Effective Dates: January 11, 2023 - Present

Identification Number:
CJB 21-01 REV 4
Intended Audience:All Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) Personnel
Originating Office:Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge
Title:Updated Business Process for the Electronic Non-Medical (ENM) Application
Type:Chief Judge Bulletins
Program:All Programs
Link To Reference:See References at the end of this CJB.
 
Retention Date: January 11, 2024


Descriptive Summary: This Chief Judge Bulletin updates instructions in CJB 21-01 REV 4, published on January 11, 2023.

Below is a summary of the updates to this Chief Judge Bulletin (CJB):

· Added guidance that when multiple beneficiaries are involved, there must be a case established in ENM for each beneficiary.

· Central Print is now available for partially favorable and unfavorable decisions.

· Provided guidance for when the Payment Center (PC)/Field Office (FO) only establishes multi-beneficiary cases in ENM as one record.

· When transmitting a case to Operations, add a remark on the transmittal noting it is a Non-Medical case.

· The Special Review Cadre (SRC) will transfer all Title II only non-DIB cases to the jurisdictional Hearing Office (HO) after docketing the case.

        · HOs can now mail case files for Disability (DIB) Unfavorable Decisions and Dismissals to the National Records Center (NRC).

        · Mail case files for DIB Favorable and Partially Favorable Decisions to the effectuating component.

        · Updated the ENM Business Process with instructions on how to process remands from Office of Appellate Operations (OAO).

        · When requesting assistance from Disability Determination Services (DDS), follow the instruction in the Assistance Request Quick Guide for Paper Cases and Case in ENM not Linked to eView.



Revised Emergency Message (EM) Published

On July 2, 2021, ENM was updated to include central print functionality for non-decisional notices and fully favorable decisions. HOs and the SRC should centrally print these documents. Batch notice templates are not available for non-decisional notices. However, central print is now available for partially favorable and unfavorable decisions.

On August 20, 2021, Operations published revised instructions allowing FOs to resume sending paper DIB cases to the local HOs. HOs should review SHOP section 1.4.2.5 and convert paper DIB cases to electronic cases whenever possible. When conversion to an electronic case is not possible, HOs will scan the paper DIB case into ENM. HOs may also send paper DIB cases to a contract scanner if they choose. The contract scanner is not allowed to access the Federal tax information in the Informational/Certified Earnings Records (ICERS), Detailed Earnings Query (DEQY), Summary Earnings Query (SEQY), and National Directory of New Hire, Wage, and Unemployment Query (NDNH) (collectively referred to as the “earnings queries”). Before sending paper DIB cases to the contact scanner, HOs must remove the earnings queries, if any, from the paper claim files. HOs will return the earnings queries, if any, and add new earnings queries, if needed, to the paper claim files and upload them to ENM only after the contract scanner returns the paper claim files. To add new queries, HO staff will pull queries from the Personal Communications (PCOM) system, print to PDF, redact the personally identifiable information (PII) of other individuals, if any, save to a local drive, and use the ENM upload feature to add to the file (see SHOP section 3.2.9 for additional instructions on queries and the ENM Business Process for information about the use of the contract scanner).

On August 23, 2021, Operations published a revised EM that provides updated instructions to FOs and PCs on transferring pending non-medical appeals in ENM to OHO and the Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) (EM-21000 SEN REV 4). If HOs receive emails that include an HA-501 Request for Hearing by Administrative Law Judge, they should reply to the FO/PC and remind them that they should establish the case in ENM and follow the procedures outlined in EM-21000 SEN REV 4.

EM-21000 SEN REV 4 also instructs FOs/PCs to send all non-DIB cases (except for class action cases) to the SRC. The FOs/PCs will send all class action non-DIB cases to the local HO. The SRC will receipt in and properly docket all cases received from the FO/PC. After the case is prepared, the SRC will also transfer to the local HO any non-DIB cases in which the claimant requires an in-person hearing (having submitted a timely declination of traditional video (VTC) and having declined both telephone and online video hearing (OVH) options). For foreign non-DIB claims, the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge (OCALJ) will continue to follow the procedures outlined in HALLEX I-2-0-72 and assign these claims to local HOs.

Business Process Change

The SRC will transfer all Title II only non-DIB cases to the HO after the proper docketing/case intake process is complete. The HO will then work up, develop, schedule, and complete the hearing process. This is a change in the business process, as the SRC was formerly transferring Title II only disability cases after docketing and case work up.
Title XVI only and Concurrent claims will continue to be fully processed by the SRC, unless the claimant requires an in-person hearing (having submitted a timely declination of traditional video (VTC) and having declined both telephone and online video hearing (OVH) options).

Case Closure

To prepare the case for closure, burn a CD of the recording, print an entire copy of the file from ENM, print a copy of the hearing decision or dismissal, and print a copy of the exhibit list. Assemble the file in a separate folder and attach it to any paper file that is in the office that contains the original documents received, if there is one. If the paper file has multiple folders, annotate the transmittal sheet to indicate that the file was worked up in ENM and that one folder contains the official file and that the additional folder contains the original documents submitted.

HOs can resume mailing paper DIB claims, following current instructions (HALLEX I-2-1-10 C).

However, HOs now should mail paper claim files for DIB favorable or partially favorable decisions to the effectuating component per HALLEX I-2-1-10 C.2.

HOs should mail paper claim files for DIB unfavorable decisions or dismissals (following HALLEX I-2-1-10 C.1) to the NRC.

Hold all paper claim files for Non-DIB cases, regardless of decisional outcome, until further notice.

