New Prehearing Reviews

     From HALLEX, the manual of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) whose name will be changed to OHO this fall:

I-2-5-10. Prehearing Case Review by Other Component Last Update: 8/3/17 (Transmittal I-2-211) 

A.General After a claimant files a request for hearing but before an administrative law judge (ALJ) holds a hearing, an ALJ may, under the circumstances outlined in subsection B below, forward a claim for a prehearing case review to the Disability Determination Services or other component that issued the determination the claimant is appealing. On receipt of the claim(s), the receiving component will decide whether to revise the determination based on a preponderance of the evidence. See 20 CFR 404.941 and 416.1441. Under these procedures, the Social Security Administration may only issue a revised determination if it is fully or partially favorable to the claimant. NOTE: While a prehearing case review is pending, the ALJ retains jurisdiction of the claim and will not dismiss the request for hearing. 

B.When an ALJ May Refer a Case for Prehearing Case Review As set forth in 20 CFR 404.941 and 416.1441, an ALJ may refer a case for a prehearing case review if: Additional evidence is submitted; There is an indication that additional evidence is available; There is a change in the law or regulation; or There is an error in the file or some other indication that the prior determination may be revised. In screening cases for the regulatory criteria, the ALJ will only refer cases for a prehearing case review in which application of the criteria may result in a fully or partially favorable decision. 

One Writer Describes What It Feels Like To Be Disabled

     From Robert Fowler writing for the Washington Post:

... A few weeks after my stroke, when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to work, my wife drove me to the Social Security office to apply for benefits. After stacks of paperwork, it took several months before my first trip to the doctor, for a psychiatric exam, where they asked me to count to 100 by sevens. It should have been simple, but about halfway through, I stumbled, and felt humiliated. More questions passed, and more confusion. A very thorough physical exam came next. And then there was a very thorough check of our finances, including the number of cars and bank accounts we have. Months on, I still haven’t received a single check. Without help from family, I would be homeless, despite over forty years in the work force. To them, I am forever grateful, but also deeply ashamed. 

In a world where we’re all expected to carry our own weight, I fully understand why my fellow taxpayers don’t want to carry mine. But what I don’t understand is that the lady who helped me with the paperwork at the Social Security office told me disability was not charity. What I am to get out is based on what I put in. She told me to stop crying because it is money I have earned. So In a world where we’re all expected to carry our own weight, I fully understand why my fellow taxpayers don’t want to carry mine. But what I don’t understand is that the lady who helped me with the paperwork at the Social Security office told me disability was not charity. What I am to get out is based on what I put in. She told me to stop crying because it is money I have earned. So why do I feel so much shame? 

I was raised with the feeling that public services should be kept to an absolute minimum, and that people who received government assistance have no class, and should have taken better care of themselves. Three weeks after my stroke, my wife of 41 years lost her job, too. She was upset due to my prognosis, and spent so much of her time taking care of me (making sure, for example, that I could turn off the burners after cooking, and make it around the house on my own) that it was hard for her to make it to work. Without her job, we had to apply for food stamps. When we first received them, I was so humiliated I wouldn’t even go to the store with her. I was afraid and demoralized. 

I would gladly work, just to hold my head up again. And I believe most folks like me would prefer a hand up to a handout. It’s just that a hand up is much harder to come by in circumstances like these. I didn’t grow up poor, and I didn’t intend to become poor: Somehow, it just happened. The poor are rarely in a position to defend themselves. I see that now, and I refuse to judge a panhandler these days. I just thank God I’m not in his shoes yet, if he has any.

A Message From The Commissioner

Date: August 8, 2017 Refer To: S7A-4

To: Senior Staff

From: Nancy A. Berryhill /s/

Acting Commissioner 

Subject: Organizational Realignment - INFORMATION

I continue to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and public service by unifying efforts and advancing our ability to make data-driven decisions.

