About the Social Security Administration

History of the Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration (SSA) was created on August 14, 1935, the day when President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. This was at the height of the Great Depression, a time when more than half of senior citizens in the United States were living at or below the poverty line.

Whereas prior to the stock market crash in 1929, most Americans were confident in their ability to support themselves in old age using the funds they had accumulated in their investments in bank accounts, the Great Depression had caused high levels of anxiety and uncertainty about the future among many people. It was this concern that motivated the American public to accept legislation to enact a social insurance program. Social Security was initially only for retirees, but in 1956 the program was expanded to include Social Security Disability Insurance.

Today, the Social Security Administration is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, and it employs approximately 62,000 people in 1,400 offices throughout the country. The SSA receives roughly 2.5 million new claims for SSD benefits on a yearly basis, in addition to paying out benefits to more than 9.8 million people. Approximately 1.1 million new claims for disability benefits were approved in 2011, and the average monthly benefit for the year was $1,110.50.

Local SSA Offices

Your own claim for Social Security Disability benefits will not be processed at the headquarters in Maryland. Instead, the SSA directs new claims to local Disability Determination Services (DDS) offices in the various regions throughout the United States. Claims from Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Parker and Denver are handled by the DDS office in Aurora, which is staffed by approximately 140 employees including disability examiners, physicians and administrative and clerical personnel. The Colorado DDS office processes 35,000 claims per year.

Let Us Represent You

The attorneys of Clawson & Clawson, LLP share more than 100 years of combined legal experience, and we have a thorough understanding of what type of evidence is effective in convincing the DDS examiners to approve a claim.