Thread by @rebeccavallas

THREAD: Grim new data from the @SocialSecurity Administration show a *huge* drop in low-income elderly & disabled folks able to access SSI during the pandemic. Field office closures are clearly part of this, but there are deeper problems too. Let’s unpack. npr.org/2021/02/19/969…

First, the data: January 2021 marked the lowest number of new SSI awards per capita in the program’s history. (The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th lowest months were also during the pandemic, so this has been a steady and worsening trend.) 2/

This is troubling on many levels. SSI provides critical if meager income support to the very poorest seniors & people with disabilities. It also provides access to Medicaid. One would hope to see *rising* numbers of people helped given the dramatic increase in need. 3/

Social Security pandemic field office closures are clearly a big part of what’s driving the decline, as @NPR notes—since it’s pretty much impossible to apply for SSI online, and many folks need help making it through the byzantine application process. 4/

But there are deeper problems that predate the pandemic. For starters: the culture at @SocialSecurity—where increases in people helped by SSI (and SSDI) are generally seen as a *problem* and meaningful outreach has never been a priority. 5/

Meanwhile, applying for SSI is (intentionally) painstakingly difficult—and due to a long history of inadequate administrative $$ from Congress, people who call the 1-800 number for help can wait for hours; many simply never get through. 6/

The result? According to a 2015 study from U. Michigan, HALF of people eligible for SSI are getting left behind.
mrdrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/p… 7/

I saw the human toll this takes more times than I can count as a legal aid lawyer representing people who’d been wrongfully denied SSI and SSDI:

https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1250517659395018752?s=20

8/

That said, the culture change we need extends well beyond @SocialSecurity. We’ve allowed the Reagan-era mythology—that safety net programs are a *budget problem to be shrunk*—to define the narrative on critical public programs for too long. And here’s where it leads. 9/

We saw the logical conclusion of this mindset in Florida last year, when it came out that state GOP leaders had intentionally tanked their own Unemployment Insurance program to keep numbers low:

https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1250516062199742464?s=20

10/

Back to SSI... this is a stark reminder why it’s *so* important that Biden clean house of Trump’s @SocialSecurity appointees. We need folks who believe in its programs, who are committed to INCREASING access to benefits, running the agency NOW.

https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1362793132895666178?s=20

/fin

cc: #CripTheVote