VA Backlogs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) puts out a quarterly report showing its claims backlog. Above is a chart from that report showing how things have been going at VA.
I wonder if Social Security should do something like this. It would be more complicated at Social Security. I expect it would take separate charts for initial, reconsideration and hearing reviews for disability claims as well as charts showing the backlogs claimants face to get telephone appointments with the agency and in getting favorable decisions implemented. I know that if you search hard enough you can find much of this information online but putting it all in one easily accessible location and issuing regular press releases could only help the agency in getting the funding it needs.
Traditionally, Social Security has tried to sweep its problems under the rug -- minimize them, treat them as isolated problems even when they're routine, hide the information showing the extent of the backlogs, shift agency resources to reduce agency backlogs that attract public attention (thus insuring that other backlogs grow), etc.
Isn't it time to straight up tell the public what's going on and let them decide how much service they're willing to pay for? Quit being ashamed. These backlogs aren't due to management failures.
The problem isn’t that agency leaders/managers think these backlogs are the result of management failures. They never believe anything is their fault. The problem is that they genuinely believe these backlogs are the fault of non-management staff, and that they can all be fixed by imposing even more unreasonable demands on the already-overextended non-management staff.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head Charles about the nature of SSA backlogs. It's not one backlog of disability claimants. It's several different backlogs at different stages. And each stage doesn't really care about anyone else's backlog except for how they might affect them later.
ReplyDeleteSometimes silence is the best course.
ReplyDeleteIf SSA publicized the backlogs then there are those who would blame SSA employees, or say telework should be cut. When the real problem is lack of funding and too much work.
How do the numbers of VA workers compare with SSA? Have they had the staff reductions like other agencies? I am not familiar enough to know how they have faired.
ReplyDelete@2:25: They don’t face the same funding issues. The public has a limitless willingness to throw money at veterans. We’ve decided they should get free medical care for life, free school, free Viagra and condoms for life, and $50,000/year “disability” benefits even if they’re able to work full-time, even if they only served a relatively short time. Meanwhile it’s all bootstraps if you’re a poor brown person without a history of military service. And this all gets very confusing for them when the “100% disabled” veterans come knocking on SSA’s door for more money.
DeleteGood news on the VA disability rep side. A little surprised.
ReplyDelete2:41 I dont get any of those things as a Vet. BTW you had the same ability to enlist as they did.
ReplyDeleteHappy Veterans Day.
ReplyDeleteInstead of bashing veterans who come in all colors, focus your energies on advocating and improving the quality of life for all disabled people. It's a not we vs them, it's all of us as a collective.