That Was So Last Year

From Federal Computer Week:

The Social Security Administration reduced backlogs and increased the pace of its disability assessments in fiscal 2010, but missed its target for increasing online applications from retirees, according to an internal SSA report.

Overall, out of 35 performance measures, the SSA met the targets for 26 measures, failed three measures and is awaiting further results on six measures, states the SSA Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2010. The agency conducted the review and issued the report internally late last year, but only recently made it public.

One of the most prominent goals that the SSA just missed in fiscal 2010 had to do with the target for moving a larger proportion of the approximately 2.4 million annual retiree applications for benefits to an online form, rather than paper forms.

Everybody Agrees That The District Court Decision Was Weird

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an opinion in Murkledove v. Astrue, holding that an attorney fee is "incurred" for purposes of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) at the time a case is remanded by a federal court. The lower court had denied an EAJA fee on a remanded cases saying that the contingent fee had not been "incurred." Social Security had not opposed the EAJA award at the District Court level and also supported the appeal.

Get Your Stats Right Here

The Social Security Administration has released its mammoth Annual Statistical Supplement 2010.

ODAR Processing Time Report

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives.
Processing Time Report 3-1-11

Budget Situation

This broadcast e-mail went out today:

A Message To All SSA And DDS Employees

Subject: Budget Update

Yesterday Congress passed an extension of the continuing resolution for three more weeks, and the President is expected to sign it shortly. As part of that legislation, Congress cut another $200 million from our administrative budget. We are already operating with less money than we had last year.

For the time being, we will continue with the restrictions on overtime. We hope to restore at least some overtime once Congress passes a permanent budget.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Michael J. Astrue

Commissioner

Japan's Crisis And U.S. Social Security

There may be tens of thousands dead or severely injured in Japan and many more who have been forced to evacuate their homes. Undoubtedly, there are a good number of people who are or were eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits so affected. Also, undoubtedly, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and all U.S. consulates in Japan are overwhelmed with more pressing matters at the moment than Social Security benefits. The Office of Personnel Management has set up a hotline for dealing with such issues. I wonder what the Social Security Administration is planning.

Update: There were 41,874 people receiving U.S. Social Security benefits as of December 2009 who were living in Japan.

ALJ Removed From Job After Assault On Domestic Partner

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the removal of Danvers E. Long from his position as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration based on a charge of conduct unbecoming his position. Long had worked at the Fort Lauderdale hearing office. Here is an excerpt from the decision describing the charge against Long:

At approximately 11:00 p.m. on January 27, 2008, Long was involved in a physical altercation ... with his domestic partner, Lilia Vanessa Castro ... who is the mother of his youngest child ... The physical altercation began when Castro returned home, after leaving their child in Long’s care, to discover that Long was asleep in their bedroom and the child was not with him [sic]. ...

Castro explained that Long repeatedly struck and pushed her and that he accidentally struck their child. The police observed, and took digital photographs of, physical injuries on Castro’s face, forearm, and thigh as well as a red mark on the child’s face. Long was arrested and, on February 21, 2008, was charged with one count of domestic violence battery and one count of culpable negligence. The prosecutor later entered a nolle prosequi on the criminal charges against Long.

Bounty Hunters

From the Fresno Bee:

Local governments strapped for cash are turning to a new source of income: a bounty payment for reporting jail inmates to the Social Security Administration. ...

Although the bounty payments aren't large, they add up.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Department gets about $4,000 to $8,000 a month under the bounty program, and collected about $48,000 from July 2010 to January 2011 ...

"It's a very successful program," said Lowell Kepke, spokesman for Social Security's San Francisco regional headquarters. ...

Although 99% of jails and prisons in the United States have signed up, "Social Security would like all institutions to be participating" because the program saves the government money, Kepke said.