The Social Security disability process can be lengthy and confusing.
The Social Security Administration uses a lot of terms and definitions related to processing of disability claims, so to understand the process a little bit better, here are some terms Social Security uses and their definitions. More specifically, we are looking at the types of offices Social Security uses to process claims.
- District Office: Your Social Security district office is basically your local (the closest to you in proximity) Social Security office. This is where your Social Security disability claim is initially processed. A common misnomer is that your local office is in charge of making medical decisions on claims, but this is not the case. Your local office will make sure a claimant meets the technical requirements for one of the two types of Social Security disability claims, Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and will then send it off to a state agency for a medical determination.
- Disability Determination Services: Disability Determination Services (DDS) is a state-run agency that makes disability determinations for Social Security claims and other stat-run disability programs. This is where the disability determination is made at the initial level of the Social Security disability process and the first appeal stage, the Request for Reconsideration.
- Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR): This office adjudicates Social Security disability hearings. Once your claim is denied at the initial level and the reconsideration level, a hearing needs to be requested before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Once a hearing is requested it takes 12-15 months before the date of the hearing in which the judge will make a final decision.
For more information about the different levels of the Social Security disability process or assistance from an attorney on a claim, please click here.
