The Social Security Administration is now planning an incremental rollout of new appointment-scheduling and case-management systems before deploying them nationwide.<\/p>\n
SSA is planning to launch its Appointment Scheduling Calendar (ASC)<\/a> and Workload Management (WLM) system<\/a> in Nevada and Tennessee on April 25, according to updates on its website and in messages to its employees.<\/p>\n For months, SSA has been\u00a0planning to launch these two major systems<\/a>. But the agency recently told staff that a nationwide rollout planned for April 13 was \u201cpaused until further notice.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n An SSA spokesperson told Federal News Network that the agency is \u201cbeginning with a limited deployment of the new technology and procedures to assess the initial impact to customer service, employee processes, and agency operations.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n ASC will replace SSA\u2019s current system for scheduling initial claims appointments, as well as local field office calendars. SSA employees will use the new system to schedule all initial claims appointments and will also allow the public to self-schedule initial claims appointments online.<\/p>\n Starting on April 25, individuals in Tennessee and Nevada who self-schedule through the ASC will be guided through a series of questions on SSA.gov to determine their eligibility. Customers aren\u2019t required to have a \u201cmy Social Security\u201d online account to self-schedule an appointment through the ASC. But customers must register through Login.gov or ID.me and consent to electronic messaging.<\/p>\n Kathleen Romig, a former SSA senior advisor, now the director of social security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said people currently must call in advance to make an appointment to apply for benefits, whether they choose to apply in person or by phone.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to schedule online allows applicants to save time and sidestep these frustrating problems,\u201d Romig said.<\/p>\n A report from SSA\u2019s inspector general\u2019s office<\/a> last December found that the average wait time to reach an agent over the phone in fiscal 2025 was over 100 minutes when callers accepted a \u201ccallback\u201d option from the agency. Without factoring in callback wait times, callers waited an average of 15 minutes.<\/p>\n SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano told staff at an all-hands meeting on Jan. 12 that the SSA OIG report demonstrated that the agency\u2019s service delivery metrics were improving under his leadership \u2014 but said the watchdog audit was likely unnecessary.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an inspector general audit that we agreed to \u2014 that I agreed to do \u2014 because I think we had to make it clear to everybody what the actual performance of our phone centers were, because there was some concern about reporting, which all proved 100% to be accurate and probably, honestly, a waste of taxpayers\u2019 money,\u201d Bisignano said, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Federal News Network.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The IG report found SSA served 68 million callers in fiscal 2025, a 65% increase compared to the prior year. However, about 25 million calls ended without the caller receiving service \u2014 either because the caller hung up and did not complete the call, or because the phone system could not connect callers to an employee. The agency\u2019s wait-time metrics don\u2019t include these abandoned calls or callers who received a busy message.<\/p>\n Stephen Evangelista, SSA\u2019s chief of digital services, said during the all-hands meeting that about 30% of 1-800-number calls and about 20% of field office calls are now handled through automation, \u201creserving only the most complex calls to go to our agents for help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA year ago, that would have sounded impossible. But today that\u2019s a reality,\u201d Evangelista said. \u00a0SSA, he added, is looking to automate high-volume needs on its phone lines, common requests like obtaining a replacement Social Security card or scheduling an appointment, \u201cwhich will help reduce wait times and unnecessary visits.\u201d<\/p>\n A system rollout to address short staffing<\/p>\n Following significant workforce reductions last year, SSA is also centralizing the intake and processing of applications with the launch of the Workload Management (WLM) system.<\/p>\n Romig said the WLM is meant to alleviate the \u201cextreme pressures\u201d on staff caused by the loss of more than 7,000 SSA employees last year and the agency\u2019s reassignment of field office staff to answer incoming calls to its national 1-800 number.<\/p>\n \u201cThis resulted in the loss of thousands of field office staff, with very uneven gaps across the nation. But you can\u2019t reorganize your way out of a staff crunch \u2014 if there aren\u2019t enough people to get the work done, reshuffling them won\u2019t ultimately help,\u201d Romig said.