RUMFORD — Thousands of people in the River Valley area, and Oxford and Franklin counties are expected to visit the Rumford Public Library soon for their Social Security needs rather than drive to Auburn.
Late Wednesday morning, representatives from the U.S. Social Security Administration, and Maine offices joined congressional, state and local officials in touting the administration’s new real-time video service program.
The program, which allows people to file a claim or complete Social Security business face-to-face via a two-way video monitor with a representative about 50 miles away in Auburn, is the first of its kind to debut in New England, Jennifer M. Bowie, Social Security district manager in Portland, said.
Rumford got first dibs, because the administration conducted its pilot program here, and the town’s Social Security office is only open on Thursdays and doesn’t process claims, she said.
“The Rumford service area is pretty large,” Bowie said. “It’s the upper two-thirds of Oxford and Franklin counties, and for quite a few years now, anyone filing for a claim — like unemployment, retirement or disability — if they wanted face-to-face service, they would have to travel to the Auburn office, and that’s quite a distance for some people.”
Other options were to conduct interviews by phone or via online services.
“For quite some time now, the Rumford office has been open, but not for claims,” Bowie said.
“So this works out really well for people if they’re closer to Rumford than say Auburn. Each community has several people who are either receiving Social Security benefits or will be eligible in the future.”
The video service is open by appointment only at 9:15 and 11 a.m. on Mondays, and for walk-ins only from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays. For video service questions, call 866-627-6996.
To use the service, people simply enter the library’s public room in the basement, where a small soundproofed room has been built.
“A person comes in and all they have to do is just sit down and they’ll be looking at a representative,” Bowie said.
“They don’t have to press any buttons or do anything to connect, so it is personal, and we really advocate this within our agency because we don’t want to just deliver one means of service delivery. We want to cater to the needs of the public.”
Having the Rumford Social Security office open all day Thursdays and having the video service gives the administration a much-needed three-day presence here, Jason Rossi, Social Security’s district manager in Auburn, said.
Rossi demonstrated the program’s ease for the crowd of about 50 when he took a seat in front of the monitor and up popped Denise Landsperg, the claims representative in Auburn.
Rossi asked a series of typical questions and Landsperg walked him through the process.
And then Social Security Administration Regional Commissioner Manuel J. Vaz presented Public Service Recognition awards to former Rumford Town Manager Len Greaney and now retired town librarian Karl Aromaa, who worked with the administration through Bowie and library trustees to bring the service to the library.
Aromaa, Trustee Linda MacGregor, and current librarian Luke Sorenson said they are thrilled and honored that Rumford and the library were chosen to be the first in New England to debut the service.
“We were really proud,” Aromaa said.
“This is a wonderful thing,” MacGregor said. “It’s a real win-win for us. The library needs this kind of attention and understanding.”
Aromaa and Sorenson said the service would bring people into the library, a place where many townspeople have never been.
“Anytime something comes along that will bring people into the library, we want to do it,” Aromaa said.
“With the success of the pilot and the leadership role, it really bodes well for Rumford, because there is a lot of potential in town,” MacGregor said.
“It means a great deal to the library in providing another service to the community,” Sorenson said. “And also, it brings the community into the library more often and we can help meet their needs.”
Greaney said it will be a boon for senior citizens.
“Rather than go to Auburn, this is the place to go to have firsthand, face-to-face discussions with the experts in Auburn,” he said. “I’m still young at 77, but I’ll probably use this service pretty darn soon.”
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- At Wednesday morning’s Social Security Administration ceremony touting its new video service program at Rumford Public Library, Jason Rossi, the administration’s district manager in Auburn, demonstrates from Rumford how it works. He talks in real-time with Randy Henry in Auburn via the two-way video-conferencing monitor. Henry is the operations supervisor at the Auburn office.
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- Jason Rossi, right, district manager of the Social Security’s office in Auburn, runs through a series of questions in real-time with Social Security claims’ representative Denise Landsperg in Auburn during a demonstration Wednesday of the Social Security Administration’s new video services program in the Rumford Public Library. Rumford and the library were chosen as the first in New England to debut the program.
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- U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, explains the effort by the Social Security Administration, Rumford Public Library and Rumford officials to bring video service to the library so people won’t have to drive to Auburn to conduct Social Security business. A demonstration was given Wednesday. At far right is the new soundproof room in the library’s Public Room in the basement that houses the real-time, two-way video-conferencing monitor.
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