Disability Determination Services (DDS) are the state agencies that make initial and reconsideration determinations for Social Security disability and SSI claims. That is where the medical records are ordered, and the claim is evaluated by a disability adjudicator.
We are now seeing growing delays in Staging, which occurs after an initial claim claim or Reconsideration request has been processed by the local office and sent to DDS. Staging is the period of time that the claim is pending at DDS awaiting the assignment of a disability adjudicator. Currently in Maine, I have an initial claim that has been in Staging for 7 months. The client filed an application last summer, and it was sent to DDS on August 5, 2025. Here we are more 7 months later, and no adjudicator has been assigned. The Maine DDS is operating at about half staff. They do not appear to be hiring new disability adjudicators, and it takes months to train a new person at that job.
Reconsideration cases are being sent out-of-state, most recently to Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, where there is available capacity. So Reconsideration claims are mostly moving forward, with a few exceptions. I have 3 Reconsideration claims that have not been assigned after over 5 months.
This is not the fault of the individual disability adjudicators, who continue to do yeoman’s work. It is due to a critical scarcity of resources at DDS, and also due to Social Security’s emphasis on CDRs (Continuing Disability Reviews) rather than processing new claims.