Baltimore Sun On Jo Anne Barnhart, Michael Astrue and Martin Gerry

I have written before about the Baltimore Sun's lack of attention to the largest employer in the Baltimore area, the Social Security Administration. I have found it amazing that the newspaper ran no articles whatsoever about the nomination, confirmation or installation of Michael Astrue as Social Security Commissioner.

The Baltimore Sun has finally noticed Social Security. In the context of an article discussing "burrowing," political appointees seeking civil service positions before an expected change in government, the Sun finally mentions Social Security. The article does not mention any burrowing going on at Social Security, although that may be happening. Indeed, the mention of Social Security appears to be tacked onto an unrelated article. Still, the article does mention Michael Astrue, Jo Anne Barnhart and Martin Gerry. Here is an excerpt, which to my reading makes it clear that Martin Gerry was fired:

A longtime political appointee who oversaw the first wave of reforms to the nation's disability system is no longer employed by the Woodlawn-based Social Security Administration, agency spokesman Mark Lassiter said this week.

Lassiter declined to say whether Martin Gerry, who also served under Presidents Nixon, Ford and George H.W. Bush, resigned or was fired from his post. A spokesman for the agency's inspector general also declined to comment. A call to what is believed to be Gerry's Ellicott City home was not returned.

Gerry's departure, however, comes as new Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue contemplates the agency's current strategy for streamlining the disability process - reforms that were a legacy of former Commissioner Jo Anne B. Barnhart. ...

Although Astrue has told Congress that he stands firmly behind Barnhart's goal of reducing the red tape and heaps of appeals from denied applicants, he has not committed to Barnhart's solution, which began in the New England region last year.

Awful Crime Alleged In Massachusetts

From the Associated Press:

Parents accused of killing their 4-year-old daughter with an overdose of prescription drugs had concocted symptoms of mental illnesses to qualify the girl for government benefits, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Michael and Carolyn Riley pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges Tuesday and were ordered to remain in custody without bail.

The Rileys' applications for Supplemental Security Income for their daughter, Rebecca, were twice rejected after government doctors examined her and found no evidence to back the parents' claims of bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Assistant District Attorney Frank Middleton said. ...

Rebecca's older siblings, now ages 11 and 6, already had gone to the psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, and were diagnosed with the same disorders and were receiving Supplemental Security Income, the program administered by the Social Security Administration for disabled children.

Middleton said Carolyn Riley told Kifuji that Rebecca had "mood swings" and was "driving me crazy." Kifuji diagnosed her with bipolar disorder at age 3.

Carolyn Riley "continued to feed Dr. Kifuji fabricated symptoms," Middleton said. He said Rebecca's teachers, a school nurse, mental health therapist and neighbors and adults who lived with the Rileys all told a grand jury that "Rebecca showed none of these behaviors."

Social Security Attorney Fees And Bankruptcy

From the New York Law Journal:

The Social Security Administration does not have the authority to demand the return of fees it paid to an attorney who represented a disability claimant whose debts were discharged in bankruptcy, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the payment of $1,200 to the firm of Binder & Binder could not be undone by the agency even though the debtor disputed the firm's bill in her bankruptcy petition.

The ruling in Binder & Binder v. Barnhart, 05-6794-cv, was issued by Judges Roger Miner, Joseph McLaughlin and Robert Katzmann, with Judge Miner writing for the court.

Letter From Witold Skwierczynski To House Budget Committee Chairman

Witold Skwierczynski is the President of the National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals of the American Federation of Government Employees which represents 28,000 Social Security employees. He sent a letter today to thank the Chairman of the House Budget Committee for additional Social Security funding provided for in the House Budget Resolution. The letter is reproduced above. To see it at full size, just click on each page. The letter gives important information about the status of Social Security's budget for fiscal year 2008.

Senior ALJs Sought

I understand that the e-mail below went out early this morning:

From: Cristaudo, Frank
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 5:15 AM
To: #ODAR All RCALJs
Cc: Griswold, Nancy J.; #ODAR All RO Mgmt Team; #ODAR All HOCALJs; #ODAR All HODs; #ODAR HQ OCJ Exec Staff
Subject: Senior ALJs and Re-employed Annuitant ALJs

We need to know as quickly as possible the names of retired ALJs who would be interested in appointment as Senior ALJs or Re-employed Annuitant ALJs. We are being advised that a significant number of retired ALJs are interested in appointment as either a Senior ALJ or as a Re-employed Annuitant ALJ. Because of the urgency of this matter, I am copying the HO Chief Judges and HO Directors and asking them to let us know if they are familiar with any retired ALJs interested in re-appointment and to provide this information directly to the Chief Judge's Office with a copy to the ORCJ. The information should be sent to Vicki Norton who will have this information compiled for us. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks.

Frank A. Cristaudo
Chief Judge

Social Security Starting To Hire

The e-mail from Commissioner Astrue posted here recently said that Social Security had found some money to begin hiring some replacements for departing employees. Social Security has now posted online openings for 29 employees. This is, by far, the most openings that Social Security has had in many months, perhaps in years. Probably, there will be many more jobs posted in the near future as the agency does the paperwork to start the process of hiring new employees. As helpful as this is, all signs are that Social Security will be unable to keep its workforce from shrinking.

Decline In Social Security Workforce Continues

The Office of Personnel Management has released figures on federal employment as of December 2006. This shows that Social Security's workforce declined by .4% over those three months. The decline was 3.6% from December 2005 to December 2006, even though Social Security's workload went up in 2006 due to the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the aging of the baby boomer population.

• December 2005 65,777
• September 2006 63,647
• December 2006 63,410

Digital Imaging Contract Attracts Attention

Social Security's effort to find a vendor which can provide software to magically reorganize scanned disability claim files so that duplicates records are eliminated and the proper records are neatly organized is attracting attention from a leading industry news source, FCW.com.

There will be good money to be made from such a contract, even though the task is quite hopeless. Vendors for projects such as this get paid whether the software they try to develop works or not. As I have said before, this is like something out of Dilbert.