“Do You Want A Problem With The Unions Or Do You Want A Problem With 70 Million People?”

      From the Washington Post:

NASHVILLE — The first cars bearing the needy pulled into the parking lot as the lights went on in the squat brick Social Security office, three miles north of the luxury condos and boutique hotels rising in booming Music City.
It was 9 a.m., and a flier taped to the glass double doors announced business hours until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. An American flag fluttered at the curb.
But the office did not open for business, except for a lucky few who gained special entry, for what was then the 605th day since it had been sealed shut to protect its employees and customers from the coronavirus. …

Even as courthouses, motor vehicle and veterans’ benefits offices, and most other parts of the government that directly serve the public have reopened 21 months into the covid crisis, the Social Security Administration remains mostly closed to in-person service, its workers at home, denying vital assistance to most of the disabled, poor and elderly who have long relied on their local office to navigate one of the government’s most complex benefits systems. The unintended consequence: The federal government’s lengthy effort to protect the health of its workers and the public has instead wounded many of those in greatest need of its services. …

With 1,230 field offices normally visited by 43 million people a year largely shut, applying for disability or getting a Social Security card to secure a new job or other services requires finding a way to get online, waiting on hold on the phone for lengthy periods or relying on spotty mail service. Often, statistics show, Americans in need are simply giving up.
Applications and benefit awards under the antipoverty disability program called Supplemental Security Income have plummeted to the lowest level in 22 years, down 29 percent from July 2020 to April 2021 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to internal agency data and outside research.
Another group — disabled people who at one point were able to work but who now have turned to the federal disability system — saw a 17 percent drop in awards, according to an analysis of agency data by David Weaver, a former associate commissioner in the agency’s Office of Research, Demonstration and Employment Support.

The number applying for SSI benefits for disabled children, disabled adults and the elderly plummeted 51 percent, 32 percent, and 55 percent, respectively, just one month after field offices closed, internal agency data shows, a decline that continued through August 2020, the most recent month for which numbers were available. The drop-off was most pronounced for those with limited English and the elderly….

[T]he Social Security inspector general reported this month that just 51 percent of calls from the public were answered in fiscal 2020.

After months of criticism from disability advocates and Republicans in Congress who contend that the Biden administration is kowtowing to its unions in allowing the closures — and delaying reopenings across the government — the agency released tentative plans last month to begin returning its staff of 60,000 to their offices in January. But employees in some offices will be given wide berth to continue working from home permanently up to five days a week, with two days allowed for the field office staff. …

“Social Security is disappearing from public view,” Weaver said, pointing to the number of people who receive benefits: “It’s going to eventually reach a point where, do you want a problem with the unions or do you want a problem with 70 million people?” …

      By the way, I’ve decided to stop allowing comments that say that employee productivity has increased while Social Security employees have been working from home. I have seen no proof of that. As a general matter, it appears to be misleading if not a complete fabrication. Decreased staffing is a big problem for Social Security but it’s not the only one. Working from home is also causing big problems. 

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

This Is An Area That Needs Reform

      From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

... Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services ... took in nearly $5 million in children’s Social Security benefits between fiscal years 2016 and 2020 that belonged to hundreds of youth in foster care, according to records obtained by Resolve Philly and The Inquirer through a Right to Know request. Then DHS swept the money into the city’s $5 billion general fund. 

Around the country, the practice of DHS agencies taking Social Security benefits from kids to pay for their own foster care is under increasing scrutiny. In Maryland, a 2013 appeals court decision held that agencies violated foster children’s due-process rights when they took their benefits without informing them or their legal representatives. Maryland later enacted a law that mandates, among other things, that foster youth, or their lawyer, receive notice, allowing them an opportunity to claim the money. The law also calls for increasing amounts of their Social Security money to be set aside for them as they approach 18 years old. ...

In response to more than a dozen written questions about its practices, DHS sent a brief response that didn’t address most of the matters asked:

 “When SSA appoints DHS as the representative payee, the funding is spent on youth’s daily care, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Philadelphia collects benefits as allowed by law and is open to improving its practice as it relates to this issue. To confirm, it is lawful for DHS to collect survivor’s benefits.” ...

Philadelphia DHS said it has no process in place to provide notice to youth whose money is being collected. ...

     Could Social Security reform this with regulations? I don't know but if they can, they should.

Fewer Claims But Higher Backlogs At DDS

      From the conclusions of Comparing the Social Security Administration’s Disability Determination Services’ Workload Statistics During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Prior Years, a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:

Although the DDSs [Disability Determination Services] experienced some increases/decreases in their workload categories from year to year for the period April 2016 through March 2021, the largest year-to-year changes occurred from the COVID-19 period of April 2020 to March 2021 compared to the prior-year period (April 2019 to March 2020). DDSs received 15.9 percent fewer initial claims during the COVID-19 period compared to the prior-year period. Additionally, SSA sent 40.2 percent fewer CDRs [Continuing Disability Reviews] to the DDS during the COVID-19 period compared to the prior-year period. 

