E-Mail From Astrue On Staff Changes

DATE: November 25, 2008

TO: Senior Staff

FROM: Michael J. Astrue /s/
Commissioner

SUBJECT: Executive Personnel Assignments - INFORMATION

Under Lisa deSoto’s leadership for the past three years, the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review has met ambitious goals and made tremendous business process improvements that have set the stage for eliminating the disability backlog. Lisa has accepted an offer from the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) to teach and share her leadership skills with new and aspiring executives from across government for the next two years. While we will miss Lisa’s passion and vision, it is a unique opportunity for her to reflect, learn, and then return to the agency with a broadened perspective. Lisa will begin her Executive-in-Residency with the FEI on January 16, 2009.

Upon Lisa’s departure, David Foster will become the Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review.

On November 24, Jim Winn will become Chief of Staff and Jo Tittel will become Deputy Chief of Staff. LaTina Greene, who has been serving as the Chief of Staff’s Special Assistant, will move to the Office of Central Operations as Deputy Associate Commissioner on January 16, 2009.

In the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, effective immediately, JoEllen Felice is the Associate Commissioner for Income Security Programs, a capacity in which she has been acting since July 2008.

In the Office of Systems, Pete Malinauskas, Associate Commissioner for Retirement and Survivors Insurance Systems, is retiring on January 3, 2009. Bill Zielinski, currently the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Applications and Supplemental Security Income Systems, will become Associate Commissioner upon Pete’s retirement. The Deputy Associate Commissioner position Bill vacates will continue to be available as an SES Candidate Development Program assignment.

In the Office of Telecommunications and Systems Operations, Gary Augustine has moved from Assistant Associate Commissioner for Enterprise IT Operations and Security to the Assistant Associate Commissioner for Infrastructure Architecture and Security. Marti Eckert, formerly the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Systems Electronic Services, is now the Assistant Associate Commissioner for Enterprise IT Operations and Security. The Deputy Associate Commissioner for Systems Electronic Services will be available as an SES Candidate Development Program assignment.

In the Office of Budget, Finance and Management’s Office of Facilities Management, Betsy Bake has been appointed as Deputy Associate Commissioner for Facilities Management following Nancy McCullough’s retirement earlier this month.

In the Office of Human Resources, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Feli Sola-Carter, has announced that she will retire at the end of January 2009. Upon Feli’s retirement, Nancy Berryhill, currently the Denver Regional Commissioner, will serve as the Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner. Martha Lambie, Deputy Regional Commissioner in Denver, then will serve as the Acting Regional Commissioner.

In the Office of the General Counsel, Kristi Schmidt has been appointed as the Regional Chief Counsel in Kansas City. Gwen Jones Kelley has been appointed as the Deputy Associate General Counsel for Program Law. Gwen will continue to serve as the Acting Associate General Counsel for Program Law.

Mary Chatel, currently the Senior Advisor for Program Outreach in the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, will also begin an assignment with the Federal Executive Institute on December 1, 2008.

Lastly, on January 20, 2009, Tom Hughes, Chief Information Officer, and Mike Korbey, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner, will depart the agency.

Over the last 6 years, Tom has garnered the agency high scores in security, and he has been a catalyst in developing an IT vision for the 21st century. Greg Pace will serve as the Acting Chief Information Officer upon Tom’s departure.

In addition, during his tenure with the agency, Mike has been an effective advisor to the Deputy Commissioner. I would like to thank Tom and Mike for their contributions to the agency and for their commitment to public service.

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Schedule C Positions At Social Security

Does anyone have a list of the Schedule C positions at Social Security? These are policy-determining positions that are subject to change when a new administration takes office. Advance approval from the White House is required to appoint someone to a Schedule C position.

De Soto Out?

There is an anonymous report that Lisa de Soto, Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, is leaving her position to teach at the Federal Executive Institute. David Foster is to replace her. Her last day at Social Security is January 16, four days before Barack Obama's inauguration.

Update: Here is some confirmation that de Soto is out. Apparently, there were a number of other personnel changes as well. Here is some information on David Foster:

Mr. Foster has held high-level positions in the federal government, having served in various capacities at the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC and the United States Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia. In the private sector, Mr. Foster has worked extensively in the health care field as the head of government relations for biotechnology firms and as counsel for the National Leadership Coalition on Health Care. He also has chaired committees for the American Bar Association, the Federalist Society and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Mr. Foster is a magna cum laude graduate of Bowdoin College and received his J.D. from Northeastern University.

