An Affiliated Representative of a Designated Scheduling Group (DSG) is a representative who is closely associated with the individual representative or group of representatives for whom availability will be submitted by the DSG. For example, in the case of a firm or larger practice group that will submit consolidated availability, affiliated representatives would normally include partners, associates, or other practice group employees or of-counsel attorneys who generally do not handle cases for other groups or firms. Additionally, affiliated representatives generally appear on the claimant’s Appointment of Representative Form (1696).

An Available Representative is a representative who is available to attend hearings for a Designated Scheduling Group (DSG) and who may or may not be affiliated with the DSG. In most situations, it is not necessary to provide the name of an available representative when submitting monthly availability.

A Consolidated DSG is a type of DSG that is recommended for practice groups that internally assign available representatives to hearings after the hearing has been scheduled.

A Designated Scheduling Group (DSG) is a representative-identified scheduling group. The DSG may include only one representative or multiple representatives. If a representative would like to provide availability for a consolidated group of representatives, the DSG will contain multiple representatives. SSA uses the DSG to track availability for hearings for the group. On a monthly basis, representatives will provide hearing availability for the DSG to the External Liaison Unit (ELU). Hearing offices and National Hearing Centers will schedule hearings pursuant to availability provided for the DSG. Submitting information about a DSG is the first step in the scheduling process. The ELU is not able to accept monthly availability submissions from a representative who is not part of a DSG.

The External Liaison Unit (ELU) is a specialized unit within SSA. The ELU is primarily responsible for obtaining and monitoring representative availability. ELU staff ensures appropriate collection of availability and enters representative-provided availability submitted by email into OHO’s representative availability tracking application.

A Hybrid Modification is a modification available to a Consolidated DSG. It is recommended for practice groups that typically internally assign available representatives to cases after the hearing has been scheduled, but for remand and supplemental hearings, want to ensure that a particular available representative’s availability is used when scheduling remand or supplemental hearings.

For availability submitted for Target Scheduling Month (TSM) January 2026 and beyond, the National Availability Process is used to obtain DSG monthly availability through the Representative Availability Portal or by email. Availability is submitted to cover all pending schedulable cases across the nation, without regard to location of the cases.

For availability submitted for Target Scheduling Month (TSM) January 2026 and beyond, the National Availability Process is used to obtain DSG monthly availability through the Representative Availability Portal or by email. Availability is submitted to cover all pending schedulable cases across the nation, without regard to location of the cases.

National Hearing Centers (NHCs) are part of SSA's strategy to reduce case processing time by increasing adjudicatory capacity and efficiency with a focus on the electronic hearings process. ALJs in the NHCs utilize audio and video hearing technology to hear cases from parts of the country with the heaviest workloads. NHCs afford flexibility to balance workloads and assist areas where the need is greatest.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information about an individual maintained by an agency, including (1) any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual‘s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother‘s maiden name, or biometric records; and (2) any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information. Please note that submission of initial or modified DSG information is considered PII.

Do not send claimant-specific PII in an email and do not send representative PII via unencrypted email. Encryption instructions are located here: EMAIL ENCRYPTION INSTRUCTIONS

The Representative Availability Portal is a simple and convenient web-based method of submitting representative availability to SSA. The Portal is a convenient alternative to emailing availability to us.

A schedulable case includes a case in any of the following pre-hearing statuses in Electronic Record Express (ERE): Master Docket, Pending Review, Pre-Hearing Review, Pending Folder Assembly, Folder Assembly, Pre-Hearing Development, Pending ALJ Assignment, and Ready to Schedule.

SSA schedules cases on a scheduling cycle. A scheduling cycle is typically six months and includes the month in which the scheduled hearings will be held.

A Solo DSG is a type of DSG that is recommended for practice groups that consist of solo practitioners or assign coverage of hearings to a specific representative before the hearing is scheduled.

A Solo Secondary Modification is a modification available to a Solo DSG. This modification is recommended for practice groups that maintain a principal representative on the practice group’s cases throughout the entire hearing process and that assign coverage of hearings for some or all of those cases to a specific non-principal representative before the hearing is scheduled. If the practice groups want to ensure that the non-principal representative’s availability is used when scheduling hearings for those assigned cases, they should consider adding a Solo Secondary Modification to their DSG. A Solo DSG with the Solo Secondary Modification will have two affiliated representatives: the non-principal representative for whom availability will be provided and the representative who appears as the principal representative on the non-principal representative’s cases.

The Target Scheduling Month (TSM) is the month in which the scheduled hearings will be held.

An Unlimited Availability Modification is a modification available to a Consolidated DSG. It is recommended for practice groups which have sufficient available representatives to attend hearings scheduled at any time without limitation and which do not wish to provide monthly availability.