Information On New Hearing Offices

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has just released The Office of Disability Adjudication and Review’s Staffing Plans Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is tempting to wonder if this report had something to do with David Foster's abrupt departure from ODAR but there is nothing in the report to suggest that.

The report does give a summary of ODAR's plans for opening new hearing offices this year. I wish I could do this as a table but Blogger makes that almost impossible. What I can do is give you the data separated by commas. First you see the location of the new hearing offices, after a comma there is the number of Administrative Law Judges to be assigned to the offices, after another comma there is the total number of staff to be assigned to the office, and finally, after another comma, you will see the projected opening date for the office.

New Hearing Office Location, ALJs To Be Assigned To Office, Total Staff To Be Assigned To Office, Planned Opening Date (All In 2010)

• Anchorage, Alaska 2, 11, February
• St. Petersburg, Florida 11, 54, May
• Akron, Ohio 12, 58, June
• Livonia, Michigan 10, 49, June
• Madison, Wisconsin 6, 30, June
• Phoenix, Arizona 8, 39, June
• Tallahassee, Florida 5, 45, June
• Toledo, Ohio 10, 49, June
• Covington, Georgia 9, 45, July
• Topeka, Kansas 5, 26, July
• Fayetteville, North Carolina 9, 58, August
• Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 12, 58, August
• Valparaiso, Indiana 12, 63, August
• Totals 111, 585

Personnel Changes

MEMORANDUM

Date: January 5, 2010

Refer To: S7K
To: Senior Staff

From: Michael J. Astrue /s/

Commissioner

Subject: Executive Personnel Assignments - INFORMATION

In addition to those assignment changes announced in October 2009, I am making additional executive assignment changes affecting the Offices of Disability Adjudication and Review and Quality Performance.

David Foster will move from Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review to Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Quality Performance.

Glenn Sklar will move from Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Quality Performance to Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review.

Judy Kautsch will return to be the Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services and Strategic Information.

Theresa Gruber, currently in the SES Candidate Development Program, will serve as the Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review.

Judge William King has been named Acting Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in San Francisco.

Judge JoAnn Anderson, most recently Acting Regional Chief ALJ in San Francisco, is on a detail assignment as Acting Associate Chief Judge overseeing special initiatives in the immediate Office of the Chief Judge.

Judge Robert Wright, Hearing Office Chief Judge in Albany, NY, is the Acting Associate Chief Judge for the National Hearing Center.

David Foster Leaves ODAR

An e-mail message:

From: Foster, David V.
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 2:45 PM
To: Kautsch, Judy; Jonas, Patricia; Ray, Gerald; Cristaudo, Frank; Griswold, Nancy J.; Rime, Carla; Ramirez, Adolph; McDaniel, Eileen; McKinnon, Beth; Stewart, Patrice; Bentley, James; Reich, Elizabeth; Sanchez, Raymond; Murdock, John; Meisels, Ray; Wright, Robert; Markowski, Lisa; Watts, Robbie; Schneider, Sybil; Garcia, Ernesto; Smith, Regina B.; Delisle, Michelle; #ODAR All Managers; Taylor, Paula; #ODAR All RCALJs
Cc: Wells, Reginald

Subject: Announcement

Effective immediately, I am no longer Deputy Commissioner for ODAR. I have greatly enjoyed working with all of you and expect that you will do great things on behalf of ODAR and for the American people. Good luck. David

I do not know what happened. This e-mail sounds awfully abrupt.

Backlogs In Maine And How To Pronounce NOSSCR

From the Maine Public Broadcasting Network:

According to figures from the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, known as NOSSCR -- or noss-car -- the backlog of people around the country waiting for decisions on their social security disability applications increased by more than 38 percent last year.

Nationally, the number of new claims filed between 2008 and 2009 jumped 14 percent. In Maine, it was slightly higher: 17 percent. Topsham attorney Jim Fongemie says all this is creating longer wait times for decisions and hardships for his clients who are appealing their initial denials. ..

It's a trend that mirrors what's happening around the country, says spokesman Steve Richardson of the Social Security Administration. "We always see the unemployment rate affects the number of disability claims we receive, and with the recent unemployment numbers at over ten percent, the number of our disability applications are expected to peak in 2010 at over 3.3 million, and that's kind of what we're seeing."

