
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 21, 1990                   TAG: 9004210227
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SOCIAL SECURITY BOGGING DOWN, EX-OFFICIAL WARNS

A memorandum drafted last month by retiring Deputy Social Security Commissioner Herbert R. Doggette said there are signs of a serious "deterioration in levels of service" and the giant Social Security system could be "overwhelmed" because 17,000 agency workers were cut during the Reagan administration.

During 1989, Doggette said, the time it takes to process many types of claims increased, the number of pending claims increased, and "the possibility clearly exists that at some point work-load growth could overwhelm our ability to respond, given our limited resources."

A number of senators who saw Doggette's memorandum wrote the Senate Appropriations Committee recently asking for $120 million in fiscal 1991 for an additional 4,000 staff for the Social Security Administration. The House Aging Committee earlier sent a similar request to the House Appropriations Committee.

Doggette, who declined to discuss his memo, recently told associates he believes at least 70,000 full-time workers are needed to guarantee good service.

Doggette's memo said longer processing times and a buildup of unsettled cases is a standard pattern when service begins to decline, and "there are signs of this early warning pattern developing in all areas of SSA's basic operations. Key service delivery indicators now show these symptoms in each area of our basic operations."

Social Security Commissioner Gwendolyn S. King, to whom Doggette's memo was addressed, said in an interview that she is grateful to Doggette "for candidly assessing the situation in March." Now that a hiring freeze is over, she is moving "aggressively" to fill crucial jobs, with $50 million from a contingency fund, she said.

But she said there is no need for another $120 million because the $4.2 billion administration request for fiscal 1991 will provide an adequate work force of about 63,500, slightly bigger than the current one.

"If I find we need more people, I will be the first to ask for them," she said.

by CNB