci starting tomorrow 03/17. Employees still must report to work or take leave.
ReplyDeleteThey just closed the Moreno Valley (CA) OHO from March 17-April 3. Do not see why other OHOs should follow suit.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the matter with Saul?
ReplyDelete"Leaders of AALJ, which represents 1,300 judges who oversee disability hearings, criticized the SSA for continuing in-person proceedings, especially when many immunocompromised senior citizens frequent the courtrooms. To protect its claimants from the virus, the group asked for the government to cancel hearings for a limited time."
* * *
"The hearings are usually held in small conference rooms with close contact between the lawyers, judges, and claimants. This environment provides a particularly dangerous setting for older claimants, who are statistically more likely to die from Covid-19. Although there’s little data on the people who pass through disability hearings, the largest percentage of disabled worker beneficiaries of SSDI in 2018 were between the ages of 60 and 64."
VOX: Most courts are closed due to coronavirus — but not those that serve high-risk populations
"During a time of more constrained resources, the agency closed field offices early on Wednesdays. We are ending that practice to provide you with additional access to our services. We are also ending a telework pilot, which was implemented without necessary controls or data collection to evaluate effectiveness or impact on public service. I support work-life balance for SSA employees consistent with meeting our first obligation: to serve the public. A time of workload crisis is not the time to experiment with working at home, especially for the more than 40,000 employees who staff our public facing offices." Andrew Saul, Nov 4, 2019.
ReplyDeleteThis letter from Saul is actually. still on the SSA website. You would think they would have taken it down considering events. Because of Sauls foolish, shortsighted decision ending the "experiment" of people working at home, SSA is now in crisis and turmoil.. Systems VPN and employees are now totally unprepared for the 100% telework, which could now have kept the agency functioning during this national emergency.