Newsletter: Administrative burden with Don Moynihan + link roundup
Happy early Thanksgiving! We hope you join us today for the last in our series of webinars on Unpacking the Causes of Casework: Administrative Burden with Georgetown’s Inaugural McCourt Chair of Public Policy, Professor Donald Moynihan.
This webinar will cover:
an introduction to the field of administrative burden
types of burdens and barriers you’ll recognize from casework
how to talk about impacts in a way that lands with legislative staff and agencies
We’ll also kick off with a special guest to preview some big changes for caseworkers coming soon from the Committee on House Administration.
Administrative Burden: Diagnosing Casework Problems
“Administrative burden” describes the obstacles constituents face in accessing benefits that do not reflect their legal eligibility—it also happens to describe a significant proportion of reasons constituents seek casework help from their Members of Congress.
We look forward to seeing you there! As always—comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome: anne@popvox.org. Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday with some well-deserved rest.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
News You Can Use
Hearings (and don’t forget our cheat sheet to hearing summaries at the end of this post)
Coming up:
House VA Committee, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs: “Examining the VA Appeals Process: Ensuring High Quality Decision-Making for Veterans’ Claims on Appeal.” Nov. 29, ~11am.
Catch up:
Senate Aging Committee, “Modern Scams: How Scammers Are Using Artificial Intelligence & How We Can Fight Back.” Nov. 16.
House VA Committee, “EHR Modernization Deep Dive.” Nov 15. Coverage from NextGov pointed out the disconnect between employee survey results and help desk ticket numbers expressing problems with system availability and the system’s performance metrics showing that it was meeting performance goals.
Seeking Lebanese community groups
Consular On The Hill is asking caseworkers to share contact information for any Lebanese diaspora organizations, groups, or contacts to help assist on outreach for a targeted briefing on the security situation in Lebanon and support resources after Thanksgiving. Send to COTH by 10am Friday November 25th. We are very excited to see agencies (especially State) partner with caseworkers on proactive outreach!
Energy Assistance Resources
The National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition (NEUAC) is hosting a briefing for Congressional staff on resources for constituents seeking assistance with fuel costs (Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2-2:30 ET). Register here.
Veteran Foreclosures
An NPR investigation found that veteran homeowners who participated in the VA’s Partial Claim Payment (PCP) program during the pandemic are facing widespread foreclosures after the VA ended the program in October 2022. Non-veteran homeowners with loans through the FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac still have access to the PCP program. The VA says it is working on a replacement, but it may take 4-5 months to implement.
The US has had 25 $1bn disasters this year
NOAA research shows that as of Nov. 8 of this year, the US has seen 25 weather/climate disasters with over $1bn in losses. For casework teams, preparing to serve your constituents in a disaster isn’t a matter of if, but when. A bipartisan bill would create a NTSB-like board investigating gaps in disaster response.
It’s federal open season!
And you thought the holidays were a big deal. GovExec has a checklist for federal employees to make important decisions on healthcare, retirement benefits, and more (note that some of this does not apply to Congressional employees). Their retirement columnist also had some pointers on understanding federal retirement—this is a great primer for new caseworkers.
Whistleblower reports spark investigation into VA crisis line
GAO has opened an investigation into reports of “gross mismanagement” at the VA crisis line after Sen. Moran [R, KS] sent a letter to the VA Secretary relaying whistleblower reports.
White House launches task force on veteran scams
On Veterans Day, the White House announced the launch of an interagency task force on Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion (VSAFE). Expect additional announcements on new reporting tools, outreach and PSA materials, and more in the coming months.
New SSA financial report shows record-breaking overpayments
New SSA financial report shows the agency made $11.1 billion in overpayments in FY22—a 65% increase over the previous year. In contrast to previous years where most overpayments were from SSI, last year’s majority from from OASDI.
DOL will add underpayments to assessments
Nerdy but important: the Department of Labor has issued guidance to states to indicate that underpayments or improper denials must be counted in states’ assessments of program accuracy. Currently, as Dave Guarino flagged recently, most programs only count overpayments in their program integrity assessments.
Catch Up
Last week, we welcomed Max Ghenis, cofounder of Policy Engine, for a wonderful discussion about the impacts of multiple complex benefits programs. This is a great introduction to the complexity of common casework programs for new caseworkers, and a great tool for experienced caseworkers looking to verify agency calculations!
Cumulative Impact: How Programs Work Together
One of the most challenging aspects of casework is when programs and benefits collide. For individuals, these interactions can be confusing; for the economy and government spending as a whole, they can have huge impacts.
We also welcomed Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America, to talk about why casework experience is vital to fixing government for the 21st century. This was a validating, inspiring conversation about what’s really happening at agencies, and how casework expertise can help Congress become a better “gardener” of agencies that work.
How Do We Fix This? Championing Implementation vs. Policy
Every government program starts with good intentions—it’s how they’re carried out that can make them fail in big ways or in small ways that add up.
