Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

November/December 1998

Hearing Officers Share Problems And Practices
by Keith Odom,New Mexico DDS

"WE'RE OUT HERE FLOATING IN no-man's land, with no direction from SSA," said Bob Burgess of the current state of Disability Hearing Officers (DHOs). Burgess, former NADE president and recent retiree from the Texas state agency, moderated a breakout discussion for DHOs. This breakout was a hopeful early step toward fostering cohesiveness among Social Security DHOs across the country. No formal statements or proposals were drafted; participants shared best practices, made an informal "wish list," and compared productivity expectations in various states.

Best practices included:

1) using a speaker phone to contact an interpreter when a non-English speaking claimant appears without one and has not notified SSA or the DHO in advance;

2) taking Polaroid snapshots to augment written descriptions (as of burns, contractures);

3) offering teleconferences or on-evidence decisions to parents who fail to appear for their children's hearings; and

4) running queries before scheduling to verify addresses.

The top item on the "wish list" was for an "Office of Disability Hearings" to deal specificially with hearings issues. Ideally, this office would be administered by SSA rather than OHA. Such an office could help clarify policies and unify procedures nationwide, a goal consistent with process unification.

Other wishes included:

1) laptop computers and voice-activated dictation software for all DHOs;

2) cellular phones for all DHOs who must drive to hearings, in the event of breakdowns or accidents;

3) a "short-cut" method of disposing fully favorable reversals; and

4) refresher training or on-site visits from McGeorge staff for IVT trainees.

Several states offered information on productivity requirements. Mississippi requires nine completed decisions per week including travel; DHOs can do unlimited overtime, including work at home. Laptops with decisional macros are provided. Washington state has no production requirements; DHOs have access to decisional macros. Louisiana DHOs are strongly encouraged to complete 9-10 decisions per week. Maine DHOs are salaried employees, and as such are ineligible for overtime. They have no laptops and do not receive backup or clerical support. Tennessee DHOs are paid straight overtime. Wyoming DHOs use teleconferencing whenever feasible, a system that works well despite the $30 per hour charge for calls. Montana also makes heavy use of teleconferencing. Georgia attorneys have objected to the use of conference calls. In Minnesota, three-way calls including DHO, claimant, and attorney have proven satisfactory to all parties.

A brief debate arose about the pros and cons of having the Disability Hearing Unit (DHU) located within the Disability Determination Services (DDS). One expressed disadvantage was that DHU tends to get absorbed into the DDS bureaucracy and is prevailed upon to do DDS work. An advantage was that the two agencies can communicate better. Ken Nibali , Associate Commissioner for Disability, expressed the opinion that he would not want the same rift to develop between DDS and DHU as currently exists between DDS and OHA. The session ended after a brief hour, leaving most attendees hopeful for the oppportunity to have similar sessions at future conferences. All were grateful to Bob Burgess for coming back after retirement to lend his considerable expertise to facilitating this discussion.