Washington, DC
Washington DC Social Security Disability Attorneys for SSDI and SSI Appeals
Social Security's office locator assigns the District ZIP codes listed below to three field offices: Downtown at 1300 D Street SW, Postal Plaza at 1905-B 9th Street NE and Anacostia at 2041 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. Each of the three belongs to the Washington, DC hearing office, so a hearing request from a District address generally goes to that office, at 1227 25th Street NW, 3rd floor. The same list takes in four Maryland field offices and three in Northern Virginia.
Downard & Associates represents adults in the District, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) appeals from reconsideration through the Appeals Council. Our office is in Lebanon, Tennessee, all of our work with District clients is by phone or video, and we charge no fee unless you win.
How we help
Disability Appeals Our Washington DC Attorneys Handle
The federal deadlines for each step are the same in the District as in Maryland or Virginia.
In the District, a denied SSDI or SSI claim follows the standard federal steps: reconsideration, then a hearing before an administrative law judge, then Appeals Council review. The federal deadlines for each step are the same in the District as in Maryland or Virginia. The things that can differ by place are which field office takes your paperwork, which hearing office list it belongs to, and, for SSI, the District's own interim assistance program, covered below.
Downard has no office in the District. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We take adult claimants, age 18 and older. VA claims and VA appeals are outside our practice, although we take SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits. We also do not take continuing disability review or cessation cases, or cases about back pay alone, and federal court appeals are referred to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
One Hearing Office List for the District and Seven Suburban Field Offices
The data behind Social Security's hearing office locator gives the Washington, DC hearing office's address as 3rd Floor, 1227 25th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20037. Its list names ten field offices: Anacostia, DC Downtown/D Street and Postal Plaza in the District; Camp Springs, Greenbelt, Rockville and Silver Spring in Maryland; and Alexandria, Manassas and Reston in Virginia.
Some nearby areas are on other lists. The locator assigns Waldorf ZIP codes to the Charlotte Hall field office, which is on the Norfolk, Virginia hearing office's list, and Stafford to the Fredericksburg field office, which is on the Richmond list. Warrenton goes to the Culpeper field office, on the Charlottesville list, and the Winchester field office is on the Baltimore list. Our Maryland disability lawyer page and Virginia disability lawyer page cover those offices.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Field offices and zip codes
Which District or Suburban Maryland Field Office Takes Your ZIP Code
These assignments come from Social Security's office locator, which works by ZIP code rather than by ward or neighborhood, so treat the place names in parentheses as a rough guide. It is a partial list and the locator is updated from time to time; run your own ZIP code to be sure.
DC Downtown, 1300 D Street SW: 20001, 20003, 20004, 20005, 20006, 20009, 20024, 20036 and 20037 (central and southwest DC, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom); 20007, 20008, 20012, 20015 and 20016 (Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase DC, Upper Northwest).
Postal Plaza, 1905-B 9th Street NE: 20002 (Near Northeast), 20010 (Columbia Heights), 20011 (Petworth, Brightwood), 20017 (Brookland) and 20018 (Woodridge).
Anacostia, Suite 130, 2041 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE: 20019, 20020 and 20032 (east of the Anacostia River and Congress Heights).
Camp Springs, 6110 Allentown Road, Suitland: 20743, 20746, 20747 and 20748 (Capitol Heights, Suitland, District Heights, Temple Hills); 20745 (Oxon Hill); 20744 (Fort Washington); 20772 and 20774 (Upper Marlboro); 20735 (Clinton); 20607 (Accokeek); and 20613 (Brandywine).
Greenbelt, Suite C, 7401 Forbes Blvd, Seabrook: 20770 (Greenbelt), 20740 (College Park), 20737 (Riverdale), 20781 through 20785 (Hyattsville, Landover), 20715, 20716, 20720 and 20721 (Bowie), 20706 (Lanham) and 20707 and 20708 (Laurel).
Silver Spring, Suite 304, 10230 New Hampshire Ave: 20901 through 20906 and 20910 (Silver Spring, Wheaton), 20912 (Takoma Park) and 20814 through 20817 (Bethesda).
Rockville, 315 N Washington Street: 20850 through 20855 (Rockville, Potomac), 20877 through 20879 (Gaithersburg) and 20874 and 20876 (Germantown).
Northern Virginia
Arlington ZIP Codes Split Between the Alexandria and Reston Field Offices
Arlington is split. The locator assigns 22202, 22204, 22206 and 22209 to the Alexandria field office at Suite 200, 5510 Cherokee Ave, and 22201, 22203, 22205 and 22207 to the Reston field office at Suite 100, 10800 Parkridge Blvd. Alexandria also takes the City of Alexandria ZIP codes, Springfield (22150 through 22153), Annandale (22003) and much of the Falls Church area, while Reston takes Fairfax (22030 through 22033), Vienna (22180 through 22182), Herndon (20170 and 20171), Centreville (20120 and 20121) and Chantilly (20151).
