Social Security Official Asks House for More Customer Service Funding

[Northeast Agent]

Social Security Official Stumps for 2023 Budget Increase | ThinkAdvisor

The SSA closed its field offices in March 2020 and moved as many functions as possible to call centers and online systems.

The agency reopened the field offices April 7.

“Reentry has been smooth,” Kim said at the hearing.

But she reported that call volume and field office visit volume are extremely high.

Employee attrition levels are high, and the remaining employees say they feel their workloads are unreasonably heavy, Kim added.

 

[somarco]

Most (if not all) federal employees are paid even when the office is closed due to govt shutdown, budget concerns, etc.

People in the private sector were not paid during the 2+ year lockdown unless they were allowed to work remote. Many private sector jobs have completely vanished, never to return.

SSA employees need to suck it up.

 

[Travis Price]

I've met with Grace multiple times. She's really involved in trying to resolve the issues that SSA and state Disability Determination Services are trying to resolve.

She's absolutely correct. COVID shutdowns caused significant issues (and at the state level, they were only about 3-4m before we started getting work arounds) employee turnover and increased backlogs.

When I left, which was in March, our office of about 100 people were bleeding about 4-8% a month. New hires weren't making it more that 2 years (which had never happened before) and our state management was the shits.

 

[Travis Price]

Most (if not all) federal employees are paid even when the office is closed due to govt shutdown, budget concerns, etc.

People in the private sector were not paid during the 2+ year lockdown unless they were allowed to work remote. Many private sector jobs have completely vanished, never to return.

SSA employees need to suck it up.

Um.. yeah, SSA staff were working remotely the entire time. No offense, but I'm a relatively strong employee, and I quit after 7.5 years because the demands were not tenable. I was 1 of 8 in a small office the month I left.

Most front line employees are very passionate about the mission, including myself. So, I'm a little bit offended that you're implying that we don't "suck it up." Not that it matters, I'm just saying that you don't really know what you're talking about. Not angry or anything, just more a "how dare you..."

This thing with MAPD/PDP changes that's throwing everyone up in arms? Imagine that every 60-90 days for the last two years between Covid, changing adminstrations, new systems, planned changes in regulations going into effect...

I mean, I don't consider myself a snowflake and I was having panic episodes on a consistent basis. Which was part of why I disappeared from the forum for a few months.

 

[Chazm]

I was just going to comment that they were working the whole time. Obviously remotely.

 

[Travis Price]

I would just add a few things:

Unless you've been a government employee, especially front line, you really can't understand the stress level. The attrition isn't from managers. It's from front line staff.

In the matter of a month, I had three people die (suicide and health condition) while I was trying to make decisions on their claim. Like, I talked to them on Friday to set up an exam or something, by Monday they had died.

Or the Schizophrenic that calls everyday in a paranoid delusional state.

Or the times where people are literally screaming at you, threatening you, or one time a dude literally drove his truck into the SSA office because they think X person is out to get them.. when we're just enforcing the policy that's been handed to us.


I left two months ago. It took 3 weeks of literally doing nothing to decompress to a functional state. My wife is helping train new employees that are washing out in droves.

One time she told me a story about a new hire, and literally I was having flashbacks and could feel the stress into my chest and I was in the military (until I was med discharged for several ulcerative colitis.)

So, "suck it up" is like, wow... how disrespectful. I'm not saying that there aren't shitty government employees, like there are in every profession... but wow.

 

[adjusterjack]

SSA employees need to suck it up.

That was nasty and uncalled for.

 

[somarco]

I was just going to comment that they were working the whole time. Obviously remotely.

Point is . . . they have a job to go back to . . . whether they want to or not is immaterial.

Not everyone is so fortunate.

 

[somarco]

That was nasty and uncalled for.

Bite me

 

[Travis Price]

Point is . . . they have a job to go back to . . . whether they want to or not is immaterial.

Not everyone is so fortunate.

They never had "not a job" and no one is complaining about "having a job."

It's cute when that's the rationale when people are telling you they're undermanned and then you bitch about people not getting services in a timely manner. You're response?

Let them eat cake..

Grace is asking for more money because of demand. SSA's budget was SLASHED for multiple years. While demand has increased.


https://www.cbpp.org/blog/ssa-needs-large-funding-boosts-following-pandemic-years-of-underinvestment

The current national unemployment rate is 3.6%. That means virtually everyone that WANTS a job, has one.

Your comment was uniformly obtuse and disrespectful.

Conservatives run their mouth about "Defund the Police" "Military budget cuts" but suck it up Social Security.

What's hands down most ironic, who do you think is responsible to process those applications for your clients for Part B and to help pay for Medigap?

You're literally shitting on the agency that helps, indirectly, pay your bills.

PS: I'm definitely taking this a bit personally. That's why my response is so sharp. My wife and I both put in a lot to the SSA mission. It's literally a thankless job.

I can handle that.

To tell people "just suck it up" is active disgust to myself and my wife, unintentionally or not.

That is a different story.