Waiting In Texas

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Linda King says diabetes and heart problems forced her to quit her office job and apply for disability benefits in January 2007. ...

Two years and five months later, she still waits.

King, who was initially turned down for benefits, is among more than 750,000 Americans trapped in a backlog of disputed Social Security disability claims. Applicants who seek an appeal hearing sometimes wait years for one.

AFGE Not Buying That Social Security Is A Good Place To Work

From a press release sent out by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the labor union which represents most Social Security employees:

"While we applaud the noble endeavor of the Partnership for Public Service to recognize excellency in federal government agencies, we can't ignore the unfiltered facts that come to us from our members at SSA -- that the policies put in place by SSA Commissioner Astrue continue to press unnecessary hardships on employees and degrade one of the nation's most responsive and best-run public agencies into a troubled organization that no longer serves the best interests of retired and disabled Americans and their families." ...

"Since its inception, Social Security employees have delivered quality service to America's retired and disabled. It is tragic that their ability to perform this service has been hindered by faulty leadership," concluded [John] Gage [the head of the union].

CE Study

From a notice from Social Security posted on FedBisOpps.Gov:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a requirement for contractor services that provide SSA with independent analysis and documentation regarding the quality of current consultative exams (CEs) used in the determination of disability. Additionally, the contractor would assess if CEs are being requested in compliance with SSA regulations; determine the methodology of a functional data collection system; establish a baseline for CE quality; and determine those initiatives that will improve the quality of future CEs.

Ninth On The List

Alyssa Rosenberg reports on FedBlog that the Partnership for Public Service annual rankings of best large federal agencies to work for is out. Here is the list:

1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2. Government Accountability Office
3. National Aeronatics and Space Administration
4. Intelligence Community
5. Department of State
6. Environmental Protection Agency
7. Department of Justice
8. General Services Adminsitration
9. Social Security Administration
10. Department of Commerce
11. Securities and Exchange Commission
12. Department of Veterans Affairs
13. Department of the Army
14. Department of the Navy
15. Department of the Air Force
16. Defense Department (Tie)
17. Department of the Treasury
18. Department of Labor
19. Department of Energy
20. Office of Personnel Management.

Interesting who finished in last place.

Shutting Down A Scam

From Emergency Message EM 09039, issued on May 15:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has advised SSA of an order against the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce in Stockton, CA to “cease and desist” their alleged unsafe and unsound bank practices involving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit payments.

The FDIC’s investigation uncovered that the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce maintained a relationship with a third party, Petz Enterprises, Inc. (PEI), to solicit SSA/SSI beneficiaries for direct deposit of their payments and to deposit the benefits into a master account in the name of PEI. PEI, in turn, contracted out with check cashers, payday lenders, and retail merchants to enroll beneficiaries in their direct deposit program and disburse payments to the beneficiaries using questionable practices.

The investigation discovered instances where these check cashers; payday lenders and small retail merchants withheld the whole amount or a significant amount of the beneficiary’s benefit payment (e.g., transaction fees, cashing fees, short-term loans, and financing secured by upcoming benefit payments, repayment of loans, etc.) These practices left some beneficiaries in need of further short-term loans in order to meet their basic living expenses. ...

In response to the order to cease and desist, the Bank, FDIC, and SSA are working closely to inform the affected individuals of the need to make alternative payment arrangements by August 1, 2009 for receipt of future benefit payments.

When will Social Security shut down Allsup's similar arrangement?

Ticket To Work Remains A Sacred Cow

I did not have time to watch the House Social Security Subcommittee hearing today on the Ticket to Work program but judging by the prepared statements, none of the speakers was willing to be politically incorrect enough to call Ticket to Work what it is -- a well-intentioned but expensive failure. How much more money will be spent on this before Congress finally admits the obvious?

At Least Somebody Is Benefitting From Ticket To Work

From a press release:

MAXIMUS (NYSE:MMS - News) announced today that its Federal Services subsidiary has been awarded a five-year, $10.4 million contract by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to continue its work as the program data operations center manager for the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program. ...

In addition to the contract renewal for program data operation services, MAXIMUS continues to run operations support management for the Ticket to Work Program. Under the current support management contract, MAXIMUS provides critical oversight and process support in order to sustain ongoing program operations, including the management of call center operations and maintenance of employment networks.

Witness List For Today's Hearing

Below is the tentative witness list for the 2:00 hearing today before the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee on "Employment Support Programs for Disability Beneficiaries:"

• Bobbie Christensen, Ticket to Work Program Participant, Mesa, Arizona
• Robin Clark, Ticket to Work Program Participant, Largo, Florida
• Sue Suter, Associate Commissioner for Employment Support Programs, Social Security Administration
• Cheryl Bates-Harris, Senior Disability Advocacy Specialist, National Disability Rights Network, on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Employment and Training Task Force and Social Security Task Force
• Susan Webb, President and Co-founder, National Employment Network Association, Avondale, Arizona
• Thomas P. Golden, President, National Association of Benefits and Work Incentives Specialists
• Dr. Bruce Growick, Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Services, The Ohio State University College of Education, Columbus, Ohio
• Dr. John Kregel, Center Associate Director & Director of Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports and Job Retention, Richmond, Virginia

My first question is whether anyone will be politically incorrect enough to say the obvious -- that Ticket to Work is an expensive failure that should be stopped? My second question is whether they really found two sucess stories to present to the Subcommittee? That would not be easy to do.