Despite the decrease in initial claims, DDS processing times increased during the COVID-19 period, which indicates claimants waited longer for DDSs to make medical determinations. Furthermore, even though receipts decreased for initial claims, reconsiderations, and CDRs, the pending workloads for these groups increased—which indicates the DDSs could not keep pace with workloads received. 

Finally, we noted that DDSs significantly decreased the use of consultative examinations; however, allowance/continuance rates remained relatively the same when comparing the COVID-19 period to the prior-year period. ...

New Process For 1696s And Fee Agreements

      Social Security requires documentation (primarily a 1696 form and fee agreement) in order to accept that a claimant is represented by an attorney or other person. Even though a case might be pending at a hearing office, these documents had to be submitted to the field office. There have been very serious problem processing this documentation at the field offices due to inadequate staffing. Processing the forms has also been delayed because the process for inputting data has been more complicated for agency employees than it should be. It has often been treated as a low priority matter meaning weeks, if not months, of delay. This leads to many telephone calls and letters from attorneys. Attorneys often resubmit the paperwork which causes unnecessary work at the field offices. The attitude of the field offices seems to be "Quit bugging us. We'll get to it when we get to it." The attitude of the attorneys is "We can't represent our clients at all until you take care of this. It can't wait for weeks or months." 

     Effective on December 13, this process has been changed to some extent. Now the documentation may be submitted directly to the hearing office if the claimant's case is pending there. This cuts down on the work at the field offices. Also, I understand that the process for inputting data into Social Security's systems has been simplified. That should also cut down on the workload at the field offices.

     Let's hope for some improvement in performance.

Social Security Directed To Stop Requiring So Many Wet Signatures

      From an Executive Order signed by President Biden on December 13:

... (k)  The Commissioner of Social Security shall:
            (i) within 120 days of the date of this order, provide a report to the Director of OMB [Office of Management and Budget] that analyzes all services of the Social Security Administration that currently require original or physical documentation or in-person appearance as an element of identity or evidence authentication, and that identifies potential opportunities for policy reforms that can support modernized customer experiences while ensuring original or physical documentation requirements remain where there is a statutory or strong policy rationale;
            (ii) develop a mobile-accessible, online process so that any individual applying for or receiving services from the Social Security Administration can upload forms, documentation, evidence, or correspondence associated with their transaction without the need for service-specific tools or traveling to a field office;
            (iii) consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, maintain a public policy of technology neutrality with respect to acceptable forms of electronic signatures;
           (iv) consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, revise any necessary regulations, forms, instructions, or other sources of guidance (to include the Program Operations Manual System of the Social Security Administration) to remove requirements that members of the public provide physical signatures; and
            (v) to the maximum extent permitted by law, support applicants and beneficiaries to identify other benefits for which they may be eligible and integrate Social Security Administration data and processes with those of other Federal and State entities whenever possible. ...

     Should anything at Social Security really require a wet signature? I'd say "no."

Two New Tasks For Social Security?

     The Senate Finance Committee has released an updated version of its portion of the Build Back Better Act, the huge budget reconciliation bill that has already passed the House of Representatives. It contains two parts that affect the Social Security Administration. At the very beginning of the 1,180 document is a four week comprehensive paid leave benefit to be administered by Social Security and at the very end of the bill is extension of SSI to U.S. territories. As best one can tell, extension of SSI to the territories is uncontroversial, at least among Democrats, while paid leave is very controversial with one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin. His possible opposition is crucial since it will take every Democrat in the Senate voting for the bill to pass it.

     The comprehensive paid leave part of the bill would appropriate to Social Security at addition $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year and $1.59 billion a year thereafter for administration of the benefit. §2206(b). There would be an additional half a billion for FY 2024, the year in which comprehensive paid leave would start. §2206(c). By the way, there's no additional money appropriated in the bill for the extension of SSI to the territories.

     No doubt Social Security will find administration of comprehensive paid leave challenging, if it passes. The thing about this is that if this passes getting it going will become a huge priority for the Biden Administration. The Social Security Administration's current backlogs cannot be allowed to persist or it will be impossible to implement comprehensive paid leave. If it is to get this additional workload, the agency's field offices, payment centers and teleservice centers must be massively buttressed with additional staff and this can't wait until the last minute. This can't be accomplished just with overtime. The agency will need to completely clear off its current backlogs and fully train its staff. If this passes in its current form the money may be there to do that. If this bill doesn't appropriate enough, the Biden Administration will be highly motivated to find additional money. I don't know how this sounds to Social Security employees but to someone like me who's on the receiving end of the agency's services, it sounds great.