Transmittal Remarks

To assist Operations mail centers in indexing and properly routing OHO decisions, HO staff must add all applicable remarks to the case transmittal sheet indicating that a Non-DIB or Paper DIB case was processed through ENM. See ENM Business Process Section 12(d)(1) for more information on each of these remarks. Examples of applicable remarks include:

              · ENM established

              · Decision uploaded to ENM – EDCS (Electronic Disability Collect Systems) exclusion

              · Non-Medical Decision

              · Non-Medical Decision Overpayment

              · Non-Medical Decision CDR (Continuing Disability Review)

              · Non-Medical Decision EXR (Expedited Reinstatement)


The transmittal sheet is available in CPMS and must be filled out before the case is closed (ENM Business Process Section 12(d)).

Remand Procedure

The ENM Business Process has a new section (Section 13) to assist with the workload of remands from the Office of Appellate Operations (OAO). The business process provides instructions for cases with a previous hearing level case file in ENM and those without.

If a case does not have a previous hearing level ENM record, HO staff must create an ENM record and add all documents, including the remand order, into the hearing level record. For Non-DIB files, HO staff must divide and exhibit documents, including the remand order and documents OAO received. For paper DIB files, F Section files are individually divided while Sections A through E are delivered as entire Section documents and must be manually divided. (ENM Business Process Sections 13(d) and (e)).
If a case has a previous hearing level ENM record, staff must reactivate the hearing level record, copy all documents including the remand order from the Appeals Level record and paste them into the hearing level record (SHOP section 1.4.3). If OAO did not exhibit and permanently mark the Appeals Level record, staff only needs to permanently mark the exhibits. If OAO exhibited and permanently marked the Appeals Level record, staff must rotate and permanently mark the exhibits so that the exhibit number does not write over the old exhibit number. A supervisor must rotate the document back to its original orientation (ENM Business Process Section 13(e)).
Other than dividing and exhibiting the file, remands should be processed similarly to other cases in ENM.

Reminders
              · FO/PC establish cases in ENM under the Beneficiary's Own Account Number (BOAN). When dealing with cases that have multiple beneficiaries, FO/PC staff must create an ENM record for each BOAN. If there are missing BOANs, OHO staff will email the FO/PC and request creation of the missing case files for each BOAN. Upload required documents to each beneficiary's ENM record separately (EM-21000 SEN REV 4).
              · Upload the Digital Recording and Processing System (DRAP) recordings of hearings to ENM. DRAP Release 9.2 includes a new ENM hearing checkbox that automatically generates a Digital Recording ID to upload the hearing recording to the ENM application. Upon case closure, burn a CD of the recording and file it in the official paper file following the Case Closure Desk Guide.
              · Use ENM for newly receipted non-DIB cases, pending non-DIB cases, which have not been worked, and paper DIB cases, which cannot be converted to electronic cases (CJB 23-01).

              · If you need DDS to request evidence or a consultative examination, follow the instructions in the               Assistance Request Quick Guide for Paper Cases and Case in ENM not Linked to eView. Attach an updated SSA-827, Authorization to Disclose Information to the Social Security Administration, to the correct form. Send an email or fax from the designated Hearing Office Mailbox or Desktop Fax to the DDS that serviced the case.

              · Before using ENM for paper DIB cases, review               SHOP section 1.4.2.5 and try to convert any paper cases to electronic cases in eView following the instructions in the linked guides. When conversion to electronic cases is not possible, scan the paper DIB cases into ENM, either in the hearing office or by sending them to a contract scanner, depending on staffing availability.
              · Non-DIB cases previously scanned into the Claims File User Interface (CFUI) will continue to be processed in the Evidence Portal and will not be added to ENM.

              · Vocational and Medical Experts cannot access ENM records or upload documents into a case through Electronic Records Express (ERE) for Experts. Follow               SHOP Section 3.3.4 to prepare and send records in ENM to a Vocational or Medical Expert.

Direct all program-related and technical questions to your Regional Office support staff. Regional Office support staff may refer questions or unresolved issues to their headquarters’ contacts in OCALJ.

References

CJB 23-01 – Hearing Appearances by Telephone and Online Video
EM-21000 SEN REV 4 - Instructions for Sending Non-Medical Appeals (NMA) to the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) and Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) using Electronic Non-Medical (ENM) application’s Create, Upload, and Transfer of Jurisdiction Functionality
SHOP section 1.4.2.5 - Ensure the Case is Truly a CEF
SHOP section 3.2.9 - Obtain Updated Queries
SHOP section 6.4.2 - Procedures for Closing Decisions and Dismissals
HALLEX I-2-0-60 - Good Cause for Late Filing
HALLEX I-2-0-72 - Assigning and Processing Requests for Hearing Filed by Claimants Who Do Not Reside in the United States.
HALLEX I-2-1-10 - Claim(s) File
HALLEX I-2-4-15 C - Untimely Hearing Request, Evaluating Good Cause
Electronic Non Medical Desk Guides
ENM Business Process
ENM Resources
Case Closure Desk Guide
Assistance Request Quick Guide for Paper Cases and Case in ENM not Linked to eView
CJB 21-01 REV 4 - Updated Business Process for the Electronic Non-Medical (ENM) Application – May 1, 2023.

Link to this document:
http://policynet.ba.ssa.gov/reference.nsf/lnx/01112023075040AM

CJB 21-01 REV 4 - Updated Business Process for the Electronic Non-Medical (ENM) Application - January 11, 2023