Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

July/August, 2000

Florida DDS “Shines”
by Janet C. Saul, FADE President

When I was first made aware that Florida was assigned to write an article for the Advocate, I wondered what in the world I would write about. Gee, I don’t know much about anything. I restore old boats in my spare time and I know a great deal about that – but I doubt very many of you would appreciate my stories on woodworms, epoxy, and autopilots.

So having eliminated the subject on which I am probably the best versed, we move on to number two – disability. Although I have been an active member in the National Association of Disability Examiners since practically the first day I started with the Florida DDS, I have been the President of the Florida Association of Disability Examiners for just a few short months. (Well, alright, almost a year now.) In determining the topic, much thought was given to what I would like to see from other chapters in the Advocate. So here it is – a little information on the Florida DDS.

The Florida Disability Determination Service is ranked fourth in the country in the number of disability claims and may show to be the third at the end of this Federal Fiscal Year.

Our state parent agency changed the first of this year from the Department of Labor and Employment Security to the Department of Health. With this move, our status was also upgraded from an “office” to a “division” and we are now known as the Division of Disability Determinations. The state’s disability program also consists of the State Medically Needy Program but these statistics do not reflect their contribution.

We are decentralized and have eight offices in five cities across the sate – Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, and Tampa. (They have strategically placed a number of our offices in close proximity to popular Florida attractions.) This decentralization makes it difficult for NADE/FADE members to communicate.

The Florida DDS budget for State Fiscal Year '98-99 was $66 million and included 885 positions. We have six per cent of the national workload and 25 percent of the workload in the Atlanta Region.

For the State Fiscal Year '98-99, we employed approximately 420 adjudicators who processed a total of 208,302 claims at $291 per case, the lowest cost per case of the 10 largest states. (The national average for the same time period was $407.)

The staff turnover rate is high in Florida. In an effort to retain experienced examiners, the Florida Legislature just approved a pay parity package that increased the adjudicator’s salary.

Florida is a great place to live and work! If all of this has got you thinking about a career at the Florida DDS, remember - part of our pay is in sunshine! Hope to see you all at the national Training Conference in Puerto Rico in September! (I’ll bring Florida job applications.)