Social Security Communication Issues

[TheMSLawyer]

A brief update on the above... Social Security offices are now open for in person visits by the public (or those that are not soon will be). This means that you can now provide information and ask questions in person, if you see fit. It also means that the response times and hold times from the local office will be a bit longer, as they manage the influx of people and issues that have been awaiting this return to in person service for the past two-plus years.

[Mamabug]

Thank you, MSLawyer, for your info and your suggestions.

Most senators would be more than willing to submit a congressional inquiry for their constituents. Federal dollars fund Social Security. they work for us, and are responsible to us and the House and the Senate.

[TheMSLawyer]

Over the past several months, my office has observed a dramatic deterioration in the responsiveness of Social Security's local offices. Their service has never been perfect, but the quality has dropped off significantly as their limited staff continues to work remotely and the pace of applications increases. A large number of calls are unanswered, many voicemails are not given a response, and when someone is reached, the quality of service varies greatly.

If you are experiencing similar issues, you are certainly not alone. If you are not getting through to your local office, we recommend trying on multiple days during different times of day. This will allow you to avoid the 'busy period' and perhaps reach different staffers managing the phone lines. If you leave a voicemail, we recommend that you give at least 48 hours to allow the staffer to respond to the voicemail before leaving a second voicemail. If your handling staffer is not responsive to messages, you can also reach out to the office manager.

As a last resort, if you are unable to get through to the office at all or if no responses are received after a significant time, you can also attempt a 'congressional inquiry.' This is done through a call to your congressperson, wherein you request that they ask the SSA why they are not being responsive. Unfortunately, my office has had to take this step multiple times for recent applications that either went unassigned or where the local office simply was never answering the phone.