Disabled and still waiting for benefits

images

author

Quinn Schuler - View Bio

Read more articles by this author

Thousands of Tucsonans await benefits but help may be on the way.

Yolanda Hinojos hasn't changed her son's room since he died six years ago. She hasn't even thrown out his deodorant because she says it's like "footprints" for her. She says the police told her it was suicide but she calls it murder.

"I was stressed. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I wanted justice for my son," Hinojos said. On top of her depression and anxiety from his death her feet were giving her more problems than ever before. She has degenerative joint disease. She says these are reasons she can't work anymore.

"I can't stand on my feet for a very long time. If I stand on my feet for about an hour, my feet start to swell," Hinojos said. So she applied for Social Security Disability benefits but was turned her down.

Last year in Arizona, close to 50,000 people applied for benefits and nearly 30,000 were rejected. Thousands more were waiting on a decision and many of them are still waiting. Right now there are more than 722,00 people in the U.S. waiting to find out if they'll receive Social Security Disability benefits which includes more than 4,000 in Tucson. "You get tired of waiting and waiting," Hinojos said.

Representatives with the Social Security Administration say the situation is improving though. With recovery funds they hired more staff, 19 just in Arizona, who started working over the summer. In a statement to News 4, Dorothy Clark, spokesperson for SSA, said, "Our goal is to reduce the hearing backlog to capacity by 2013, and we believe we can do that...We are opening new offices across the country in 2010 and 2011, and we will hire 226 ALJ's and the necessary support staff this year."

After two years and nine months, Hinojos claim was recently approved. "I'm just glad I got it and hopefully the people that need it will get it soon. There are a lot of people out there that are waiting and need to get help," Hinojos said.

A company called Allsup helped Hinojos through the process. Dan Allsup, Allsup's communication director, says the baby boomers and the poor economy are causing the backlog. He says the backlog at the hearing level is improving but the number of people applying is getting worse. "The number of people waiting in line at the initial application level is exploding," Allsup said. Allsup says it's a good idea to look into getting professional help to navigate through the process.

Click here for their information, http://www.allsup.com

Representatives with SSA, say applying online is the fastest way to file a claim.

Click here, http://www.socialsecurity.gov

You can also visit the Tucson office at 3500 N. Campbell Avenue or 88 West 38th Street.