Dec 6, 2015
Dec 5, 2015
Dec 4, 2015
How Can You Function Like This?
Dec 3, 2015
Delayed SSI Payments
From an Emergency Message that the Social Security Administration has released to its staff:
... On December 1, 2015, approximately 18,773 recipients did not receive their recurring monthly SSI payments. After researching the issue, the agency discovered a systems coding issue that prevented the release of the payments. The payments were correctly annotated on the Supplemental Security Income Master Record (SSR), but were not included in the payment files sent to Treasury for processing....
Inform recipients that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is aware of the issue and working to re-release the payments. Electronic payments should be deposited on 12/03/2015. Paper checks will take about 5 to 7 business days. Refer the recipient to his/her servicing field office for further assistance for dire need situations....
Proving Homelessness
Given the ridiculous hearing backlog at Social Security now -- approaching two years in much of the country -- it's crucial that homeless claimants receive the expediting that Social Security allows them. But how are we supposed to prove homelessness? You might say, "That's easy. Just get the homeless shelter to write a letter on their behalf." That's easier said than done even when we're talking about homeless shelters and most homeless people don't stay in homeless shelters. There are few homeless shelters in rural areas. Homeless shelters can be dangerous places. Most homeless people avoid them when they can. They move around between relatives and friends, never staying anywhere long. Some live in tents or shacks in the woods. How are these claimants supposed to prove their homelessness?
At the
moment, I’m asking homeless clients either to write a letter that I can send to Social Security or get someone at a homeless shelter or a
relative or friend to write a letter but this doesn’t work so well. Homeless people often
lack the ability to write a letter and lack people in their lives who can or
will write a letter on their behalf.
I keep thinking there’s got to be a
better way. What are other people doing? Would a form that a claimant or
someone in their life could complete work?
Dec 2, 2015
This Is Frustrating
Here's a message I received recently on a listserver for North Carolina Social Security attorneys, edited to remove names and locations:
Note that the field offices complain when these forms are submitted more than once, saying it makes extra work for them and causes confusion, but, at least where I am, the field offices are unreliable in entering an attorney's representation documents into their system. The documents disappear for weeks or months or disappear altogether. The field offices also complain about having to take calls asking whether they've entered attorney representation into their system. When the forms disappear, the field offices always blame the attorney.I can echo ____'s experience with the SSA FO [Field Office] in _____. The letters of representation along with my 1696s, 1695s, and 827s [apart from the 827 these are forms that Social Security needs to establish that the claimant is being represented] routinely that I mailed to the FO would disappear into some black hole. Taking them down to the FO for personal delivery did not work either as the security guards are not permitted to handle materials pertaining to SS benefits nor was a receptacle into which I could put correspondence readily available. Since delivery confirmation and certified mail are rather expensive, we started faxing in addition to mailing our LOR and initial forms to the SSA FO so that we would receive a fax confirmation sheet showing that we submitted our LOR and initial forms. Even then, the SSA FO staff there would always react like it was our fault if we called to find out if our letters of rep and initial forms were received and they could not find any record of our represent ation of our client in their system. The addition of a reminder or "tickle" to f/u with the FO sounds like a great idea for helping to deal with this situation.
Dec 1, 2015
The Choo Choo Is Running Late In Chattanooga
Here's another story about the huge backlog of people awaiting hearings on their Social Security disability claims. This one concerns Chattanooga. The backlog there is officially 19 months but that number is misleading. Social Security always averages in cases that are quickly dismissed because the claimant was late in filing the request for hearing. The real wait there is probably more like two years.
Social Security Crime Wave
From the Miami Herald:
As the feds put the screws to South Florida criminals who steal income-tax refunds, more thieves have come up with alternative scams to rip off government benefits — most notably, from elderly Social Security recipients, according to authorities.
By tapping into a federal website, “My Social Security,” they have been able to swipe names, dates of birth and ID numbers to open online accounts and redirect retirement benefits from the victims to themselves. ...
Frisler Clairvil, 29, of Lauderdale Lakes was charged in mid-November with stealing more than 1,300 identities of Social Security recipients and redirecting more than $300,000 in benefits to himself by manipulating personal information on the “My Social Security” website from 2013 to 2015, according to an indictment. ...
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