Sadly, Dire need situations occur fairly often in ssd and ssi cases, due mainly to the great delays that, today, seem to be an inherent quality of the Social Security Administration's disability-claim evaluation process.

What is "dire need" and what are "dire need situations"? Though the terms would seem to be self-evident in their meaning and implications, how they are defined may depend on who you ask.

To an individual pursuing disability benefits, the terms are interchangeable and refer to circumstances that, unfortunately, a great many claimants become personally familiar with--such as no longer being able to acquire medications, obtain needed clinical or hospital treatment, or pay for critical expenses, such as utilities, rent, or mortgage costs.

To a reasonable mindset, situations of this sort should easily fall under the heading of "dire need". Yet, this is not the view typically taken by the social security administration.

Unfortunately, the simple reality is that a disability claimant's crumbling finances or inability to obtain physician care are not considered to be pressing or relevant concerns during the evaluation and processing of a disability benefit claim.

In fact, dire need as a concept only surfaces on the SSA radar screen after a claimant's case has traveled through the Initial Claim and Reconsideration steps and after an ALJ (administrative law judge) hearing has been requested by a claimant or their representative. By this time, of course, a disability claim may easily have been lodged in the "system" for up to a year, if not longer.

When does SSA take note of dire need situations? Once an ALJ hearing has been requested, a disability claimant has the opportunity to point out how precarious their particular circumstances are, in the hope that an ALJ hearing can be expedited, i.e., moved along faster to a scheduled hearing date.

How is an expedite requested? It typically involves the writing of a "dire need letter" which is sent to the Office of Hearings and Appeals. Claimants who are represented, of course, should send their dire need letter to their attorney or non-attorney representative who can then forward the letter to the appropriate hearing office.

How should a dire need letter be written? First and foremost, the letter should be written by the claimant, versus a representative, friend, or family member. Secondly, the letter should provide a level of detail sufficient enough to thoroughly and compellingly explain a claimant's dire situation . Thirdly, the letter should have attached to it copies of any late notices the claimant may have received from utility providers, landlords, or mortgage providers.

How are dire need letters viewed by OHA? For the most part, a hearing office will only consider a dire need situation to be one in which a disability claimant is in danger of becoming homeless; in other words, where foreclosure on owned property or eviction from rental property is imminent.

Having said this, however, a hearing office that is not beset by a growing backlog may occasionally view a claimant's lack of utilities or access to needed medical care as a qualifying dire need situation.

Bringing a dire need situation to the attention of the Office of Hearings & Appeals (via a detailed and well-written dire need letter) can, in some cases, have the effect of shaving months away from the time it ordinarily takes to get a hearing scheduled. Obviously, in many cases, this can mean the difference between a claimant being able to weather the disability appeal process...or losing everything everything he or she has accumulated prior to becoming disabled.

For this reason, claimants whose situations have become precarious, or whose circumstances are nearing such a state, should consider drafting a dire need letter (requesting that their disability hearing be expedited) and submitting it with all haste.