Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

January/February 2001

SSADAO: Community Web Site for Disability Program Insiders
by Al Cannistraro, New York DDS

There now is a community World Wide Web site for disability program insiders at http://communities.msn/SSADisabilityAdjudicatorsOnly. The site was privately organized in January by Al Cannistraro, a Supervisor Hearings Officer working out of the Albany, NY, DDS/DHU, primarily to provide a forum for networking and open communication among disability adjudication practitioners. As a community web site hosted on MSN Communities, content is provided by members rather than by Cannistraro exclusively. Members post messages organized in message threads, upload photos, share computer files, even chat in real time. The community is open to all program insiders from all components: DDSs, OHA, SSA, etc. However, it is not open to the general public. Insiders seeking access must specify their connection with the program.

As of early August, recent message board activity was about prototype/redesign, RFC assessment, Social Security reform, the role of staff physicians and psychologists in the DDSs, changes in OHA offices, and the use of the Internet and the web, among other topics. There also was an “Adjudicator Joe” cartoon series and a download-able preliminary report to SSA by the Lewin Group about SSA’s quality assurance system for disability determinations. Members are encouraged to share their organizational web site addresses, and several DDSs have been listed.

In addition to basic site administration and housekeeping, Cannistraro tries to spread the word about the existence of SSADAO. For example, he sends out a newsletter, SSADAO Highlights, approximately every 2 weeks via e-mail to keep interested parties informed about recent activity on SSADAO. Anyone may subscribe to the newsletter merely by merely a blank e-mail to SSADisability-Subscribe@topica.com. Al Cannistraro can be reached at acannis1@nycap.rr.com. His office telephone number is (518) 474-8048.

The following text appears on SSADAO’s opening pages:

Purpose of This Community

The SSA disability program is extremely fragmented, both geographically and organizationally — even within a single state! How many times have you wished that you could more easily interact with your colleagues in other places, other components, other levels? I know that I’ve always enjoyed the few opportunities that I’ve had to interact in person. But those opportunities are rare or nonexistent for most of us. This is an experiment by one “insider” to bring other interested insiders together in a virtual community.

This Community Is Yours

Will this experiment work? Only if you participate, and bring others into the circle. Feel free to post to this site and shape it to fit your needs. Add message topics, create lists, create photo albums and post to them, whatever makes sense. This site is yours as much as it is mine. MSN hosts hundreds of communities. You might check out some of the other communities in your own individual areas of interest. Then import the features that you like into this community, if you think they will enhance this site.

This community is not open to the general public. Refer potential members or send e-mail addresses or lists of potential members to Al Cannistraro at acannis1@nycap.rr.com To subscribe to an e-newsletter about what’s new on this site, send an e-mail to SSADisability-subscribe@topica.com

Community Description A private forum for Social Security disability adjudicators, staffers and reviewers. Contact the Community Manager, Al Cannistraro, at acannis1@nycap.rr.com for info and/or to request an invitation.

This MSN Community is managed by Al Cannistraro, of the New York State Disability Hearings Unit in Albany (a component of the New York State Disability Determinations Service), as a personal endeavor. There is no official connection with the Social Security Administration, any state agency, any professional organization, or with any other organization or entity. This private, by-invitation-only community is a forum for exchange of ideas and information among disability adjudication practitioners, and it is not open to the general public.