James and Shantalyn Dickens were just married in November 2023. An unbelievable turn of events happened in January when James suffered a stroke.
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Wait times for Social Security disability benefits continue to grow across the U.S. amid a backlog of applications, with Georgia among the states taking the longest to process claims, according to federal data.
This is a difficult situation for people waiting for needed financial assistance during a crisis. The Social Security Disability Program is intended as a safety net, providing eligible people with monthly payments to help meet basic needs when the unexpected happens.
The unbelievable events for the Dickens began in January when James suffered a stroke, his wife, Shantalyn, told 11Alive. The couple had just been married in November 2023.
“We were planning to get married and live happily ever after,” Shantalyn said. “It was completely unexpected. Little did we know that James would suffer a severe stroke at 3 a.m. on January 5th.”
Since his stroke, James has been recuperating in a care facility, while Shanthalyn continues to contact the eligibility examiner to see if her husband’s disability application has been reviewed and approved.
“We had no idea,” she said of the wait. “It’s just heartbreaking,” she said, adding that the family is fundraising to cover expenses in the meantime.
According to the Social Security Administration, more than 1.2 million disability benefit applications were pending nationwide as of June 28. A spokesperson confirmed that about 81,000 were pending in Georgia.
But the time it takes to process cases varies widely. While the national average for an initial disability determination is 187 days, in Georgia it takes an average of 287 days to receive a determination. The longest wait time is in South Carolina, where it takes 325 days for an initial determination. The SSA attributes many of the delays to staffing shortages.
A spokesperson released the following statement further explaining the issue:
“Each state has a state agency called the Disability Determination Service (DDS) that processes disability claims for the Social Security Administration (SSA),” the spokesperson said. “DDSs across the country, including Georgia, are facing staffing shortages that are impacting processing times for disability claims. SSA continues to reallocate resources from various components within the agency to assist states by providing direct assistance with disability workloads and integrating technological advances to make case processing more streamlined without compromising adjudication quality. We are adding an additional 400 disability examiners to DDSs across the country and providing disability examiners with improved technology to collect and review medical evidence.”
The Georgia Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, which handles redeterminations at the state level, also responded to 11Alive’s questions, saying Georgia has a backlog of 82,400 initial and reconsideration applications.
“Applications are first processed/pre-prepared from the backlog and then assigned to an examiner. Once a case is assigned, processing time in Georgia is approximately 95 days,” an agency spokesperson said.
The Georgia Department of Vocational Rehabilitation also blamed Georgia’s backlog on a lack of staffing.
“State offices across the country are facing staffing shortages,” a GVRA spokesperson said. “We are working closely with SSA to acquire hiring capacity. Once the FY25 budget is approved, Georgia’s DAS office will request the hiring of an additional 50 examiners and 10 support staff to assist with training and call center operations over the coming months. This follows a hiring freeze announced by SSA in October 2023. These employees will replace others who have left to take other positions. However, it will take up to a year for examiners to be trained before they can process all of the cases.”
For Georgians waiting for a decision, GVRA recommends the following:
Please submit any relevant medical records/documentation (if available) with your application. Relevant documentation includes any records related to the claims made in your application. Please complete any questionnaires or other forms you receive with as much detail as possible. This will help minimise the time it takes examiners to contact you to fill in missing information.