Sen. Karcher’s staff helps resident obtain disability payments

On Dec. 19, I had surgery and my employer filed a claim with the office of temporary disability on my behalf. On Feb. 9, almost seven weeks postoperatively, I called the disability office and was informed they were waiting for additional paperwork from a previous employer I had only worked for part time for a few months.

When I asked how long it would be before I received a check, I was told it would be another four to six weeks because of processing delays. After calling my previous employer and finding out they never received the paperwork, I called the disability office back [and they] offered no assistance at all.

That same evening I sent an e-mail to Sen. (Ellen) Karcher’s office to ask for any assistance they could give me in regard to this matter. The next morning before noon I received a call from Sen. Karcher’s chief of staff Joe Deckelnick.

Joe took all of my information and promised to be back in touch with me as soon as possible. Within a few minutes he was able to reach my former employer, get the proper paperwork for them to fill in, and the proper number to fax it to in Trenton. I received a call from Joe that same afternoon with news that I should be getting a check within a week.

Three days later I received all of my checks to bring me up-to-date with disability payments.

Within a few minutes I received a call from Sen. Karcher making sure I had received all of my checks as promised. It was so wonderful to know that Sen. Karcher and her chief of staff took the time to help with this matter.

Since then I have received additional calls from the office making sure I am progressing well and there have been no further delays with disability payments.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Sen. Karcher and her staff for their immediate attention to this matter.

Kerry Doherty

Freehold