Part 1: The Issues (Diagnosis Section)

Issue 1: Structural Evasion of Accountability

• DDS makes decisions, SSA sends denial letters — no one takes ownership.
  
• Claimants can't challenge either agency directly.
  
• The public has no visibility into how trauma claims are handled.

Issue 2: Evidence Transfer Breakdown

• DDS decisions based on incomplete records.
  
• SSA’s denial letters cite fewer documents than were submitted.
  
• Violates SSA POMS DI 22505.001 (medical evidence transfer).

Issue 3: Outdated Trauma Evaluation Models

• One-time CE exams are adversarial and clinically outdated.
  
• No trauma-specific adjudicators or guidelines.
  
• Results in claim denials that disregard long-term dysfunction.

Issue 4: No Recovery-Oriented Pipeline for PTS/D Claimants

• SSA focuses on denial and reassessment, not stabilization.
  
• No national trauma pipeline or case tracking.
  
• Missed opportunity to align with VA models (e.g. VETS, Mike Day Act).

Issue 5: Federal Waste from Disability Pipeline Mismanagement

• Only ~30% of initial disability claims are approved, despite full evidence submissions.
• Fewer than 15% are approved at reconsideration, leading to excessive appeals and delays.
• Over 80% of those who persist to the ALJ hearing are ultimately approved — revealing that the system front-loads denials, only to reverse them later at great expense.

This inefficient structure costs taxpayers, clogs dockets, and inflicts avoidable harm on trauma survivors navigating a broken system.

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Part 2: Proposed Legislation

What We’re Calling For:
The Michael “Hawk” O’Connor PTS/D Reform Act

• A four-phase roadmap built around compliance, accountability, innovation, and recovery.

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Part 3: The 4-Phase Reform Roadmap (Solutions Section)

What We’re Calling For:
The Michael “Hawk” O’Connor PTS/D Reform Act
 A four-part roadmap built around compliance, accountability, innovation, and recovery.

📌 Objective #1:
 Enforce SSA Reform Through Independent Oversight

SSA’s 2024 initiative, Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process, promotes trauma-informed reviews — but DDS implementation remains unverified.

We demand:

• Conduct federal audits of DDS practices.
• Implement mock claim testing to identify systemic inconsistencies.
• Require public report cards on DDS compliance by state.

DOGE and Congressional oversight must hold DDS offices accountable to SSA reform directives.

Reform without enforcement is hollow. Oversight is what transforms policy into protection.

📌 Objective #2:
 Accountability with Legal Consequences
We call upon DOGE to apply principles from Executive Order 14150 (VA Reform, 2025) to SSA, including:

• Create legal consequences for gross negligence in evidence handling, particularly when SSA-submitted documents are not reviewed by DDS.
• Breakdowns in documentation transfer (see Issue 2) should be audited for administrative negligence and corrected with enforceable standards.
• Introduce administrative consequences for misreporting, falsified assessments, and denial patterns that contradict clinical evidence.

Critically, we demand legal accountability — including criminal liability — when gross negligence, falsified records, or reckless disregard contributes to claimant harm or suicide.

If law enforcement officers can be prosecuted for fatal misconduct, so too should government employees whose actions or omissions cost lives.

We’re not seeking vengeance. We’re seeking standards.

📌 Objective #3:
 Modernize SSA Evaluations with VA Innovations
The VA is piloting forward-thinking models of trauma recovery, including:

• Transition away from one-time CE exams for trauma-based claims.
• Establish trauma-specific adjudicator training and certification modeled after VA clinical protocols.
• Adopt forward-thinking protocols from VA pilot programs and the Mike Day Act.
• Integrate evidence-based, trauma-informed evaluation models.

3a. Congressional Support for Psychedelic PTSD Treatment
Founded by Marcus Capone (SEAL Team 6) and his wife Amber, VETS supports Special Operations veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD.

Their recovery stories highlight the power of personalized care and nontraditional therapies, including psychedelic-assisted treatments — often succeeding where conventional care failed. These stories parallel the claimant’s consideration of similar pathways.

3b. Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
Founded by Marcus Capone (SEAL Team 6) and his wife Amber, VETS supports Special Operations veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD.

Their recovery stories highlight the power of personalized care and nontraditional therapies, including psychedelic-assisted treatments — often succeeding where conventional care failed.

These stories parallel the claimant’s consideration of similar pathways.

3c. MAPS – A Leader in Psychedelic Research
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has led national MDMA-assisted PTSD research.

U.S. Army veteran Jonathan Lubecky, now MAPS' Veterans & Governmental Affairs Liaison, has publicly shared his recovery story — demonstrating the life-saving impact of innovative trauma care.

📌 Objective #4:
 Five-Year Contingent Award + PAD for PTS/D
We propose a new disability classification pathway for PTS/D claimants, centered on proactive stabilization:

• Introduce a contingent 5-year disability award tied to structured PAD (Psychiatric Advance Directive) participation.
• Support claimants through predictable, goal-oriented recovery with safeguards against premature termination.
• Recognize that this is not a guarantee of permanent disability — it is a structured pathway for those with verified trauma disorders to recover without administrative sabotage.

This model provides stability, incentivizes recovery, and transforms SSA from a gatekeeper of denial to a facilitator of healing.

📌 Objective #5:
DOGE Intervention to Reduce Federal Waste

• Mandate DOGE-led audit of claim reversal rates by phase.
• Investigate denial quotas or state-by-state inconsistency at DDS.
• Identify cost-saving reforms through early trauma-competent review.

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Part 4: The Cause

What You’re Signing For This petition supports:

• Structural accountability in SSA/DDS trauma evaluations
  Transparency in evidentiary handling.
• Adoption of recovery-based disability paths for trauma survivors.
• Realignment of SSA systems with modern clinical standards
  
  

Target Recipients:

1. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
2. U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
3. U.S. Office of the Inspector General (SSA-OIG)

Supporting Evidence
This petition accompanies a public video release, including:

• A real consultative exam recording
• Documentation of procedural failures

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Final Word: Societal Imperative
When individuals with PTSD are denied timely support or forced into degrading, inappropriate roles, the result is often breakdown, despair, or suicide. These are not just personal tragedies — they are public losses.

Some of our most compassionate, driven, and high-potential citizens are survivors of trauma. Our systems must help them rebuild — not abandon them.

This reform doesn’t just save lives. It strengthens the nation.