Finally, directors reported that many examiners need  additional training in key analytical areas that are critical to disability  decision-making, including assessing credibility of medical information,  evaluating applicants’ symptoms, and analyzing applicants’ ability to  function. Two-thirds of all directors stated that  noncompetitive pay had contributed to examiner turnover. DDSs Face Difficulties in Recruiting and Hiring Partly Due to State- Imposed Personnel Restrictions

In addition to facing high turnover and growing caseloads, more than  three-quarters of all DDS directors (43) reported experiencing difficulties  over a three-year period in recruiting and hiring enough people who could  become successful examiners. Of these directors, more than three- quarters said that such difficulties contributed to decreased accuracy in  disability decisions or to increases in job stress, claims-processing times,  examiner caseloads, backlogs, or turnover. The Majority of DDSs Do Not Conduct Long- Term, Comprehensive Workforce Planning, and DDSs Cite Numerous Obstacles to Doing So

Despite the workforce challenges facing them, a majority of DDSs do not  conduct long-term, comprehensive workforce planning. Of the DDSs that  engage in workforce planning that is longer-term, a majority have plans  that lack key workforce planning strategies, such as those for recruiting,  retention, or succession planning. Over half of all DDS directors said that lengthy state processes to approve  DDS human capital changes made statewide DDS long-term workforce  planning more difficult. SSA’s Workforce Efforts Have Not Sufficiently Addressed Present and Future Human Capital Challenges in the DDSs

SSA’s workforce efforts have not sufficiently addressed both present and  future DDS workforce challenges. Beyond training, SSA has not consistently  provided other human capital assistance across the DDSs and faces  difficulties negotiating human capital changes, such as increases in  examiner salaries, with state governments. SSA’s Strategic and Workforce Plans Do Not Adequately Address DDS Human Capital Challenges

SSA has not developed a nationwide strategic workforce plan that  addresses present and future human capital challenges in the DDSs. Nevertheless, SSA’s strategic plan, as well as the  agency’s annual performance plan and workforce plan, are all largely  silent on the means and strategies the agency will use to recruit, develop,  and retain a high-performing DDS workforce, even though the  Government Performance and Results Act now requires agencies to  include in their annual performance plans a description of the human  capital strategies needed to meet their strategic goals. The length of time it takes to  process these claims is unacceptable.” “SSA and the State DDSs will be faced with the continuing challenge of hiring and retaining a highly skilled and diverse workforce in what is expected to be a very competitive job market.”

			SSA’s Future Workforce Transition Plan

“SSA’s Future Workforce Transition Plan was created…as a requirement of SSA’s strategic plan to outline how SSA will transition from the workforce we have today to the workforce we will need in the future.”
SSA officials said in interviews that SSA is no longer pursuing two proposed strategies for improving  training for disability examiners. We found that more than half of the DDS directors who  received assistance said that such assistance was of limited effectiveness  in each of the following areas:    helping project trends in the nature of the disability workload (24 out of 34    assisting in negotiating easing of state restrictions (e.g., on hiring and  travel) with the state government (19 out of 24 DDSs);    providing guidance on roles and responsibilities for examiners with  enhanced responsibilities (18 out of 26 DDSs);    helping to design training and developing training materials for examiners  with enhanced responsibilities and the staff who will be supporting them  (16 out of 22 DDSs);    assisting in allowing DDSs to reduce the total caseload level for examiners  taking on enhanced responsibilities (13 out of 24 DDSs);    helping in assessing readiness for transition to an examiner role with  enhanced responsibilities (12 out of 14 DDSs);    helping with workforce planning, including projecting separations and  developing succession plans (11 out of 13 DDSs); and    providing help in negotiating increases in examiner salaries with the state  government (11 out of 16 DDSs). Regional office officials and DDS directors explained in interviews that the  effectiveness of SSA and its regional offices in helping the DDSs negotiate  human capital changes with the states can be limited by such factors as  state budget problems, political concerns, and personnel rules. 2. Issue regulations that establish uniform minimum qualifications for  new disability examiners. 3. A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management. Moreover, over one-half of all  directors reported that turnover had increased claims-processing  times. But over half of all  DDS directors told us in our survey that examiner turnover in their  offices was too high, and we found that examiner turnover was about  twice that of federal employees performing similar work.
Why GAO Did This Study

SSA oversees and fully funds primarily state-operated DDSs that determine whether applicants are eligible for disability benefits. The disability examiners employed by the DDSs play a key role in determining benefit eligibility. This report examines (1) the challenges the DDSs face today in retaining and recruiting examiners and enhancing their expertise; (2) the extent to which the DDSs engage in workforce planning and encounter obstacles in doing so; and (3) the extent to which SSA is addressing present and future human capital challenges in the DDSs.

What GAO Found

GAO found--through its survey of 52 of the 54 Disability Determination Service (DDS) directors and interviews with SSA officials and DDS staff--that the DDSs face three key challenges in retaining examiners and enhancing their expertise. High turnover: Over half of all DDS directors surveyed said that examiner turnover was too high in their offices. We found that examiner turnover was about twice that of federal employees performing similar work. Nearly twothirds of all directors reported that turnover has increased SSA's hiring and training costs and claims-processing times. And two-thirds of all directors cited stressful workloads and noncompetitive salaries as major factors that contributed to turnover. Recruiting and hiring difficulties: More than three-quarters of all DDS directors said they had difficulties over a three-year period in recruiting and hiring examiners. Of these, more than three-quarters said these difficulties contributed to increases in claims-processing times, examiner caseload levels, backlogs, and turnover. More than half of all directors reported that state-imposed compensation limits contributed to hiring difficulties. Gaps in key skills: Nearly one-half of all DDS directors said that at least a quarter of their examiners needed additional training in areas critical to disability decision-making. Over half of all directors cited factors related to high workload levels as obstacles to examiners' receiving additional training. Despite the workforce challenges facing them, a majority of DDSs do not conduct long-term, comprehensive workforce planning. In prior reports, GAO found that such planning should include key strategies for recruiting, retaining, training, and otherwise developing a workforce capable of meeting long-term agency goals. However, of the DDSs that engage in longer-term workforce planning, a majority have plans that lack such key workforce planning strategies. Directors cited numerous obstacles to long-term workforce planning, such as lengthy state processes to approve DDS human capital changes. SSA's workforce efforts have not sufficiently addressed current and future DDS human capital challenges. Federal law requires agencies to include in their annual performance plans a description of the human capital strategies needed to meet their strategic goals. However, GAO's review of key SSA planning documents shows they do not include a strategic human capital plan that addresses current and future DDS human capital needs. Thus, SSA does not link its strategic objectives to a workforce plan that covers the very people who are essential to accomplishing those objectives. GAO also found that SSA has not provided human capital assistance in a consistent manner across the DDSs and that SSA's effectiveness in helping the DDSs negotiate human capital changes with the states can be limited by such factors as state budget problems and personnel rules. Finally, SSA has not used its authority to establish uniform human capital standards, such as minimum qualifications for examiners, which would address, on a nationwide basis, some of the DDS challenges.