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When a person makes the decision to apply for social security disability or SSI benefits, they must follow a series of steps. The first step is ordinarily to contact the social security office and make the request for a disability application to be taken. After this is done, the individual will, at some point, be interviewed by a CR, or claims rep, and will be required to complete a disability application. The application for disability will be taken at a social security office. However, that is not where it will be processed. As the social security administration itself states, "most disability claims are initially processed through a network of local social security field offices and state agencies". What is a state agency, in this sense? It is the agency that exists in a particular state that has the responsibility for rendering medical decisions on social security disability and SSI disability claims. In most states, this agency is referred to as DDS, or disability determination services. What happens at DDS? Quite a few things, actually. But the essential and primary role of a state agency, i.e. DDS, is to gather a person's medical records and evaluate them to determine whether or not a claim for disability benefits will be approved or denied. More, specifically, this is what happens when a person files for disability: 1. They are interviewed at a social security field office, where a disability application is taken. 2. Their claim is forwarded, or transmitted, to the state agency, usually known as DDS. 3. After arriving at DDs, the claim is assigned to a disability examiner. 4. Immediately after receiving the claim, the disability examiner sends out requests for medical records. 5. After the medical records arrive (or, at least the majority of them), the disability examiner will attempt to make a decision on the disability case. This is done by reading the medical records and looking to see if the records indicate a basis for approval. As part of the evaluation process, the disability examiner will engage in a consultation with a medical doctor who is assigned to his or her case processing unit. This is done in cases where a claimant has listed (on the disability application) a physical impairment. In cases where a disability claimant has listed a mental impairment (such as depression or bipolar disorder or low IQ), the disability examiner will engage in a consultation with a psychologist or psychiatrist who has been assigned to his or her case processing unit. Of course, in cases where a disability claimant has listed both physical and mental impairments, the disability examiner will speak with both the medical and mental consultants in his or her unit. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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