The State will provide sufficient qualified personnel and medical consultant services to insure disability determinations are made accurately and promptly.

The State will, except as may be inconsistent with 20 CFR 404.1621(a) and 416.1021(a), adhere to applicable State approved personnel standards in the selection, tenure, and compensation of any individual employed in the disability program.

1. a. 

   The State is responsible for establishing positions, recruitment, selection and tenure, compensation, and staff development policies.

2. b. 

   The disability staff will consist of the necessary medical, professional, technical, stenographic, and clerical personnel, including a full-time disability supervisor and intermediate supervisor, where necessary.

The Disability Determination Service (DDS) must submit an annual workyear plan to the regional office (RO) and receive SSA approval.

The DDS must:

1. a. 

   Make certain that sufficient workforce is available for all clerical operations;

2. b. 

   Study clerical productivity to determine workpower needs; and

3. c. 

   In contracts for clerical functions, require that an outside vendor provide expeditious delivery of completed work.

1. a. 

   There must be sufficient full-time or part-time medical staff for compliance with all required medical review policies and procedures.

2. b. 

   Cases must not be delayed in any stage in processing because medical staff is unavailable.

1. a. 

   There must be at least minimum specialty hours to cover the basic specialty categories.

2. b. 

   Special efforts should be made to secure psychiatrists and psychologists as DDS medical consultants.

1. a. 

   Consider expected improvements in production due to increased efficiency as a result of management studies, technical training, experience level of staff, and electronic data processing (EDP) equipment.

2. b. 

   Evaluate and consider the effect of new labor intensive procedures to assure efficient implementation.

1. a. 

   Evaluate whether:

   • •

     the quality of determinations needs improvement, and/or

   • •

     the amount of time allocated to training needs to be increased to improve quality.

2. b. 

   Consider the degree of supervision and case review required based on the experience level of the staff and quality assurance feedback.

Consider all data sources, including, but not limited to, the:

1. a. 

   workpower analysis;

2. b. 

   cost effectiveness measurement system;

3. c. 

   experience on regional, national, and State levels on optimal staffing ratios; and

4. d. 

   State Agency Work Sample report when making decisions on staffing requirements.

Evaluate the DDS operations to see if improvement can be made to comply with SSA standards and whether failure to meet such standards may be due to staffing.

1. a. 

   Submit an annual workyear plan with the first quarter spending plan or within 30 days of receipt of the annual workyear limitation. The plan should include:

   • •

     an outline of how the DDS will achieve its workyear ceiling by the end of the fiscal year, and

   • •

     the staffing mix that the DDS will achieve.

2. b. 

   Obtain RO approval of the staffing plan.