There are 165 hearing offices in the United States called ODAR [Office of Disability Adjudication and Review] hearing offices. The ODAR hearing offices are “were disability claimants appear before an independent judge (called an “Administrative Law Judge”) to appeal a denial by the Social Security Administration of an application for disability benefits. Over the past several years, the wait to get a hearing and a decision from the ODAR has been close to two years. When the Social Security Administration has measured the speed at which the various ODARs have resolved their cases, the Indiana ODARs have come in at or close to the bottom of all the ODARs in the nation.
The wait has been the subject of public outcry and and Congressional Hearings. As a consequence, the Social Security Administration has implemented several measures to shorten the time at the ODAR. Those improvement measures seems to be working. The latest Social Security Administration review of ODARs nationwide, shows that the Indianapolis ODAR is now 61st in the nation [tied with Detroit] with a 336 day processing time, Ft. Wayne ODAR is 77th with a 349 day processing time, Evansville ODAR is 120th with a 384 day processing time and Valparaiso ODAR is 125th with a 391 day processing time.
The quickest ODAR is Shreveport with a 234 day processing time. The slowest ODAR office is St. Louis with a 485 day processing time.