From a press release issued by Social Security’s Office of Inspector General:
From FY 2019 to FY 2023, Disability Determinations Services (DDS) productivity, measured as Production Per Work Year, decreased by 21 percent, and average processing time increased by 81 percent from 121 to 219 days. The lower productivity and increase in processing times coincided with the loss of key technical staff, including disability examiners who evaluate disability claims and make disability determinations in accordance with laws, regulations, policies, and procedures governing Social Security Administration (SSA) disability programs.
8 comments:
The new paradigm of mass staffing cuts, and then claiming that technology will make up the difference has been a predictable flop.
Good comment. Who was president from 2019-2023? You know, the period pertaining to this article?
It’s not going to get any better soon. The agency just pushed 300 reassigned adjudicators through 7 weeks of lackluster training. We’ve got no idea what we’re doing. 😂
If you can’t learn how to adjudicate a disability claim in 7 weeks, you are never going to get it. It’s not complicated and the laws are simple. Review the file for impairments and opinions, determine what functional limitations those impairments cause and assign an RFC.
You’re assuming you get all the information you need the day they file the application. It shows you have no practical experience or knowledge of the “simple” law.
@Anonymnous 1:27PM - if it were that easy, there wouldn't be the backlogs that there are. Doing something fast does not make it correct. Haste makes waste. Heck, training for a Claims Specialist (CS - formerly a Claims Representative) was 13 weeks long and it takes at least two years to become proficient at the job.
FY 2019 (Oct 2018-Sept 2019)- Trump
FY 2020 (Oct 2019-Sept 2020)- Trump
FY 2021 (Oct 2020-Sept 2021)- Trump/Biden
FY 2022 and FY 2023- Biden
Comes down to this: no one position in SSA can do it all! No one position in a DO, PSC, TSC, DOC, DDS, OHA does or knows everything. Issues galore are a result of the complexities and regulations of the SS act. From MFU situations to Rep Payee issues, SS is not something simple. It needs the specific duties of a position to handle those assigned duties. SSA needs more staff and not this wonton reassignment of employees and positions. Lets get back to what we had that worked and stop the self-induced chaos.
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