They’re Right

      From a press release:

As the Social Security Administration (SSA) begins transitioning back to providing full, in-person service at its more than 1,200 field offices for the first time in over two years today, it still expects large crowds, long waits, and continued service delays. 

The SSA recommends that customers avoid delays and long waits by calling ahead to schedule an appointment, but has also warned the public that they may experience busy signals or dropped calls.

In a new letter led by Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX), Subcommittee on Social Security Republican Leader Tom Reed (R-NY), and Subcommittee on Oversight Republican Leader Tom Rice (R-SC), Committee Republicans are urging Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) to hold a hearing to examine these challenges. …

Lewis Nominated To SSAB

      The President has nominated Sharon Beth Lewis of Oregon to become a member of the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB). Here's some biographic info on Lewis:

Lewis is a Principal at Health Management Associates, where she consults with government entities, providers, and advocates to advance opportunities for people with disabilities to fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Before that, Lewis served nearly six years in presidentially appointed roles at the Department of Health and Human Services. There, she was one of the chief architects of the Administration for Community Living and worked to improve access to quality integrated home and community-based services by working with states, stakeholders, and other federal agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Social Security Administration, and the Departments of Labor, Education, Transportation, and Justice.

Before joining the Obama administration, Lewis worked as a Senior Disability Policy Advisor to the House Committee on Education & Labor and as a Kennedy Public Policy Fellow for the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families. Lewis is the recipient of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Chairman’s Award and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.

Long Line In Guam

    There's been a long line outside Social Security's field office in Guam. Yes, Guam is a U.S. territory so that's U.S. Social Security. 

First Report On Field Office Reopening

    From WHEC:

For the first time in two years, people could just walk into the Social Security office downtown to try to get someone to help them.

For five months, we've documented all kinds of problems and delays with the agency's phone system and operators, but Thursday the doors opened and we found someone who really needed the access.

I stood on Main Street asking people who walked in without an appointment—how did it go? Some said it was fine. Others were still frustrated. And then I saw a little 7-year-old girl walk out with her mom and considering where they came from, the offices opened at the right time. 

Jenna is 7 years old. She and her mother Yurina and escaped from Ukraine. 

"I'm helping my friends," Viktor Kachaluba said. "They come from Ukraine, like refugee."

This mother and daughter recently came into the United States through Mexico. They came to the Social Security office when it opened today in the hopes of getting a number. ...

Within two hours of opening, about 50 people came to the office and I watched more arrive every minute. 

People waited in the lobby to get escorted to the second floor. 

"I just needed my social security card," Deshawn Terry said. "And the phone lines were tied up so I just decided to come down."

"Yes, I've called numerous times," Ann Randall said. "I've been on hold, ringing for hours." ...

    If you work in a field office, how is reopening going so far?

They Call This The Waterfall Chart

 

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How Will Reopening Affect This?

      This Caseload Analysis Report has been uploaded by Social Security. It's basic operating statistics from the agency's Office of Hearings Operations.

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Advance Designation Of Rep Payee Form Leaks Out

      Social Security has a form to make an advance designation of representative payee but for reasons unknown to me they won’t release the form to the public. What good does it do to have the form but not release it to the public? However, a wills and estates law firm has gotten a copy and posted it online. 

April 7 Is The Day

      Social Security field offices will reopen to the public on April 7, per an agency press release. 

     Good luck.

It Rings And Rings And Rings

      From KFOR:

Oklahomans in need of new Social Security cards claim they can’t get the help they need, but federal officials say more aid will soon be available. 

Between 12-hour nursing shifts and caring for two kiddos, Mikyla Cartwright stays quite busy. 

But lately, much of her free time has been spent on the phone, fighting to find her four month old’s information. 

Her son, Xander, was born back in November. Mikayla tells KFOR she opted for the hospital to file for Xander’s Social Security card.

For whatever reason though, the card never came. Come tax time, Mikyla grew concerned and decided to file for Xander’s Social Security card herself.

When she stopped by her local office, she said the door was locked. Mikyla called the number on the door, which didn’t help. 

“Longest I was ever on hold was two days, I mean two working days,” said Mikyla. “It just rings, it rings and rings and rings.” …

SSA To Allow Self-Selection Of Sex

      From a press release:

Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency will offer people the choice to self-select their sex on their Social Security number (SSN) record. The agency anticipates this option will be available in the fall of 2022. ...

People who update their sex marker in Social Security’s records will need to apply for a replacement SSN card. They will still need to show a current document to prove their identity, but they will no longer need to provide medical or legal documentation of their sex designation once the policy change becomes effective. SSN cards do not include sex markers. ...

    This appears to be part of a larger Biden Administration effort to ease the lives of transgender Americans.

    Why should Social Security even bother to collect gender information? Prohibitions on same sex marriage used to affect benefits payments but that was external to Social Security and those prohibitions are now gone. Social Security benefit payments themselves have been gender neutral for many decades.