Disability Advocacy Program

Claimants and advocates are painfully aware of the worsening trends in customer service at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Recently, two new reports have documented how recent administrative changes at SSA over the past year have sharply increased delays, errors, and barriers to human assistance, with particularly severe consequences for the most marginalized claimants.  “In the […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has finalized a sweeping new rule reshaping key aspects of the federal civil service, signaling a significant shift in how certain government employees are classified, protected, and removed. Published on February 6, 2026, the rule—titled “Improving Performance, Accountability, and Responsiveness in the Civil Service”—creates a new category of federal workers known as […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued Social Security Ruling (SSR) 26-1p, a new ruling that clarifies how adjudicators evaluate continuing disability reviews (CDRs) for children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. This is timely considering the push by the agency to fund more CDRs in 2026. While the ruling does not change the underlying legal standard, it represents an effort to simplify and standardize […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) issued an Emergency Message (EM) on March 16, 2026, addressing expedited handling of priority disability cases. EM-26011 responds in part to a 2024 Inspector General audit that found gaps in consistency, monitoring, and the absence of clear processing timeframes for priority claims, which contributed to delays for thousands of claimants. A more recent March 2026 Inspector General audit also raised concerns related critical payment processing, […]

In a February 17, 2026 Dear Colleague letter, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a significant modernization effort by joining the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), a nationwide health data-sharing network designed to streamline the exchange of electronic medical records. By connecting through eHealth Exchange as its Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN), SSA aims to dramatically improve how […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced a significant shift in how disability reviews would be The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced an update to its Appointed Representative Services (ARS): representatives can now electronically submit good‑cause statements for untimely requests for a hearing directly through ARS at the time the late hearing request is filed. SSA announced this change in an April […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced a significant shift in how disability reviews would be handled, stating that it planned to move all medical Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) from state Disability Determination Services (DDS) to a centralized federal unit called Disability Case Review (DCR). The policy was announced on March 12, 2026, in a press release and framed as a way to improve consistency, strengthen oversight, […]

On February 18, 2026, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced in a Dear Colleague letter to advocates that it had launched a new Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Improvements Team dedicated to improving SSI. At the time of the announcement, Sean Brune had been named SSI Program Lead. But amid several other broader leadership changes, Brune has since been named the new Chief Financial Officer, and SSA has not announced who […]

While the Social Security Administration (SSA) continues a major shift toward nationalized service delivery, the agency has again postponed implementing some of the technology tied to that shift.   SSA has paused the nationwide rollout of its National Appointment Scheduling Calendar (NASC) and the related National Workload Management (NWLM) system. According to multiple news outlets, an internal email to SSA staff dated March […]

Recent reporting has raised new alarm about the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) handling of sensitive claimant information, particularly where agency data may be used for immigration enforcement or other non‑programmatic purposes.  In February, WIRED reported that SSA employees at some field offices were instructed to share information about upcoming in‑person appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if requested by ICE agents. According to the reporting, this information […]