From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:
Objective
To determine whether employees submitted and processed Manager-to-Manager (M2M) requests in accordance with Social Security Administration (SSA) policy.
Background
When a field office (FO), processing center (PC), or teleservice center employee identifies a critical issue for a beneficiary that requires another office’s action, managers can expedite action for the beneficiary by initiating an M2M request. Managers should only use M2M for high priority requests, such as beneficiaries who have terminal illnesses; made homicidal, suicidal, or potentially violent behavior threats; or are in dire need situations, such as facing eviction or homelessness.
Given the critical nature of M2M requests, FO and PC employees must address them within 5-business days or provide an interim reply to the requesting manager explaining the delay.
We reviewed a random sample of 100 M2M requests: 50 in a “resolved” status from June 1, 2021 through June 1, 2023 and 50 in a “pending” status as of June 1, 2023.Results
SSA employees generally submitted M2M requests according to SSA policy; however, they did not always follow policy when they processed M2M requests. Of the 100 M2M requests we sampled, FO and PC employees did not process 57 requests according to policy.
For 48 requests, FO and PC employees did not process them timely, resulting in delays in employees addressing critical issues and beneficiaries waiting weeks or months to receive the benefits they were due.
For 9 requests, PC employees placed them in a “resolved” status in the M2M application before completing all necessary actions to address the requests.
SSA managers provided reasons for delays, and we identified control weaknesses that contributed to delays, such as: (1) case complexity; (2) insufficient communication between offices, including no notifications in the M2M application when employees take action on requests; and (3) the absence of controls that prevent employees from prematurely closing M2M requests. ...
This is the sort of thing that drives me and other Social Security attorneys crazy We can't get problems resolved.
17 comments:
Contact your local Congressperson since this ship is sinking fast. We are doing the best we can. The damage will not be repaired overnight if not ever.
Some of these processing issue seem to be a IT systems issue. Internal information sharing between different branches at SSA also contribute to this problem. The PSC should have access to the same case information as the FO. I should not have to call the FO to direct them to send a message to the PSC regarding the non-existence of SSI payments (i.e. no SSI app was even filed)
How decentralized are SSA IT systems? I get the impression that 50% of employees do not even bother checking the file. I have a claim stuck at a FO since September. It was an improper technical denial based on a profound misunderstanding of SGA regulations where I initially requested a reopening. We were then told to submit a Recon appeal...the FO apparently processed the appeal after multiple months and sent the case to DDS. DDS kicked the appeal back FIVE times, and it took almost a dozen phone calls to finally be told that a Recon could not be processed b/c the initial medical determination was never made. This client originally applied March 2024, and still has no DDS review. Getting the Congressman's office involved did not seem to help.
Agree with 10:16. Every case is now m2m due delays to the point that none are….. it’s getting ugly here in the field
I just got off the phone with a client frustrated that a decision issued by an ALJ in a Title II only case on June 18, 2024, had still not been processed. There have been two "manager to manager" requests, the first in December and the latest last week, with promises to expedite. Yes, there was supposedly the SSI offset, except there never was an SSI claim, and the amount is well over $50,000 so there needs to be extra signatures. and there is even an issue with a TWP but that is still no excuse for a case to take ten months to process to payment. And it is not helped by the fact that I was paid back in July. There is just no reason for these kinds of delays and email manager to manager instead of the manager just picking up the phone and calling the Mod or making it possible for me to call the Mod to explore the reason for the delay.
That really sucks. have you tried contacting the regional communications director? I don't know how that works now since the RCD list still has 10 regions but maybe someone there could help
Does the representative call center handle this type of thing or are they unwilling to help since you've been paid?
I have had this happen before. The FO likely failed to send the proper notification to the PSC. I truly do not understand why the FO needs to do anything if there is no history of an SSI app being filed. Why would the PSC not have access to this kind of basic case information?
One problem in the PSC, is too many priority cases. When everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.
As for attorneys calling the PSC directly, other than calling RCC, forget it. We don't have the staff to handle an additional workload. Besides why should a case be pushed to the front of the line based upon an attorney's phone call? Beneficiaries without attorneys would be disadvantaged.
To 3:21 Yes, and that is why I know they did a manager to manager. I call them about every two months to push them along but still this nonsense continues. Can't even blame this on Trump. This predates him and is not a new story.
50 year staffing low….and only getting worse. That’s all there is to say
Sometimes the only way to get SSA to do anything is to contact the local congressperson. I used to work at SSA and they did care (a bit) about what they called "congressional interest."
“the manager just picking up the phone and calling the Mod”. That is funny. We can’t even call the PC. But now attorneys can call the PC directly using the new dedicated phone number.
The current reality of M2M is that they are applied to many cases that are not critical. For various reasons of management and mismanagement the PCs have been dreadfully backlogged for years. Routine MDWs go straight into the backlog. HP MDWs invariably require follow-up, and, in most cases referral to management to get resolved. M2M has become a mechanism to get the PC to advance cases where pissed off claimants are burning up the phone lines, thus preventing other work. If the PCs had a backlog of only a month or so, we would have thousands fewer calls on a daily basis, and MDWs at a number an order of magnitude lower. In other words, MDWs and M2M would serve their ultimate purpose of fixing the inevitable hiccups in the system, rather than becoming a common step of routine case resolution.
No reason? Really? That's a pretty ignorant take, especially from someone ostensibly charging money for their expertise on Social Security.
The knowledgeable SSA employees that would know how to clear the difficult cases have retired in droves. It will take some time to develop new employees and you can thank Musk and Leland.
The entire Claims Specialist staff in my PC's Congressional Unit, took the buyout offer and left last month. Good luck training someone on short notice to work those difficult and high priority cases.
Not to mention the terrible "PQR" error system, which wastes valuable case processing time for CS in the PC. . Reviewers have started writing up everything, including judgmental issues, in order to justify their GS12 jobs. Many of these "errors" have been successfully rebutted,, But that also uses up hours of time that could have been used processing critical cases.
A “fool proof” design for destruction!
If you think the IT systems are a problem now, just wait. - Here is the headline from a March 28, 2025 article in WIRED: “DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse”, the following sentence reads: “Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months. “
I worked at the Veteran’s Benefits Administration (VBA) for a few years while they struggled to get their claims and payments system off the mainframe. After 18 years, they still weren’t able to convert all the records. That is also why SSA systems are still poorly integrated.
Just imagine training a group of people to learn the current processes using REALLY broken systems!
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