Contractor Problems Contributing To Social Security Phone Issues

    Social Security's telephone systems have been down this week. It's been essentially impossible to call in. I don't  get the impression that the agency is all that concerned about this. They haven't even put out a press release. Maybe by this point the difference between nearly impossible and impossible have become so slight that it hardly matters to them any more.

    There's an employee union podcast on reopening at Social Security, specifically at the teleservice centers, which says that there are MAJOR technical problems with new telecommunications contractors which are significantly affecting agency telephone service. There's a fair amount of whining on the podcast that would appeal only to union members but mixed in is real info on the agency's telephone problems. Talk about strategies to make sure agency employees can work in their pajamas everyday, forever, isn't going to win the union many friends nor are many likely to buy into the notion that Covid will still be a dire public health threat by late this month when agency employees start returning -- part-time -- to their offices. However, my point in posting this is the information in the podcast about the serious technical problems.

    Note that no matter how bad the contractor problems may be, Social Security lacks the manpower to answer its phones anyway!

OHO Caseload Analysis Report

      Posted in Social Security's Freedom of Information Reading Room:

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Finally An Appropriations Agreement

      There is finally agreement on an Omnibus Appropriations Bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Social Security will get $13.2 billion for its operations. The FY 2021 appropriation had been $12.9 billion. The increase is not nearly enough to cover inflation. The agency remains on a starvation diet that assures that service will continue to decline.

     Whatever lobbying efforts went into obtaining an adequate operating budget for the Social Security Administration were completely ineffective. 

     Individual members of Congress who declare their concern over the state of service at Social Security may be sincere but, in general, there must be nearly zero concern in Congress over the state of the service that the public is getting from Social Security.

The First Step -- Admitting You Have A Problem

      A tweet from Social Security:

We are currently having problems with our local offices and 800-Number phone systems. You may experience service issues, including poor call quality, dropped calls, and long wait times. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and we appreciate your patience.

OHO Phone Outages

      I have received multiple reports of telephone outages at Social Security's hearing offices in several states today. Telephone hearings are going forward, however. We can't call in but can agency employees call out?

An Idea For Social Security

      From Government Executive:

The Internal Revenue Service announced a new Taxpayer Experience Office meant to shore up taxpayer service at the struggling agency on Friday. ...

The IRS says that the new office will work on all parts of "taxpayer transactions" across the IRS. ...

"The IRS is committed to customer experiences that meet taxpayers where they are, in the moments that matter most in people's lives and in a way that delivers the service that the public expects and deserves," said Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer Ken Corbin, who is also the commissioner of the Wage and Investment division.

The IRS is also grappling with how to do identity verification for online accounts. It recently announced it will pivot from private company ID.me, which uses biometrics, to General Services Administration's login.gov after this tax season.

     It would help if Social Security would be honest with itself and the public about the state of the service it provides. It would also help if the agency accepts the reality that personal service including in person service will be required forever. We are not in a transition to completely digital service at Social Security and never will be. Field offices and teleservice centers are never going away.

Another CR?

      We’re almost six months into the federal fiscal year and Congress is still unable to pass appropriations bills. On March 11 the continuing resolution funding Social Security and other agencies runs out. It’s not clear that Congress can meet this deadline. There won’t be a government shutdown but we may end up with yet another continuing resolution giving Congress yet more time. The problem is Republic stonewalling combined with the unwillingness of two Democratic senators to end the filibuster.

Service Sucks At Social Security -- Part One Million

      From AARP:

When Jim Sauer read the letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in October 2021, he was puzzled. Because he was claiming benefits a year after his full retirement age, he was expecting bigger payments than what the SSA said he would receive. So Sauer called the Social Security office near his home in Fairfield Township, Ohio, to address the problem. But after 12 conversations with local SSA customer service representatives and two calls to the agency’s national call center, Sauer remained not only puzzled but also frustrated.​

“It’s not just the issues themselves,” says Sauer, a former career employee at a Fortune 500 company who worked in international finance. “It’s when you call, you wait on hold forever. And then when you finally get ahold of someone, they seemingly just don’t care about helping you and are highly unqualified to answer your questions or to lead you to where you could get answers.” ​ ...

As with most things, customer service issues are tied in large part to money. Since 2010, the SSA’s operating budget — set each year by Congress — has declined by 13 percent and its staff by 12 percent, while the number of Social Security beneficiaries has increased 22 percent, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ​ ...