The Manassas field office at 9500 Center Street takes Manassas (20109 through 20112), Woodbridge and Dale City (22191 through 22193) and much of Loudoun County, including Leesburg (20175 and 20176), Ashburn (20147 and 20148) and Sterling (20164 and 20166). Because Alexandria, Reston and Manassas all belong to the Washington, DC hearing office, hearing requests from these Northern Virginia ZIP codes are generally handled by the Washington, DC hearing office.
District assistance and SSI
Interim Disability Assistance While a District SSI Claim Is Pending
The District's Interim Disability Assistance (IDA) program, run by the Department of Human Services, pays temporary financial assistance to adults who are unable to work because of a disability while they wait for a decision on SSI. The DHS IDA page lists requirements that include age 18 to 64, ineligibility for TANF because no eligible child lives in the home, ineligibility for categories of cash assistance with federal funding (the page says an SSI applicant may still be eligible while SSI is processed), being permanently and totally disabled, and awaiting an SSI decision. The Legal Aid DC guide to IDA adds District residence and very low or no income, says new enrollment is open only when the District has funding for the program, and says recipients recertify every 12 months.
When SSI is approved, IDA is repaid from the SSI back pay. Under D.C. Code § 4-204.07, an IDA applicant signs an interim assistance reimbursement authorization, and if SSI is approved, Social Security sends the past-due SSI to DHS. DHS keeps the IDA paid for the same months, up to the SSI paid for those months, gives you a written explanation, and pays you the rest. The same section ends IDA eligibility at the end of the month Social Security begins paying SSI, or at the end of the month an administrative law judge denies the SSI claim after a hearing. It treats all IDA received as an overpayment if Social Security finds you meet the disability requirements and you withdraw the SSI application before past-due benefits are paid.
Local treatment records
Records From MedStar Washington Hospital Center, MedStar Georgetown and the DC VA
MedStar Washington Hospital Center: the hospital's support services page says current patients can request hospital records through the myMedStar patient portal, or you can request them by mailing a signed authorization form to Health Information Management Department, Medical Correspondence Section, 110 Irving St., NW, Room 2A-39, Washington, D.C. 20010. It says email requests are not accepted and gives (202) 877-7181 for more information. Records from some clinics, including outpatient burn treatment, the eye clinic and the transplant clinic, are requested from that clinic's own department rather than the records office.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital: MedStar's medical records page says requests can be made in person or by mail, using its Medical Record Release form, and lists Georgetown's records office as 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Bles Building, Lower Level, Room 140, Washington, D.C. 20007, Attention: Medical Correspondence, phone 202-444-3392.
Washington DC VA Medical Center: veterans who sign in can view, print and download VA records online, according to the VA's medical records office page. For copies, the Release of Information office is in Room 1E610 on the first floor at 50 Irving Street NW, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A signed VA Form 10-5345a can also be mailed to Washington DC VA Medical Center, Business Office-Medical Records, Mail Stop Code 08, 50 Irving Street NW, Washington, DC 20422, and the VA says a request may take up to 20 business days to process.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Washington, DC Disability Claim
To object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Your lawyer does not need a Washington DC license to represent you on a Social Security claim. Social Security's rule asks for an attorney in good standing who has the right to practice law before a court of a state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory or island possession, or a federal court, who is not disqualified or suspended from representing claimants, and whom no law prohibits from acting as a representative. How an out-of-state disability lawyer works.
Common questions
Washington DC Disability Appeal Questions
Is the DC hearing office in the Social Security building on D Street SW?
No. Social Security's hearing office data gives the hearing office as the 3rd floor of 1227 25th Street NW, in the West End. The office locator puts the DC Downtown field office at 1300 D Street SW, which takes applications and other field office business. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place.
I live in Arlington. Which Social Security field office takes my claim?
It depends on your ZIP code. The locator assigns 22202, 22204, 22206 and 22209 to the Alexandria field office and 22201, 22203, 22205 and 22207 to the Reston field office. Both belong to the Washington, DC hearing office, so that office generally handles the hearing either way.
Does a Waldorf disability hearing go to the DC hearing office?
Generally not. The locator assigns 20601, 20602 and 20603 to the Charlotte Hall field office, which is on the Norfolk, Virginia hearing office's list. Nearby Accokeek (20607) and Brandywine (20613) are assigned to the Camp Springs field office instead, which is on the DC list.
If I received IDA and SSI is approved, how much of the back pay do I get?
The balance left after the District's repayment. Under D.C. Code § 4-204.07, Social Security sends the past-due SSI to DHS, which works out the repayment month by month, keeping the IDA it paid for each month up to the SSI paid for that month, then sends you a written explanation and pays you the balance. If an attorney represents you and Social Security authorizes a fee, Social Security generally pays that fee directly from the past-due SSI left after the District is repaid, within the limits in 20 CFR 416.1520 and 416.1530, so the amount you receive can be smaller still.
Discuss your claim
Start a Washington DC Claim Review by Phone or Video
Phone (615) 255-4307 or use the free review form, and expect a response within 3 business hours. Keep your Social Security letters at hand, with the date each one arrived, and a list of the hospitals, clinics and doctors that have treated you.