Today, I am announcing the establishment of a Deputy Commissioner-level organization – the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight (OARO) – which will be implemented October 1, 2017. The six offices involved that will form this organization are as follows:

From the Office of Budget, Finance, Quality, and Management:

 • Office of Anti-Fraud Programs; 

 • Office of Business Improvement;

• Office of Quality Review; and

• Audit Liaison Staff 

From the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review:

• Office of Appellate Operations;

From the Office of the Commissioner:

 • Analytics Center of Excellence

Integration of these organizations with complementary missions provides an opportunity to mature our anti-fraud efforts, institutionalize and foster data analysis in our programs, improve coordination to provide oversight of the disability adjudication system, and communicate a unified message within and outside the agency. This restructuring presents an opportunity to maximize our resources and better organize efforts to explore and develop the future of analyses and oversight. I said in my first communication January 23rd that we will be mission focused and mission driven. The establishment of this organization further demonstrates a commitment to maximizing our performance and employee engagement while enhancing and improving agency policies and processes so that we provide quality public service.

Pat Jonas will be Deputy Commissioner, OARO and Amy Thompson will serve as Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner, OARO. 

In addition to this new organization structure, the Office of Budget, Finance, Quality, and Management will be the Office of Budget, Finance, and Management (OBFM). The Office of Disability Adjudication and Review will be the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). 

Please join me in congratulating our colleagues on their new assignment. I am sure I can count on you to give them your full cooperation as they begin the task of integration and moving forward.

ODAR To Become OHO

     I am hearing that Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) will be changing its name to the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). As part of this process, the Appeals Council will go to a newly created Office, where it will undoubtedly bicker with OHO. 

     By the way, I'm old enough to remember when what is now ODAR was the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals (BHA).

Andrus Sentenced

     From the Associated Press:

A former chief regional Social Security judge [actually Hearing Office Chief Judge] has been sentenced to prison for scheming to retaliate against an employee who blew the whistle on alleged fraud by a Kentucky lawyer. 

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Charlie Paul Andrus was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison. 

Andrus pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with disability lawyer Eric Conn to interfere with a person's employment. Conn — at the center of a nearly $600 million Social Security fraud case — disappeared this past June. ... 

ALJ Register Opening

     From Government Executive:

... The Office of Personnel Management announced this week that it planned to open up applications for administrative law judges throughout government, aiming to replenish a register it maintains for the positions. ... 

SSA cannot resolve the problem simply by adding more ALJs, however, according to Association of Administrative Law Judges President Marilyn Zahm. While SSA must hire 100 judges each year just to keep pace with attrition, Zahm said even an influx above that level would not sufficiently drive down the backlog. 

A shortage of support staff, such as clerks and attorneys, is the driving force behind the growing number of outstanding claims. SSA imposed a hiring freeze in May 2016 ahead of fears that its budget would continue to shrink. It remained in place after President Trump issued a governmentwide moratorium upon taking office. While the agency received authority from OPM to bring on 200 support staff while Trump’s freeze was in place, Zahm said that was a “drop in the bucket” that barely kept pace with the departures taking place across SSA’s 166 hearing offices. SSA lifted the freeze in May, but is hiring on a limited basis for direct service positions only. ...

Early Out Offered

     From Government Executive:

The Social Security Administration is opening up separation incentives to nearly every job category across its workforce, with about one in four employees eligible to leave. 

The largest independent federal agency announced the early retirement offer in a June memorandum obtained by Government Executive. All employees who wish to take advantage must separate by Sept. 1. Only the agency’s 1,600 administrative law judges are not eligible to accept the offer. 

Employees must have 20 years experience and be at least 50 years old, or have 25 years of service and be any age, to qualify under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. ...

Can Someone Translate This Into English?

     From FCW:

The Social Security Administration is moving forward with back-end tech and records systems to support the agency's long-term plan to modernize and improve customer service. 

As SSA continues to invest in its online help and customer services, the Customer Engagement Tools record system will collect and store electronic communications between SSA personnel and beneficiaries with "my Social Security" accounts. 

The database, which will be developed in-house, will also allow SSA's customer-facing systems quick access to user data. 

A Social Security spokesperson told FCW the agency anticipates the system will be ready for use in fiscal year 2018, and that 10 percent of current my Social Security account holders will be able to access the CET system in its first release.