Disability Agency Director Earns National Lifetime Achievement Award from Social Security Administration

Director Linda Parker with Commissioners Shelton, Kirk and White

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. ─ Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) Director Linda S. Parker was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Social Security Administration (SSA) at a regional ceremony in Dallas.

Parker began her 35-year in state service in 1973 with the Disability Determination Unit, which is responsible for determining medical eligibility for Social Security disability benefits in Oklahoma.

During her tenure with that organization, she was promoted to a series of positions, including examiner supervisor, programs supervisor and programs assistant administrator. Her responsibilities included planning, scheduling and organizing all management services for the staff. She developed training materials and monitored and evaluated training in compliance with SSA policy directives.

Parker also managed the Quality Assurance and Disability Hearings Unit and coordinated activities for the Receiving and Transmitting Unit, the switchboard, the Case Control Unit, Medical Claims Processing and Teletype and Computer Services. In addition to these duties, she initiated all personnel actions and managed budget and purchasing activities.

The current Disability Determination Division Administrator Noel Tyler wrote in award nomination, “Linda Parker’s exceptional effort and competence in managing this diverse workload has been widely-recognized, including recognition by both SSA and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.”

The Department of Rehabilitation Services was a Department of Human Services division until June 11, 1993 when many disability-related programs and services, including Disability Determination, were united under a new, independent agency.

Parker served as DRS’s first administrator for the Administrative Services Division until 1996, when was appointed agency director. For the past 12 years, she has managed a staff of 900 and a budget totaling $139 million.

“As a mentor and a leader, she understands the importance of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective,” Noel Tyler said. “Director Parker has used her influence to achieve extraordinary results from ordinary people.”

Linda Parker recently announced her retirement from public service in Dec. 2008.

Her expertise and contributions have been recognized by many professional organizations, including the Oklahoma Chapter of the Society for Public Administration, the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Association and the Commission for Rehabilitation Services, which governs the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

She has served as a board member for Project Woman and several disability councils, including the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council and the State Independent Living Council, and is a board member of the Governor’s Transformation Advisory Board, Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development and the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. “Director Parker has demonstrated superior leadership and dedication to public service throughout her impressive career and is most deserving of the Regional Commissioner’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” Tyler said. “She has always been a champion for the staff and programs of the Social Security Disability Determination Division and has a long-history of collaboration with federal, state and local agencies to provide high-quality disability services to the citizens of Oklahoma.”

In Nov. 2007, the Disability Determination Division was also recognized by the Social Security Regional Commissioner Ramona Schuenemeyer for achieving an accuracy rate of 96%, reducing case processing time by 14.3 days and completing 8,985 initial claims for disability benefits.

The Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) expands opportunities for employment, independent life and economic self-sufficiency by helping Oklahomans with disabilities bridge barriers to success at work, school and home. For more information about DRS programs, phone (800) 845-8476 or visit DRS Online at www.okdrs.gov.

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