MARSHALL — Over the past couple of months, changes like an agency-wide reorganization have been announced at the Social Security Administration. While the SSA has said it plans to reduce its workforce by thousands of employees, the agency’s field office in Marshall is still providing services to area residents. In March, the SSA also outlined how people can apply for benefits like Disability Insurance, Medicare and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Starting April 14, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare or SSI can complete their claims over the phone, without needing to go to an SSA office in person, the SSA said in a news release. Certain services may still require people to prove their identity in person at an SSA office.

“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, in a press release. “In addition to extending the policy’s effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers, Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.”

Marshall SSA office is still open

In February, the SSA said it planned to reduce its workforce and organizational structure. A news release from the SSA said it would be cutting staffing levels down to a target of 50,000 employees, from the current level of about 57,000 employees.

The February press release also said the SSA’s structure of 10 regional offices across the U.S. was “no longer sustainable.” Instead, the SSA would have seven Deputy Commissioner level organizations.

Representatives of the SSA did not give the Independent any specific information on how the reorganization, or changes to services, would affect the SSA field office in Marshall. Eric Martinez, the deputy regional communications director at the SSA’s Chicago regional office, referred questions about staffing concerns and identity proofing requirements to press releases on those topics.

Staff at the Marshall SSA field office also said they did not have information they could share beyond what the SSA had already released.

In a March press release, the SSA said the agency has not permanently closed or announced the closure of any local field office.

“SSA is committed to providing service where people need help and our local field offices are no exception,” Dudek said. “We have not permanently closed any local field offices this year.”

The Marshall SSA field office, which is located on Jewett Street, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, the SSA says many requests, like applying for benefits, changing your name, or getting or replacing a Social Security card, can be done online at www.ssa.gov. Other tasks may need an office visit, and in that case people should call ahead to make an appointment at their local office.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services lists a total of 18 SSA field offices in Minnesota, as well as offices in Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D. The Marshall office is the only one in southwest Minnesota. The next closest SSA offices are in Sioux Falls, Fairmont and Mankato.

Updated identity-proofing rules

One change announced earlier this year by the SSA was that people applying for certain benefits would need to prove their identities in person at an SSA office. All the changes would affect people who are not able to use a personal “my Social Security” account online. People who don’t already have a my Social Security account can create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.

Starting April 14, individuals who are applying for SSDI, Medicare or SSI and can’t use a my Social Security account can complete their claim over the phone, the SSA said.

People who can’t use their my Social Security account to apply for benefits will only need to prove their identity in person if applying for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (spouse or child) benefits. Individuals who can’t use a my Social Security account will also need to visit a Social Security office in person to change their direct deposit information for benefits.

The SSA said it is working on a process that can bypass identity proofing requirements in extreme situations, like terminal cases or prisoner pre-release situations.

The SSA said it also required frontline employees to work in the office five days a week. This would help make sure the maximum number of staff are available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirements, the SSA said in a press release.