Appointed representatives recently received a flurry of emails and other communications regarding Social Security’s new process for providing availability for hearings scheduling. 

Whether or not you attended the trainings at our conference, NOSSCR cautions that you should read these messages carefully and share the information with your staff. We expect a step-by-step transition to Social Security’s new submissions portal, naming conventions, and contact information for scheduling issues.

Below is the Dear Colleague Letter that SSA shared earlier this month; you can also find it on the SSA website here.

Dear Colleague: SSA Announces New Enhanced Representative Availability Process

Date: June 5, 2023

Dear Colleague,

We would like to let you know about a new streamlined process, the Enhanced Representative Availability Process, or ERAP, allowing appointed representatives to submit monthly availability for hearings before Administrative Law Judges.

It’s easy to get started – you must provide us with information about the group for which you want to submit availability. After that, representatives will submit availability by email each month. You can learn about the new process and how to get started on our Hearings and Appeals Enhanced Representative Availability Process (ERAP) page.

On our webpage, you will find a wealth of information regarding the scheduling process, including contact information, definitions, and a full description of the availability process, including availability examples, important scheduling information, and Frequently Asked Questions.

A second resource is our External Liaison Unit (ELU), a specialized unit primarily responsible for obtaining and monitoring representative availability. ELU staff will enter representative-provided availability into our scheduling software application.

For questions regarding representative-provided availability for hearings, or anything regarding ERAP, the ELU will generally be the first point of contact for representatives.

Over the next several months, we will offer information sessions via MS Teams about the new process for all representatives. If you have questions or would like to sign up for an information session, please call the ELU at 1-866-964-1714 or send an email to oho.nsd.nss.elu.general.inquiries@ssa.gov.

We hope that you will join us for a session. You can also visit our webpage for more information about our new process.

Thank you for helping us schedule hearings more efficiently, resulting in better customer service.

Sincerely,

Dawn Bystry
Acting Associate Commissioner
Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
oea.net.post@ssa.gov
@SSAOutreach