The Social Security Administration is rolling out nationwide systems in the coming months that will impact how the agency schedules appointments for initial claims and triages its workload to employees.<\/p>\n
SSA employees told Federal News Network that they\u2019re used to processing claims submitted locally, but will soon tackle a nationwide inventory of cases.<\/p>\n
Employees are wary that these changes will introduce more complexity to their workloads, as well as a higher risk of overpayments that SSA would have to claw back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone who applies in California could be speaking to an SSA rep in Maine,\u201d one SSA employee said.<\/p>\n
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SSA is rolling out a National Appointment Scheduling Calendar (NASC) and National Workload Management (NWLM) for all field operations, digital services, and processing centers. Both systems will launch on March 7.<\/p>\n
According to a Dec. 19 memo obtained by Federal News Network, the NASC will replace SSA\u2019s current system for scheduling initial claims appointments, as well as local field office calendars.<\/p>\n
SSA employees will use the NASC to schedule all initial claims appointments, and will also allow the public to self-schedule initial claims appointments.<\/p>\n
The National Workload Management system will serve as the agency\u2019s central workload management system. According to the memo, the system will distribute work to employees nationwide based on their \u201cskillset, knowledge, and availability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmployees will be assigned work by the NWLM based on the skillsets that they have, as determined by management. As a normal part of their routine duties, employees will be assigned to the NWLM and will be expected to use the tool to receive their workload assignments,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n
These systems will impact all employees in SSA field offices, digital services and processing centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the NASC and NWLM are necessary to modernize our appointment systems and to provide a more balanced and consistent experience for both technicians and customers,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n
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Richard Couture, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 215, said the union received notice of these changes, and that negotiations will soon begin.<\/p>\n
A second SSA employee told Federal News Network that the purpose of these changes is to \u201csmooth over\u201d staffing shortages. The agency lost about 7,000 employees<\/a> through voluntary incentives last year. It also relocated many of its employees from its headquarters and regional offices to field offices.<\/p>\n The employees said these upcoming changes would give staff \u201cmuch less prep time\u201d to handle a nationwide pool of cases.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are used to taking claims only for people in our area, so we expect to run into problems,\u201d the second SSA employee said.<\/p>\n State laws introduce another layer of complexity to these cases.\u00a0Some states, for example, have a higher income limit<\/a> for SSA programs like Supplemental Security Income.<\/p>\n SSA employees outside Alaska aren\u2019t familiar with how to treat annual payments adult residents receive from the state government based on oil revenue. Those payments from the Permanent Fund Dividend<\/a> count as income to SSA programs like Social Security Income, and could potentially reduce benefits.<\/p>\n Many states offer a supplement to SSI benefits<\/a> to help cover living costs for low-income seniors, as well as blind or disabled individuals. Those supplement amounts and eligibility vary state-by-state.<\/p>\n Some states let SSA manage these supplements, resulting in one combined check, while other states process their SSI supplements as a separate payment.\u00a0Other states don\u2019t offer these SSI supplements.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have answers on how we are supposed to handle this,\u201d the second SSA employee said.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The first SSA employee said staff were briefed on these changes this week. The employee said staff submitted multiple requests to management seeking clarification on these points, but were told to \u201cworry about today, not tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Sriubas, SSA\u2019s chief of field operations, told employees in a Nov. 25 memo that the agency is taking steps to centralize more of its work.<\/p>\n \u201cFor decades, our ~1,250 field offices have operated as independent \u2018mini-SSAs.\u2019 That model no longer serves the public or our people. It prevents true specialization, limits the impact of technology, and produces backlogs we should not sustain,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Sriubas wrote that field offices \u201cwill always remain\u201d as the agency\u2019s primary point of contact in in-person services, and field office staff should be able to focus on serving people \u201cface-to-face with empathy, accuracy, and speed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStill too often, a day\u2019s work is not finished in a day \u2013 impacting wait times, appointments, and pending items. That is not the level of service the American people deserve, nor is it the standard any of us should accept,\u201d Sriubas wrote.<\/p>\n Sriubas wrote the agency\u2019s website and the national 1-800 number handle \u201cintake tasks well,\u201d but said field operations \u201cmust evolve into a truly national system that leverages our full capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe future is one SSA: a modern, client-centered agency where people receive service how, when and where they want it \u2014 online, by phone, or in person \u2014 regardless of their physical location, and every workflow flows to the team best equipped to complete it quickly and correctly,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n SSA walks back memo limiting in-person services<\/p>\n In a separate memo, which an SSA spokesperson said has been rescinded, the agency directed field offices to only schedule initial claims over the phone, and to restrict in-person visits.<\/p>\n The memo, dated Dec. 31, directed field office employees to \u201cconvert all in-office appointments\u201d scheduled on or after Jan. 6 to telephone appointments, and to \u201czero out all in-office availability\u201d for appointments scheduled on or after March 9.<\/p>\n \u201cThis change prepares field offices and teleservice centers for the upcoming implementation of the National Appointment Scheduling Calendar,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n The memo said in-person initial claim appointments would only be scheduled in \u201climited circumstances\u201d when an appointment over the phone isn\u2019t possible. Examples include an individual requiring a sign-language interpreter or who doesn\u2019t have access to a phone.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly field office management may decide if an in-office appointment is appropriate; technicians must obtain permission from local management prior to scheduling the appointment,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n According to this memo, the NASC will allow SSA to schedule initial claim appointments \u201cbased on national capacity, rather than local field office calendars.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder NASC, [initial claim] appointments will be scheduled using available technician capacity nationwide, including first available appointment times across all U.S. time zones,\u201d the memo states. \u201cThis shift supports a more consistent and efficient approach to IC scheduling and expands access by allowing the public to self-schedule IC appointments online.\u201d<\/p>\n An SSA spokesperson told Federal News Network that \u201cerroneous instructions recently issued have been withdrawn and our employees have been notified.\u201d<\/p>\n The spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is still scheduling in-person appointments for initial claims, \u201cand will continue to provide the public with in-person service at our more than 1,200 field offices nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain committed to ensuring that all individuals have access to the services they need and serving everyone in the way they wish to be served, including the option for in-person assistance,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The second SSA employee, however, told Federal News Network that these plans will proceed, even if the memo outlining these changes has been rescinded.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are absolutely going forward with this plan. I expect there could be delays, but they have every intention of making this happen,\u201d the employee said.<\/p>\n SSA is looking to cut visits to its field offices in half this year. NextGov\/FCW<\/a> first reported on SSA\u2019s plans to cut 15 million field office visits this year.<\/p>\n