NADE PRESIDENT TERRI SPURGEON WAS a featured speaker on the opening day of NADE’s national training conference that was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Terri expressed her appreciation to all NADE members for their commitment to NADE and to their profession. She commented that this past year had been an extremely busy one for her personally and a busy year for NADE. While this was not unusual for NADE, it had been unusual for her.

“NADE is involved in many aspects of the disability program and encouraging professional growth for our members,” said Terri. “Pursuing initiatives in these areas requires a great deal of effort and NADE members were very fortunate to have a hard-working Board of Directors that worked closely together to push NADE’s agenda.” NADE’s level of involvement increased dramatically during the year insofar as being asked to submit testimony before Congress. The House Social Security Subcommittee was actively involved in its oversight of the disability program and held numerous hearings during the past year. NADE was invited to testify on five occasions, a record for the Association. While NADE was very appreciative of these invitations, it created more work than ever for NADE’s President, President-elect, Past President and Legislative Chairperson to draft testimony that expressed the viewpoints of our membership.

NADE submitted testimony in October 1999 regarding “SSA’s Management of the Disability Caseload.” In February 2000 and again in March 2000, NADE submitted testimony regarding “SSA’s Preparations for the Impending Wave of Baby Boomer Beneficiaries.” NADE also submitted testimony in March regarding “Social Security Program Integrity Initiatives” and in July NADE submitted testimony regarding “Problems and Challenges Facing the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability programs.”

Beyond the congressional testimony, NADE made its presence known in meetings with members of Congress and their committee staff personnel. NADE’s President, President-elect, Past President and Legislative Chairperson devoted considerable time during the year in meeting with congressional staffers and members of Congress to share information about NADE’s positions on many issues. Chief among these was the effort to keep the dream of eliminating the waiting period on Title II disability claims alive. Many members of Congress have expressed interest in this proposal but doubts about the availability of funding continue to cloud the proposal.

NADE’s President and President-elect met with Associate Commissioner Ken Nibali in August to discuss many facets of the disability program and NADE’s views. This lengthy meeting showcased the fact that NADE was a valuable resource for insightful ideas and information. The Associate Commissioner indicated a desire to continue such meetings with NADE in the future.

Many of SSA’s top officials, including Deputy Commissioner William Halter and Associate Commissioner Ken Nibali, met with NADE’s Board of Directors during the Board’s mid-year meeting in Washington, D.C. Discussions were held about SSA’s continued expansion into the technological field and the Associate Commissioner pulled a surprise by endorsing the concept of professional certification of disability examiners. He promised that SSA would examine this idea. (SSA has since contracted with a provider to explore how professional certification of disability examiners could be implemented with SSA sanctioning the concept and NADE having an important role in the administration of certification).

NADE offered insightful comments regarding SSA’s 2010 Vision proposal and we will continue to be involved in this ongoing process. We are also keeping a close watch on the DCM project. Training has remained one of NADE’s most publicized contributions toward increasing the professionalism of those who are involved in making disability decisions. The agendas of the NADE sponsored state, regional and national training conferences are demonstrative of NADE’s commitment to increasing its stature as a major provider of quality training. Training is our future and we cannot ignore the need!

National Disability Professionals Week was another huge success, drawing attention to the fact that we are professionals. NADE’s awards program continues to be a prestigious process that recognized many deserving individuals for their contributions to their profession.

Terri reminded the NADE members in attendance that NADE is a member-led and member-driven organization. NADE will achieve nothing if its members do not become involved and remain committed to the ideals of the Association. Terri concluded her remarks by expressing her appreciation to the NADE membership for the opportunity to have served as NADE President.