One out of 10 Social Security offices has closed since 2000

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/one-out-of-10-social-security-offices-has-closed-since-2000-seniors-and-politicians-want-to-know-why/2018/05/06/dfa2f6aa-4ef8-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.92dc96da0e63

By Patricia Sullivan
May 6, 2018

The Social Security Administration plans to close its Arlington field office and one of its Baltimore locations in June, part of a series of shutdowns across the country that activists and political leaders say is causing major difficulties for the elderly, people with disabilities and other beneficiaries.

The agency has closed about 125 of its approximately 1,250 offices since 2000 — a 10 percent reduction, part of what officials describe as a shift to greater use of online services in an era of budget constraints and a growing population of senior citizens.

In addition, all 533 Social Security Administration “contact sites” — locations that serve remote, rural populations on a weekly or monthly basis — have closed, said leaders of the union that represents Social Security employees.

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“I don’t have a car,” said Arlington resident Susan Landfield, 65. “I use public transit and it’s about two hours” to get to the next-nearest office, on Edsall Road in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County.

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“Those with the most complicated cases and greatest need often benefit from in-person services,” said the letter, signed by Dels. Alfonso Lopez, Mark Levine and Patrick Hope and Sens. Adam Ebbin, Barbara Favola and Janet Howell. “Many of these individuals are also among the least mobile and the most dependent on public transportation.”

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The number of Social Security office workers has dropped by 3,500 since 2010, and under the funding level proposed by the Trump administration, another 1,000 jobs would be lost, said Max Richtman, chief executive of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a Washington-based advocacy group. Congress cut the agency’s operating budget every year from 2010 to 2017, before increasing it this year, he said. But with 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day, the demand for Social Security services is not going away.

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