Massive budget cuts and hiring freezes in the last few years have turned the Social Security Administration into one of the most understaffed and overburdened agencies in the federal government. As of June, it had a backlog of more than 1 million unresolved disability claims, the highest in the agency’s history. The average wait time to get one of these claims adjudicated is more than a year…

Unfortunately, when it comes to customer service, many government agencies that serve the poor are being asked to do more with less, and the SSA has faced particularly hard times. Indeed, in 2013, the agency acknowledged that it is “facing its toughest fiscal challenge in nearly 30 years.” Budget shortfalls nearly every year from 2000 to 2013 have made the SSA unable to efficiently serve the public in its field offices, at a time when Boomers are getting older and demand for services like retirement and disability benefits are as high as they have ever been. Between 2011 and 2013, the agency’s budget was short of the President’s request by an average of $1 billion every year.

According to a 2014 investigation by a U.S. Senate committee, more field offices closed between and 2008 and 2013 than in any other five-year period in the Administration’s history. And the agency lost 11,000 workers between 2010 and 2013, with some offices shedding a quarter of their staff, due to attrition and a huge wave of retirements. The loss of staff, combined with hiring freezes and increased workloads, have left employees with little time to prepare for appointments, review pending claims, or attend training. All that translates into extremely long wait times, both in person and on the phone.