Friday, May 19, 2023

SSA Revamping The Hearing Scheduling System

The Social Security Administration ("SSA") is changing the way that they schedule disability hearings.  Many moons ago, when I started practicing Social Security Disability law in 2004, a scheduler from the local hearing office would call us with available dates for our clients' hearings. Simple, right? A few years ago, SSA made the scheduling process much more complex, by having attorneys submit their "unavailability" to them 5 months in advance of the scheduling month. For instance, I would let SSA know in May which days I was unavailable for hearings in October. SSA could then fill my calendar any way that they wanted to. I have a boutique practice, so it was never an issue for my firm, but I heard this process created chaos for larger and national firms. 

Now, SSA is in the final testing stages of yet another change in scheduling protocol. The new system is called Enhanced Representative Availability Process, or ERAP, because there is nothing that SSA loves more than a good acronym! I have an upcoming training class about the new procedures on May 31st, but even the description of the program sounds convoluted and a recipe for disaster: https://www.ssa.gov/appeals/scheduling_process.html. 

Once I complete my training, I am apparently placed in a Designated Scheduling Group ("DSG"). Then there is some sort of email encryption setup and we are on our way to scheduling. Want to know a telltale sign that this likely won't work? Get a look at the email address  that we are supposed to email if we have any problems: OHO.NSD.NSS.ELU.DSG.REP@ssa.gov ? I am pretty sure this email handle was created by either C3PO or R2D2, just to ensure that we cannot get through to SSA with questions. It is downright comical. 

SSA is notorious for taking a simple process and adding steps to make it into a circus. I truly do not understand why they do not hire outside professionals with experience in making processes more efficient and lean, but the current motto at SSA seems to be "If it is already broken, why try to fix it?" We have noticed a drastic slowdown in hearing scheduling in 2023. SSA is blaming it on the backlog and lack of staff. Politicians are blaming it on SSA's continued remote working protocols, which allows some leeway in productivity. Meanwhile, fewer and fewer hearings are being scheduled in a timely manner.

If you want a rough estimate of timeframe at the hearing level, visit https://disabilityjudges.org/, this website is updated with statistics from the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"). If you click on California, you will see that the fastest hearing office in California is in San Bernardino and it is running 471 days behind in scheduling. The slowest hearing office is in Fresno and it is taking them approximately 744 days to schedule a hearing. Keep in mind that these statistics are just addressing the waiting periods at the hearing level. These timeframes do not include the waiting periods at the initial application and reconsideration levels.

The bottom line is that SSA seems to be falling behind in getting hearing scheduled. I doubt the new scheduling system with help improve timeframes, but I really hope SSA does something to improve hearing efficiency.

The reality is if you commit a crime, you are entitled to a speedy trial. If you are disabled, you wait and wait and continue to wait. Doesn't seem fair, does it? 

Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 101.

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