I keep posting links to stories such as these from New York and California about terrible service at Social Security but I am getting an increasing feeling of futility. The national media seem uninterested. Congress just passed an appropriation for Social Security that was way below the increase in the cost of living, assuring that Social Security's service problems are just going to get worse. Poor public service at Social Security is just too boring a subject for a Congressional hearing. Agency management seems more interested in dealing with internal labor-management issues than with public service. Social Security basically didn't answer their telephones this week -- at all. They say it's technical problems but the agency couldn't be bothered to even put out a press release. How can a huge agency like Social Security fail to answer its phones for a whole week and no one notices other than those trying to call the agency? If agency management can get away with this, is there anything they can't get away with? Of course, it's hard to tell the difference between telephone service this week and most weeks because it's so bad even when they halfway try to answer their phones. What is it going to take to get public attention to the problems? Will it be noticed when people are lining up well before dawn to get into Social Security field offices to be helped? That's coming in April.
12 comments:
The politicians very much do not care one iota. As long as they can blame the problems on someone else, their focus remains on their personal brand, insider trading tips, etc.
They can line up all they want...we are only allowed 5 people in our lobby at any one time...so good luck getting in.
Couple that with the fact we will have 3 total people in the office besides management...this will be a nightmare.
If you think nothing is getting done right now, wait until the offices re-open. Then the pain will really begin.
The reopening will be an unmitigated disaster and won't get any better until 10/1/22 at earliest, when the current telework arrangement expires. The agency is going to deal with a deluge of PR issues that will dwarf the flak it has received since 3/2020.
I feel terrible for both the public and the small number of employees who will be reporting to the FOs on a daily basis.
Pent up demand for service + only 10% to 50% of pre-pandemic in-person staffing = total cluster.
All is not lost.
There are still people that care.
There are about 70 million recipients that care very deeply. For them their monthly check means the difference between getting by or going hungry.
There are front-line field-office managers across the nation that find themselves alienated and subordinated to an out-of-touch and off-the-wall central office that seems hell-bent on destroying the agency from within - these front-line managers care very much but are at a loss as to what to do - their every effort to intervene frustrated. They feel just like you, Charles.
There also remains a labor effort as of yet uncorrupted by the union politic - an incipient grass-roots effort born of the present adversity and galvanized in opposition to central office's disdain for the field office employees.
And there are thousands of field-office workers who go the extra mile everyday - often at the expense of their own mental wellbeing - to serve the American people despite the artificial encumbrances devised by the agency's central leadership.
Maybe it's time for us all to join forces and speak with a voice that our elected officials cannot ignore.
Lots and lots of congressional inquiries might get some attention. I'm not so sure they are paying attention to the feedback left at https://www.ssa.gov/feedback/
One difference is that usually when phones are down, SSA can't call claimants for appointments, etc. Otherwise you are right.
It's going to continue to be a disaster after offices reopen for quite some time.
Your analysis is correct - very few in power care about Social Security disability claimants. Disabled people are not a voting block and many in Congress buy into the narrative that most claimants are outright faking or exaggerating.
Such negativity! I admit the service could, should and MUST improve but those who work for SSA really care about the work and carry it out as best they can within the confines of the resources and laws established by Congress. Just imagine if the Congress would put more support into serving the public here (and maybe a little less to defense and foreign aid). We could have a first class system, but we don't want to pay for it.
Why fix SSA when Dems can blame it on the Reps and the Reps will claim their not THAT disabled? Besides, Congress would rather have hearings on "Russia Collusion," Hillary's or Trump's (or Hunter's) emails/businesses dealings or "riots" (BLM/January 6). Scoring political points is obviously more important to them than people!
The sad answer is no one seems to care. And the American people suffer needlessly because of it.
Where there is political will, there will always be a way. The pandemic is laying bare and amplifying issues that were always there. Congress and the Executive Branch need to stop viewing SSA as a glorified federal benefits and welfare agency but as an essential and necessary national social and economic safety and security infrastructure that requires just as much maintenance, investment and innovation as our military, health, and transportation infrastructure systems. Unfortunately, both the media and some in both parties push the narrative of ineffective and incompetent government (in which there are certainly ineffective and incompetent individuals, to be sure) to undermine trust in government as a whole to destroy it and elevate themselves, not to make government better. It's because the good people in government who care and do their jobs fairly, ethically and with integrity far outnumber the bad that things haven't fallen apart already. Our social fabric is more fragile than we knew. To all the silent but diligent, compassionate and hard-working public servants out there, thank you for your service and keeping the faith in these extraordinary times.
Oddly enough I never noticed a difference between the phone outage and a regular day. Same service.
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