Newsletter: It’s the Agencies, Silly.
We’re thinking about those of you in the path of Hurricane Helene or helping constituents who are — hope all are staying safe, and let us know if there is any support you need
As I talk with casework teams around the country, I am constantly struck by the time, effort, and ingenuity casework teams put into delivering the best possible services to their constituents. But no matter how hard casework teams work, casework effectiveness always comes back to the agency.
That’s why we write this newsletter, to help casework teams sort through the deluge of federal news and pick out what’s most relevant for casework — and why we were so excited to see the Administrative College of the US’s June report on Agency Management of Congressional Casework.
Be sure to join us next week for next week’s webinar with the report’s author, Sean Kealy, where we’ll discuss Kealy’s recommendations and what Congress can do to help agencies provide effective, timely service.
I am always here for questions, comments, suggestions, or just to chat. Feel free to reach out by replying to this email, or shoot me a note at anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
Webinar: Agency Responsiveness to Congressional Casework
One of the hardest things about getting up to speed as a new caseworker is learning the different contacts and practices for each individual agency in responding to casework requests. The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) recently commissioned a study examining agency-wide responsiveness to constituent service inquiries, with an eye to streamlining the process for both agencies and Congressional offices.
Webinar: Agency Responsiveness to Congress
October 1 at 3 PM EDT
In this webinar, Boston University law professor Sean Kealy, author of the ACUS report, will share some of his research and findings, as well as his recommendations to agencies on improving responsiveness to Congressional offices.
AI Tools for Casework
Related Resource: Agency Correspondence
Building professional working relationships with agency liaison staff is critical to a casework team’s success.
News About Casework
Rep. McClellan’s [D, VA] team hosts a “Casework 101” forum
Indicted NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez trade barbs about constituent service
Agency News
The big one: online passport renewal is now official!
Pop the champagne — instead of mailing a check, Americans can now renew their passports through a secure online process. Huge congratulations to the good folks at State who made it happen.
CRS releases guidance on helping constituents with health care
New resource from CRS on helping constituents navigate challenges with healthcare coverage, finding care, and specific health conditions.
New Compassionate Allowance conditions and a shorter disability lookback window
SSA announced that it is shortening the lookback window for disability applicants from 15 years to 5 years, and has added several new conditions to the Compassionate Allowance list.
Help your family understand what you do with John Oliver
John Oliver’s headline segment this week focused on SSA disability benefits. Warning for language and general irreverence.
We <3 this clear explanation of SNAP asset limits
Plain language explanation of SNAP asset limits and how they work from Dave Guarino and the team at Propel.
Crisis averted — VA supplemental passed
A day ahead of the deadline, Congress delivered a $2.89 billion supplemental bill to the VA to allow the agency to cover veteran benefits. The VA is still projecting a significant shortfall for FY25, in part due to the high demand for PACT Act benefits.
VA OIG report finds hundreds of “major performance incidents” around EHR rollout
OIG defines a “major” performance incident as one that “causes severe system degradation, leads to an outage of services required for VA’s key operations, or affects patient care and requires a response beyond routine incident management.”
SecVA press conference covers hurricane preparedness, emergency telemedicine, and more
Claude.ai tells us that the VA Secretary’s Sept 26 press conference “highlighted nationwide expansion of tele-emergency care, record-breaking outreach efforts, and unprecedented claims processing, while addressing concerns about staffing, budget needs, and challenges with VA home loans in the wake of COVID-19 forbearances.” For more on how we use AI to summarize long documents or events like this one, check out last week’s Responsible AI Use for Casework webinar:
Video: Responsible AI Use for Casework
Recently-developed, Congress-approved generative AI tools can streamline casework processes, making them more efficient and accessible.
Critical assessment of TAS services
In response to a recent TIGTA report, Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins published a thoughtful assessment of steps TAS is making to improve its services while handling an 18% increase in total case numbers. One quote that caught our eye: “We are using a functionally limited case management system that is more than two decades old and causes inefficiencies and delays.”
Now THERE’S a delayed and retroactive benefit
Three informants will split $74 million for their role in helping the IRS recover $263 million in taxes from a single individual. While the IRS whistleblower program isn’t without its critics, that’s a huge incentive to participate.
Keeping families together
DHS has launched a Keeping Families Together initiative, allowing certain undocumented spouses and stepchildren of US citizens to apply for parole without leaving the US. The program aims to help around 500,000 spouses and 50,000 stepchildren avoid consular processing abroad while pursuing lawful permanent residency. To apply, eligible individuals must file the new Form I-131F and meet specific criteria such as continuous presence since 2014 and background checks.
