AFGE Wins Arbitration On Leave

From a press release issued by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE):

The American Federation of Government Employees recently won a Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) decision to overturn an agency guideline that severely limited when SSA Teleservice representatives would be allowed to be on leave on any given day. Teleservice representatives answer SSA’s nationwide toll-free number. ...

The guideline in question limited leave approvals to “up to 10%” on peak call days at the teleservice center and “up to 15%” on no-peak call days. ...

It (sic) his ruling, the arbitrator found that the agency violated the parties’ agreement by implementing a policy that restricted when certain employees could use annual leave.

A Question

We heard back in September that Social Security was planning to start going from hearing office to hearing office registering attorneys and others who represent Social Security claimants for online access to their clients files. Has this been happening? What is the status of this plan?

eCAT Working

From a recent study by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

eCAT is a Web-based application designed to document the analysis made by a disability adjudicator and ensure all relevant Agency policies are considered during the disability adjudication process. eCAT produces a Disability Determination Explanation (DDE) that documents the detailed analysis and rationale for either allowing or denying a claim. ...

As of September 30, 2010, SSA had implemented eCAT in 37 sites. The Agency continues eCAT’s gradual rollout and expects completion in May 2011. ...

Our review found that SSA’s eCAT application is a useful tool in documenting the analysis of initial disability claims. ...

During our site visits, eCAT users commented that the application

• was a valuable training tool for newly hired examiners;
• produced comprehensive disability determinations and decision rationales;
• provided consistent uniform documentation for the disability determination;
• reinforced the disability determination process;
• streamlined the disability evaluation; and
• made it difficult to miss a step in the disability adjudication process. ...

We will continue following eCAT’s rollout to all levels of adjudication—field office, DDS, and ODAR.

A 10% Cut In Federal Employees -- What Harm Could That Cause?

From the Washington Post:

A Texas Republican congressman wants to cut the federal workforce by 10 percent in the next decade, impose a three-year pay freeze across federal agencies and Capitol Hill, and trim government printing and vehicle costs.

Rep. Kevin Brady's bill, the Cut Unsustainable and Top-heavy Spending (CUTS) Act, is the first detailed series of spending proposals introduced in the GOP-controlled House that targets government operations and the federal workforce. Democrats and federal employee unions have long expected the GOP to target domestic spending programs and the workforce in an effort to trim the federal deficit.

Brady chairs the Joint Economic Committee and is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee - perches likely to put him at the center of Congress's forthcoming debate on government spending and deficits.

OIDAP Charter Renewed

Not that it comes as any surprise but Social Security has renewed the charter for the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP).

Small But Telling

From the Boston Globe:

Town officials in three rural Massachusetts communities said the Social Security Administration notified them this week that it will no longer send representatives to meet locally with seniors and answer their questions, because of security concerns following last week’s deadly shooting rampage in Arizona.

In Palmer and Ware — small towns east of Springfield — and on Nantucket, 30 miles off Cape Cod, town clerks and senior center directors said the federal workers who contacted their towns specifically cited the weekend violence ...

Yesterday, however, Social Security officials denied any connection between the shootings and ending outreach efforts in some less populated areas, attributing the changes to budget cutbacks instead. ...

“There may have been a misinterpretation of the message,’’ said Stephen Richardson, a Boston-based regional spokesman for the Social Security Administration. “In terms of word for word, I wasn’t there, and I don’t know what the words were, but . . . our actions are not related to the tragedy in Arizona.’’ ...

For Nantucket residents, the nearest Social Security office is on the Cape, an hourlong boat ride away.

There are a couple of unappealing things that appear to be on display here. First, a Social Security employee tries to use a tragedy as an excuse for doing something they would have done anyway. Second, when called on it, a Social Security spokesperson, while admitting that he does not know what was said, is still sure that the problem is not what was said but people "misinterpreting" what was said. These are seemingly small things but they speak poorly for those involved.

Lockheed Martin Contract For DCPS

From a press release:

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - News) has been selected by the Social Security Administration to prime the Disability Case Processing System (DCPS) contract, which is an information technology modernization program committed to improving the quality and speed of processing disability claims nationwide.

An indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract, the DCPS agreement carries a 1-year base period with five 1-year options. It is valued at $200 million if all options are exercised during the 6-year contract period. ...

The new system will provide cost savings to the SSA by eliminating the need to maintain separate systems for 54 state and federal sites. It also will help the agency process disability claims faster and with higher consistency.

National Computing Center "Precarious?"

From Information Week Government:

A report by SSA IG [Social Security Administration Inspector General] Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr., examining the top management challenges the agency will face in 2011, shows it grappling with a host of IT [Information Technology] infrastructure projects the agency's IG, Congress, and the SSA's advisory board worry it can't handle.

One of the biggest problems is the agency's transition to a new data center, according to the report. The IG has characterized the replacement of the SSA's National Computer Center (NCC) -- built in 1979 -- as the SSA's "primary IT investment" in the next few years.

The agency has received more than $500 million so far to replace the outdated center, which is now so severely strained by an expanded workload over its time of operation that it may not be able to function by 2012, according to the report.

However, the SSA does not foresee completing the new center until 2015, a project the IG deems as "imperative" considering the precarious position of the existing NCC.