Federalist Society. That's reassuring!

Problem Solver Gets More Results! Potemkin Lives!

From television station WSPA in Spartanburg, SC:

When you wait years for the government to approve your disability insurance request there’s no doubt you need that money. One woman who called us said the Social Security Administration took months to send her more than $50,000 in back pay. Our Dianne Derby got the money for her in no time. It’s a 7 On Your Side Problem Solver. ...

She was approved for disability insurance earlier this year but can’t get the Social Security Administration to send her the more than $50,000 in back pay they granted. It’s money she needs after dipping into her retirement for 3 years while waiting for a final answer from the SSA.

“I called and they kept saying ‘Oh it just takes a while’,“ said Ogburn.

Our calls to SSA’s regional headquarters in Atlanta brought forth an apology to Ogburn from spokesperson Patti Patterson and an admission they should have moved faster. “We do try to pay people as quickly and timely as possible,“ said Patterson. “Unfortunately, on some occasions things don’t get processed as quickly as they should. This is an example of that.“

Within days Ms. Ogburn was more than $50,000 richer.

I think I will describe this sort of thing as a "Potemkin", in honor of Grigori Potemkin, a minister to Catherine the Great of Russia. Potemkin allegedly had hollow facades of buildings constructed along the route that the Empress was taking in a newly conquered area of the Crimea to impress her with the value of area.

CCD Recommendations For Transition

Here is an excerpt from Disability Policy Recommendations for Presidential Transition and 111th Congress, a lengthy document produced by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the major umbrella organization lobbying on behalf of the disabled in the United States:

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities urges the Administration and Congress to consider the following priorities:

• Ensure that SSA is given sufficient funding to make disability decisions in a timely manner and to carry out other critical workloads. SSA must be provided with adequate funds for its administrative expenses to make significant strides in reducing the disability claims backlog, improve other services to the public, and conduct its program integrity activities. Congress also should consider separation of SSA’s administrative budget authority from the Section 302(a) and (b) allocations for discretionary spending in other important programs. The budget would still be subject to the annual appropriations process and Congressional oversight.
• Develop proposals to promote employment among beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries and improve work incentives. However, any proposals should not make changes that would damage the existing Social Security and SSI disability programs. CCD has developed a set of principles to guide the development of proposals. The principles include: no changes to the Social Security definition of disability; no work requirements or time limits in the Social Security and SSI disability programs; and no cutbacks to eligibility criteria for these programs. The Statement also includes a comprehensive discussion of improvements to the disability programs and work incentives that CCD has supported over the years.
• Ensure that proposed changes to the disability claims process protect the rights and interests of people with disabilities and do not elevate speed of adjudication above accuracy of decisionmaking. This is problematic and not appropriate for a non-adversarial process. CCD has numerous suggestions for improving the disability claims process for people with disabilities and many have already been initiated by SSA. We believe that these recommendations and agency initiatives, which overall are not controversial and which we support, can go a long way towards reducing and eventually eliminating the disability claims backlog. The CCD recommendations, which include improved development of evidence at the beginning of the process and technological improvements, are summarized in testimony presented before the House Ways and Means Committee on April 23, 2008.
• Guarantee, if the debate on the solvency of the Social Security Trust Funds is revived, that the impact on people with disabilities is considered and that their interests are protected. CCD has urged that consideration of any proposal be required to include a beneficiary impact statement.
• Improve, simplify, and update the SSI program through legislative, regulatory, and operational changes.

Obama Plan For FY 2009 Appropriations

From the Capitol Insider put out by the Disability Policy Collaboration:

House and Senate leaders have charged the Appropriations Committees to complete action on the nine Fiscal Year Appropriations bills before the January 20 inauguration. President-Elect Obama wants to sign a stimulus package and the remaining FY 2009 Appropriations bills shortly after he takes office. Current appropriations are frozen at the FY 2009 levels under a continuing resolution that expires in early March.

Apfel At University of Maryland

I had earlier posted that former Social Security Commissioner Kenneth Apfel had just left the University of Texas to take a job with an insurance company. Later, I updated that to say that it appeared that the Kenneth Apfel at the insurance company is a different fellow with the same name. An article in the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) Bulletin reports that the Apfel who used to be Commissioner is now at the University of Maryland.