HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY?

I read many blogs on the internet which say: "it takes 3 to 5 months" to get a Social Security disability decision."

If you check the dates when those blogs were written, you will find that they are very old.  In fact, they were written before the COVID pandemic began in March 2020. The 3 to 5 month estimate does not reflect 2023 processing time.  Not at all!

The Pandemic changed everything in terms of Social Security timelines.  Applications that once took 3 to 5 months began taking 10 to 12 months--or longer. The Social Security Administration went into chaos and dysfunction when COVID hit in 2020.  It has not recovered. In nearly every area there are severe staff shortages; not enough staff to do the job in a reasonable time.

I have individuals call me almost everyday and say, "But the internet says I should get a decision in 3 to 5 months...."  That once was true, but it is no longer true.  That is pre-pandemic thinking, not reality.

The Social Security Administration over reacted to COVID.  And their reaction hasn't ended.  Beginning in the spring of 2020, the administration closed every Social Security office in the United States.  Offices remained closed for 20 months!  Then, offices gradually began to reopen--but often with hybrid staffs where one-half of employees "worked from home" and one-half actually came into the office.  Those "working from home" found that they had no access to the Social Security computer system or the Social Security telephone system.  They could not take phone calls from home and could not work on case files from home because their home computers were not secure, nor were they connected to the system.

Even before COVID, Social Security was under-staffed and under-funded.  Now, it's much worse.  A lot of the actions taken by Social Security to respond has made matters even worse.

Social Security opened "Work Support Units" (WSUs) to help with overflow in the local field offices.  The idea was that WSUs would facilitate paperwork and essential functions that would get claims to decision makers faster.  Instead the WSUs further delayed the disability application process and made claims much slower.

We have cases that go to a Work Support Unit in Birmingham, Alabama where they sometimes languish for 12 months or more, untouched. No decisions are made at WSU. 

So, don't expect a decision on your disability application in 3 to 5 months.  It just doesn't happen.  Expect a minimum of about 12 months to get your initial decision.  That's if your application isn't held in limbo for a year or more at the Work Support Unit (WSU).  In that case, it may take 18 to 24 months.

And it isn't your attorney's fault.  Attorneys don't get paid until your application is approved and you receive back pay on your claim.  If a decision takes 12 months or longer, the attorney's office expenses continue but there is no income from claims being delayed at WSU or the Disability Determination Service (DDS).  We want your claim settled as much as you do.  And we do everything possible to make it happen.