NEW HEARING OFFICE SERVES HUNTSVILLE

Social Security appeals and hearings are handled by the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).  Until recently, most appeals were assigned to the ODAR office in Florence, AL.  The average wait for a hearing has hovered at around 14 months.


In November, 2011, ODAR opened a new hearing office in Franklin, TN, with the goal of easing some of the logjams at other hearing offices in the region.  Many of my cases that would have gone to Florence in the past have been assigned to the Franklin office.  In a few cases, the wait time has been drastically shorter for some of my clients.


The new office is conveniently located and appears to be well staffed.  Of course, this isn't going to solve all of the problems in getting a Social Security appeal before a judge.  But it is good to see Social Security taking positive steps to deal with the massive number of cases on the docket.


Incidentally, the Florence ODAR office is still very much alive and well, handling thousands of Social Security cases each year.  A large number of appeals from the Huntsville and North Alabama area are still assigned to Florence.

Comments

  1. Charles W. ForsytheJuly 28, 2016 at 8:37 PM

    Social Security is trying to take further steps to ensure that claimants may have a hearing within a reasonable time. They have a way to go in realizing this goal but some progress is being made. Most claimants still wait about 14 months after filing their appeal.

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