The site has an entirely new fresh look.  But more importantly, we have made it easier then ever to navigate through the plethera of information. 

Please click the link below to take a look.

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Congressional Budget Cuts Force Reduced Public Hours

For example, effective August 15, 2011, the Trenton, NJ Social Security office will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. - a reduction of 30 minutes each weekday. 

While agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window will allow them to complete face-to-face service with the visiting public without incurring the cost of overtime.   Congress provided Social Security with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for the budget this fiscal year, which makes it impossible for the agency to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.  

Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office.  For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform Social Security of a change of address or telephone number may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing their toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213.  People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

Your widow or widower may be able to receive full benefits at full retirement age. The full retirement age for survivors is age 66 for people born in 1945-1956 and will gradually increase to age 67 for people born in 1962 or later. Reduced widow or widower benefits can be received as early as age 60. If your surviving spouse is disabled, benefits can begin as early as age 50. For more information visit Widows, Widowers & Other Survivors. 

If you have been divorced, your former wife or husband who is age 60 or older (50-59 if disabled) can get benefits if your marriage lasted at least 10 years. Your former spouse, however, does not have to meet the age or length-of-marriage rule if he or she is caring for his/her child who is younger than age 16 or who is disabled and also entitled based on your work. The child must be your former spouse's natural or legally adopted child.

Benefits paid to you as a surviving divorced spouse who meets the age or disability requirement as a widow or widower won't affect the benefit rates for other survivors getting benefits on the worker's record. However, if you are the surviving divorced mother or father who has the worker's child under age 16 or disabled in your care, your benefit will affect the amount of the benefits of others on the worker's record.

For additional information concerning widow's benefits, please visit the official Social Security Administration webiste at:

Widow/Widower's Benefits

Fast Track Disability Process Will Now Look at 100 Conditions.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 12 additional Compassionate Allowances conditions involving severe heart diseases, bringing the total number of conditions in the expedited disability process to 100. Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security's standards for disability benefits.

These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children. "We have reached a significant milestone for the Compassionate Allowances program," Commissioner Astrue said. "We have an obligation to award benefits quickly to people whose medical conditions are so serious they clearly meet our disability standards. We are now able to do precisely that for 100 severe conditions." The Compassionate Allowances initiative is one of two parts of the agency's fast-track system for certain disability claims.

When combined with the Quick Disability Determination process, Social Security last year approved more than 100,000 cases, usually in less than two weeks. This year, the agency expects to fast-track nearly 150,000 cases. Social Security has held seven public hearings and worked with experts to develop the list of Compassionate Allowances conditions. The hearings also have helped the agency identify additional ways to improve the disability process for applicants with Compassionate Allowances conditions. "By definition, these illnesses are so severe that we don't need to fully develop the applicant's work history to make a decision," said Commissioner Astrue. As a result, beginning in August, Social Security is eliminating this part of the application process for people who have a condition on the list.

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances initiative, please visit:

www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.