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CAMS rollout, case reassignments help California appeals board narrow backlog and improve timeliness
Summary
Officials told the California Unemployment Appeals Board that the California Appeals Management System (CAMS) and targeted case reassignments helped the agency close tens of thousands of cases in April and reduced average case age; second‑level measures also exceeded U.S. Department of Labor targets for the month.
SACRAMENTO — The California Unemployment Appeals Board reported faster processing and a smaller backlog in April after continued use of the California Appeals Management System, board members heard at the May 21 meeting.
Judge Koutre, reporting on field workload, said field operations closed 26,282 cases in April and that the board's field teams closed 1,268 CAMS cases and 75 legacy cases during the month. "Case aging was again reduced by 4 more days in April to 43 days," Judge Koutre said, summarizing measures the board is tracking against federal guidance.
The numbers matter because federal case-timeliness standards guide funding and oversight. Judge Rebecca Bach, supervising administrative law judge for appellate operations, told the board that second-level (appellate) measures also exceeded Department of Labor guidelines for April: 74.8 percent of second‑level appeals were closed within 45 days and 93.1 percent were closed within 75 days, and average second‑level case aging was 32.6 days.
Officials attributed the improvements to three primary factors: reduced appeal intake, higher disposition rates, and better matching of hearing demand with regional hearing capacity. Judge Koutre said staff moved more than 2,500 cases ready for hearing to offices that had capacity, which helped lower overall wait time.
Board members and staff described an ongoing CAMS best-practices review led by the original CAMS field office trainers. Judge Koutre said the review team is visiting 11 offices and interviewing staff to document how CAMS is used in practice and to recommend training and process changes to increase consistency across the field.
"They're going to do 11 of these before they issue their recommendations," Judge Koutre said. The team previously trained offices during CAMS rollout and has returned to evaluate implementation and solicit front-line feedback.
Board members asked whether recent improvements would sustain if operations or intake change. Judge Koutre said the progress depends on continuing alignment between intake and output: as long as incoming appeals remain relatively static and dispositions remain high, he said, "I think we're gonna make some significant progress as we enter the summer and into the fall." He noted the U.S. Department of Labor required average case age target of 30 days and that the board last met that figure in September 2020.
The board also expects to gather more comparative historical data. Member Ryan asked for a pre-pandemic point of reference for performance; Judge Koutre said staff were preparing that snapshot and expected to provide it to board members within about a week.
Background and next steps: staff will complete the CAMS field review and return recommendations for additional training and process changes. Presiding staff are expected to report continuing monthly measures for intake, dispositions, case age and DOL compliance targets at future board meetings.
