Street Roots and Jake Thomas have been working on a several months’ long
investigation into Social Security Disabilities and how it effects people
experiencing poverty.
Street Roots reported
on
March 6, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General
served a federal search warrant on Safety Net of Oregon, a nonprofit that manages the disability
benefits for individuals unable to handle their finances, to investigate
charges that $600,000 of beneficiary funds were unaccounted for. The Social
Security Administration (SSA) also decertified Safety Net, leaving about 1,000
people, many with severe disabilities to find a new organization or individual
(a “payee”) to manage their benefits by March 21. Those unable to find a new
payee would be unable to access their money beginning April 1.
On March 14, Street Roots reported on the following investigation on why Portland
carries a backlog of Social Security Disability cases nearly twice as high as
the national average.
On March 15, Multnomah County chair ripped Social Security’s handling of non-profits closure.
On March 24, Street Roots reported that the
Oregon Law Center and Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit against the
Social Security Administration.
On March 26, Street Roots reported that a judge ordered an immediate restratining order against Social Security to protect disability clients.
On April 10, Street Roots looked at the clients left behind in the social security, safety net debacle.
On April 25, Street Roots looks at the gaps in oversight that leaves clients vulnerable in nation’s multi-billion dollar payee system.
This article appears in 2014-03-14.