More On Las Vegas Shootings

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Johnny Lee Wicks, identified as the man who opened fire at the federal courthouse Monday morning in downtown Las Vegas, has been at odds with the federal government over Social Security benefits for about two years. ...

Wicks moved from California to Nevada in January 2008 and called the Social Security Administration’s Nevada office soon thereafter to change his address, according to an August 2009 report in the case by U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr.

Wicks likely was surprised and upset to learn that his Social Security benefits would be reduced due to the move because he would be losing a "California State Supplement’’ of $317 a month to his federal Social Security benefits. ...

Foley’s report shows Wicks had in-person meetings with a Social Security case manager at the agency office at 1250 S. Buffalo Drive as well as telephone and U.S. mail contact with the agency before filing his suit.

"Plaintiff met with (the case manager), who was allegedly disrespectful and told the plaintiff to move back to California,’’ Foley’s report says.

Things may have gotten worse in February 2008 when Wicks received a notice from the Nevada Social Security office that he had been overpaid $317 and asked him to repay the money and saying that, otherwise, it would withhold $63.70 per month beginning in May 2008.

The agency later found Wicks did not need to repay the overpaid $317, records show.

Nevertheless, Wicks filed his lawsuit alleging that in cutting his benefits, his civil rights were violated by the agency because of his race (black).

"Lots of state workers and agencies have taken part in this scam, mainly for old blacks who are not well educated,’’ Wicks charged in the lawsuit, in which he had no attorney and represented himself.

Probably, Mr. Wicks' psychiatric problems were too severe for any explanation or kindness to get through to him but this tragedy does underline the importance of good customer service even to claimants who are obviously deranged. Who knows how many similar incidents have been headed off by gentle, patient explanations?

Card Files At Social Security -- Late 1930s

Assault In Las Vegas Was Based On Social Security Dispute

From the Las Vegas Sun:

A man upset over losing a lawsuit regarding his Social Security benefits walked into the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas this morning, pulled a shotgun from beneath his jacket and opened fire, killing a court security officer. ...

While the investigation is still under way, the officials say the early evidence points to the man's anger over his benefits case as the motive for the shooting.

Press Release On California Decision

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, issued the following statement regarding two recent decisions of the California Superior Court for the County of Alameda:

"When it comes to the furlough of state employees whose jobs are paid for by federal funds, California Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled state officials have 'abused their discretion' and that 'such a policy is arbitrary, capricious and unlawful.' I could not agree more.

For more than a year, I have made the case that these furloughs cost states money, hurt their most vulnerable citizens, and harm hard-working civil servants. California’s furlough of Disability Determination Service (DDS) employees costs the state $849,000 per furlough day in administrative funding. More importantly, each furlough day results in a delay costing California’s disabled citizens over $420,000 in much-needed Social Security benefits. For the sake of the citizens of California, I call on Governor Schwarzenegger to reject his own failed policy and not appeal the court's ruling.

Social Security funds 100 percent of DDS employees’ salaries as well as all overhead costs -- about $2 billion nationwide this year. These funds cannot be used by the states for any other purpose, so states do not save a single penny by furloughing employees in the DDSs – they only slow getting benefits to the disabled, unduly harm its civil servants, and cost the state needed tax revenue. Nevertheless, about a dozen governors are imposing similar across-the-board hiring freezes or furloughs that also affect DDS employees. I sincerely hope Congress will use its oversight authority to investigate not just California, but the other states that are using -- or have used -- furloughs and hiring freezes for positions that are fully funded by the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies."

To read the entire decision in Service Employees International Union Local 1000, and Yvonne Walker v. Arnold Schwarzenegger, et al., click here.

To read the entire decision in Union of American Physicians and Dentists v. Arnold Schwarzenegger, et al., click here.

To read the California state report, click here.

To read a letter from Vice President Biden to the Governors, click here.

What gets me is that the reason given for refusing to exempt state employees whose salaries are not paid for by state money is that state employees who were not exempted from the furlough would get angry yet state employee unions are suing to get some employees exempted from the furlough even though those unions presumably represent employees who would not be exempted from the furlough. I would like to put this all down to the fact that the nuttiness of California politics but much the same thing is happening in several other states.