<\/p>\n Bisignano said these employee reassignments were part of a \u201cstrategic asset allocation\u201d focused on \u201chaving the right people in the right jobs \u2014 and that through these reassignments, the agency reduced field office phone call volume by 30%.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the capital that we allocate? Technology and human resources. And you\u2019ll watch us move our economics around on both of them to get the best outcome for the American people and for you. So that means we\u2019re one SSA, right? And we should be able to move any talent wherever is the best place. Do it within the requirements, do it within the rules. But there are no siloes,\u201d Bisignano said.<\/p>\n Romig said centralizing workloads could improve efficiency at the agency, \u201cas long as you get the logistical details right.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cSSA has typically taken and processed applications at the local level, so there are lots of thorny questions that must be answered to get it right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n SSA employees told Federal News Network in January<\/a> they\u2019re wary this new system could introduce more complexity to their workloads \u2014 as well as more room for error. Employees are used to processing claims submitted locally, but may soon receive claims from other states, some of which have a higher income limit<\/a>\u00a0for SSA programs like Supplemental Security Income.<\/p>\n Many states offer a\u00a0supplement to SSI benefits<\/a>\u00a0to help cover living costs for low-income seniors, as well as blind or disabled individuals. Those supplement amounts and eligibility vary state-by-state. 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 One employee said that once the WLM is rolled out nationwide, \u201csomeone who applies in California could be speaking to an SSA rep in Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n An SSA field office employee told Federal News Network that \u201cdue to lack of available staffing, in-office wait times are increasing,\u201d despite an overall decrease in visits to the field office.<\/p>\n Data shared with Federal News Network showed that one day this week, wait times at one field office peaked at 2 hours and 23 minutes for individuals who walked in without an appointment.<\/p>\n \u201cI am personally seeing many people leaving the office without service instead of waiting more frequently now than in the past,\u201d the employee said.<\/p>\n Field offices temporarily closed due to staffing shortages<\/p>\n The American Federation of Government Employees Council 220, which represents 25,000 SSA employees, is urging the agency and Congress to address what it calls a \u201cstaffing crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n AFGE Council 220 said that workforce shortages have forced some field offices to temporarily close. More than a dozen SSA field offices are temporarily closed<\/a>, according to its website.<\/p>\n In some cases, these temporary closures are due to facility issues, including fire damage and mold issues. But others are closed because there are no employees available to staff them.<\/p>\n AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe told Federal News Network that \u201cit is perfectly normal\u201d for SSA to temporarily close an office for health and safety reasons, and that the union encourages the agency to mitigate these problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThose temporary closures, I wouldn\u2019t get too hung up about. It\u2019s the ones that don\u2019t have an end date. Those are the ones that are closed due to chronic understaffing or a facility issue, and that\u2019s where the pressure lies, that those get rectified and open to back up ASAP,\u201d LaPointe said.<\/p>\n According to the union, a station in Decorah, Iowa has been closed since last October, because it was staffed by a single employee who retired last summer, and was staffed by employees on temporary details up until last year\u2019s 43-day government shutdown.<\/p>\n After the shutdown, SSA said it was unable to find \u201cviable candidates\u201d to staff the office, but according to the union, it plans to post an internal vacancy notice for the position.<\/p>\n Another single-employee station in Havre, Montana, closed on April 11 after going through a series of employee details to keep it open. SSA is reviewing job applications and expects to hire a new employee soon to reopen the Havre station.<\/p>\n An SSA spokesperson said the field office closures listed on its website are not permanent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe offices are temporarily closed or providing limited service due to planned renovations, required maintenance, or facilities issues that we are actively working to resolve,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cSSA\u2019s resident stations are located in rural locations and typically have one or two employees assigned to provide in-person services on a limited basis.\u201d<\/p>\n