You may remember a time when it was easy to find a Social Security Administration (SSA) field office in your town. This was the place to go to obtain a replacement social security card, to apply for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. It was also a place where you could update your address or your beneficiary records, or do a variety of other tasks with the help of knowledgeable government employees. If your town didn’t have a field office, SSA employees actually traveled to locations such as hospitals to provide face-to-face services.
Those days are gone. In August 2011, SSA began closing field offices nationwide 30 minutes earlier each day. In November 2012, SSA extended these early closures to 1 hour. In January 2013, SSA further reduced hours by closing every Wednesday at noon. With the reduced hours, field offices are now open to the public 27 hours compared to the previous 35 hours per week.
Social Security isn’t done reducing face-to-face services. SSA plans to increase its self-service options, such as by automated phone service and computers in facilities nationwide.
But what about those who cannot successfully handle managing their questions and needs by computer? What happens to the elderly and the disabled, without the help of knowledgeable human counselors to guide them to services?
For more on this issue, see the Office of the Inspector General report.