New Office In Tanner's District

NWTN Today (Northwestern Tennessee?) reports that John Tanner, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee, was on hand Tuesday for the opening of a new Social Security field office in Union City, a town in his district. Social Security's Commissioner Michael Astrue and Regional Commissioner Paul Barnes were also on hand. Here is an interesting excerpt from the Commissioner's remarks:

... “I get dozens of pieces of mail from the public every day thanking me for the work that some particular person has done and helped them through some problem,” Astrue said. “And that compassion that you show on a regular basis is such an important part of our mission.” He added that he sees the “difficult” things, too, such as violence reports each and every day. Three years ago, SSA was receiving three to five threats a day. But with the downturn of the economy, “and as the fabric of the country has been torn,” threats have increased to 10 a day.

I wonder how many field office opening ceremonies the Commissioner attends.

IARP Recommends Updating DOT

The International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP) publishes a professional journal called "The Rehabilitation Professional." A recent issue of this journal contains an article written by a committee established by IARP to study replacements for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), a fundamental basis for disability determination at Social Security. The title gives away the findings of the committee: "A Call to Update the DOT: Findings of the IARP Occupational Database Committee."

The study details the unreliability of the DOT at the time it was originally published as well as the far more serious problems with using the terribly outdated DOT today. Products already on the market which purport to be replacements for the DOT are discussed, but in the end the committee recommends updating the DOT.

The idea of updating the DOT gives Social Security a bunch of headaches. Here are some of them:

• The DOT was far from perfect even at the time the last edition was published. It will take quite some time to figure out exactly how to update the DOT so it will be better.
  
• Gathering and compiling the data to update the DOT will take years.
• Gathering and compiling the data to update the DOT will cost a lot of money.
• Social Security does not have the money or expertise needed to update the DOT. It is far from clear that the Department of Labor (DOL), which should update the DOT, has any interest in doing so or that DOL can get the money to do so or will have any urgency about the task if it tries to do so.
  
• No one knows what a new DOT will show. The current grid regulations may have to be scrapped or dramatically changed based upon a new DOT.
  

Social Security really should have started taking this problem seriously a long time ago -- like ten years ago -- but the agency chose to put off difficult decisions. Delaying action for the next decade or so is unrealistic. It is amazing that there has not been litigation on this issue already. I might have litigated it myself if I were not in the 4th Circuit.

Other than staffing shortages, the DOT is, by far, the biggest problem facing the Social Security Administration. The staffing problems affecting Social Security are much simpler to solve, however. All that is required is money and time. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget are already well aware of the staffing problem and trying to help. The DOT problem is far more complex. It is probably already too late for a good solution to the DOT problem.

Labor-Management Partnerships Coming

Alyssa Rosenberg at Fedblog quotes the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as saying that "We're very close" to a Presidential order requiring labor-management partnerships at federal agencies. These had been instituted in the Clinton Administration but disbanded in the Bush Administration. Restarting the partnerships has been a major goal of federal employee unions.

Reginald Wells Receives Award

From Alyssa Rosenberg at Fedblog, writing about the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration awards dinner last night:

Reginald F. Wells, deputy commissioner for human resources of the Social Security Administration, received the David O. Cooke Award for Leadership in the Public Service. The award, which recognizes career achievement in federal service, was presented by Office of Personnel Management director John Berry and by Myra Howze Shiplett, a recognized leader in human resources management issues, who remarked on Wells' many contributions in the human capital arena.

Another Decomposing Mom Story

From the New York Times:

A South Florida woman pleaded guilty to collecting her dead mother’s federal benefits for six years after her death, all the while the mother’s decomposing body remained in the house the two women shared. ...

Ms. Jordan was arrested in March after the authorities responded to complaints by her neighbors of an overwhelming stench emanating from garbage on her property and the presence of numerous feral cats.

With Ms. Jordan’s consent, the police entered the dilapidated house and discovered it was cluttered with garbage. After repeated inquiries by detectives about her mother’s whereabouts, Ms. Jordan admitted that her mother, Timmie Jordan, had died some time ago. She then directed the officers to a bedroom where they found the mother’s decomposed body clad in a nightgown and covered in a sheet.

Detective Rich Snell said Ms. Jordan told him she did not have the money to bury her mother, “so she left her in bed.”

New Teleservice Center Coming

From a press release issued by Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency plans to open a new teleservice center (TSC) in Jackson, Tennessee, which will be the first new call center opened by Social Security in more than a decade. The Jackson TSC will employ about 175 people once it is fully operational. ...

Social Security currently has 35 TSCs operating in locations all across the country. rking closely with the General Services Administration to facilitate the process for opening the new TSC. The process provides for open competition and normally takes 18 to 24 months to complete.

Update: Jackson is in Tennessee's 8th Congressional District. That District is represented by John Tanner, the Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Tanner seems quite pleased by the announcement.

Associate Commissioner For Disability Programs Job Open

Social Security is advertising the position of Associate Commissioner For Disability Programs. According to the announcement the occupant of this position:

... is the senior executive responsible for the development and promulgation of Agency policy and guidelines in the administration of its disability programs including medical, evaluation, disability process, and administrative appeals process policy. Additionally, the incumbent is responsible for analyzing legislative and regulatory specifications and budgetary impacts of legislation on programs administered by SSA.

Glenn Sklar, pictured above, had this job. I understand that Sklar is now the Assistant Deputy Commissioner to the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Quality Performance.

Fee Cap To $6,000 Today

Effective today the fee cap for representing Social Security claimants under the fee agreement process goes to $6,000. Social Security has just issued staff instructions on handling this increase.