SS Disability . . . seething

[gardenmom5]

we're trying to get disability for dudeling.  We've done testing, we've hired an attorney.  We had a phone call appointment.  The phone rang ONCE (ten minutes late) and they hung up.  Yes - we called back on that line - and it was SS . . . but got a "this number is no longer used..  In any case, it's a number they don't pick up.
now - dh is trying to get through to their office to report this . . . . 
 yes - I feel it's deliberate, so they can claim "we called, but no one answered".

oh - and the psych we took him to for the appeal, found stuff that was in his files that I was never told. e.g.  oppositional defiance disorder . . . .one other thing, but I don't remember that. in addition to everything else I already knew.

Edited May 20 by gardenmom5

[Katy]

Honestly unless he’s in a hospital or nursing home, his disability is likely to be automatically denied due to age until he sees a judge. Be prepared for this to take 18 months. 

[gardenmom5]

20 minutes ago, Katy said:

Honestly unless he’s in a hospital or nursing home, his disability is likely to be automatically denied due to age until he sees a judge. Be prepared for this to take 18 months. 

We've already been working on this for more than a year.

Dh finally got through. . . It's clear their right hand doesn't know what their left hand is doing.  Such a joke.  But hey - it's a government agency. . . 
THEY scheduled this phone call back in February (we received a letter giving us the time back in April) - and *the guy on the phone* (with access to their files) didn't even know what the purpose of the phone call was supposed to be.  They had him down for a physical disability due to injury as an adult over 22 - and not the type for which we have applied, and for which we have a lawyer working his case.

Such a waste of time. . . .And it just stresses out dudeling. (and us . . .)

[Ottakee]

Sorry you have such trouble.  
 

we have had luck going to the local office with the person in question and talking to them there and asking them to check the files to see if anything else was needed, etc.   this can take hours but has been worth it with students I help.

[Catwoman]

I'm so sorry. It's a stressful situation to begin with, and then to have to deal with uncaring, unhelpful, and/or incompetent people is just awful. 😞 

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, Ottakee said:

Sorry you have such trouble.  
 

we have had luck going to the local office with the person in question and talking to them there and asking them to check the files to see if anything else was needed, etc.   this can take hours but has been worth it with students I help.

It was a local office that called us- they don't know what's going on.  They were going by something else, not the case file they should have been using.  We hired a lawyer in January, who had him into our own clinical psych in early March.  (as well as evaluating him, he used the more than ten years of school and previous clinical psych records to make his own report.) Those have all been sent in, and we're waiting for the next step.    The phone call - that they scheduled and we didn't know what was about - had nothing to do with the current case, but mixed up files somewhere.

what does it say I keep thinking - when's a good time to go to Texas for two weeks?   (everything has AC, so I don't particularly care about the heat.  And yeah, I was there last summer when it felt super hot because the air in the parking lot was stagnant even though it was "only" 100F.)

[zimom]

I am so sorry.  SSI or SSD, even I can't keep them straight is just a nightmare.  I honestly wonder if it is worth it sometimes.  I have one that receives it.   Our latest is that they had $33 too much in their account for ONE day so they lost the SSI.  Why, because the person that they pay their rent, etc to (me) forgot to cash their checks on time.   Of course, that means they lost SSI.  Appeal.  Won appeal on grounds there is actually a $50 buffer. Then why did they lose their SSI????   Again, the right-hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.   Now 2 months later they receive a letter saying they have to pay back 2 months' worth due to overpayment for the 2 months they lost it, even though they won the appeal and said it was all ok!!!   And if you look online, it says you don't owe any overpayment?!?!?!?!

And the icing on the cake is the website also says said child earned almost $200K last year LOL.   So we have to work that nightmare out too.  IRS says the child did not earn any $$ last year.  

 

[pinball]

6 minutes ago, zimom said:

the person that they pay their rent, etc to (me) forgot to cash their checks on time

Try to use a system like Zelle, PayPal or Venmo. Or use a mobile banking app where you scan the check.

If both bank accounts have Zelle, the withdrawal and payment happen within minutes.

[Ottakee]

@zimom  can you set up auto transfers?  I do that for my kids on disability.  Their rent, utilities, phone and other payments all get auto transferred each month.  And I ca. make a notation as to what it is for.  Makes it much easier.

[zimom]

@Ottakee  Thanks.  fairly new at all this and not sure what is and what is not allowed.  Was under the impression they needed to actually write a check.  

[Ottakee]

3 minutes ago, zimom said:

@Ottakee  Thanks.  fairly new at all this and not sure what is and what is not allowed.  Was under the impression they needed to actually write a check.  

You just need to be able to show where the money went.

I link the bank accounts and the. Set it to transfer on the 3rd of each month (their checks get deposited every month on the first.

$xxxx.   Housing share

$xx share of electric 

$xx share of natural gas

$xx share of cell phone bill

Then if SSA needs proof I can just print out their bank statements and it notes what each transfer was.   This saves me sooo much time and stress as it does it automatically.

Then once a year I sit down and adjust the amounts as needed….if housing costs go up I can raise that a bit.  If natural gas bill is lower I can lower, etc.

[J-rap]

I'm sorry.  Do they give you a reason for it not being approved so far?

We have a family member on SS Disability but it was an easy call.  He's allowed to have money in savings, but any earned income has to be under $14,000/year or something like that.  (It's actually been years since I've checked, so that could be completely off.)