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Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board reports sharp backlog drop, outlines CAMS rollout and staffing plans
Summary
At its November meeting in Sacramento, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board said timeliness metrics now exceed U.S. Department of Labor goals, reported major reductions in inventory tied to CAMS and technology changes, and discussed staffing and recruitment for IT and administrative roles.
The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board on Wednesday reported a marked reduction in its appeals backlog and described personnel and technology steps intended to maintain timeliness as it implements a new case-management system.
Chair Michael Allen opened the meeting in Sacramento and introduced staff reports that tracked operations, staffing and information-technology changes across the agency.
Judge Koutre, reporting on field workload and timeliness, said the agency "resolved another 5,500 cases, towards resolving that backlog" in October and that field offices issued "over 26,000 decisions" that month. He reported the agency's total inventory was "just over 61,000 cases," of which "just over 42,000 are in the UI and PUA programs," and said the average case age dropped by about a week during the period. Koutre said the board has been coordinating with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Employment Development Department on recovery and scheduling for 2025.
Rebecca Bach, supervising administrative law judge, said appellate operations are exceeding Department of Labor timeliness goals: "we closed 84.3% of our cases within 45 days" in October and "96.6% of our cases within 75 days," and reported a case-aging average of "27.6" days as of Oct. 31, 2024.
Board members and staff credited information-technology improvements and CAMS, the agency's case-management system, for much of the progress. Ramon Likowski told the board the backlog had been "a 147,000 cases, and now we're around 42,000 cases," and he credited tech staff and leadership with that reduction. Mark Smith of IT said the department is preparing the next CAMS software release and that the project is "on group 3 of 5" releases, noting the upcoming update focuses on security and enhancements.
Agency leaders also discussed staffing. Koutre said the agency had "lost approximately 28 ALJs since last December," noting retirements and separations will continue to affect staffing levels. Mark Smith said IT is recruiting to refill two positions, and Robert Silva, in administrative services, described 15 pending support-staff recruitments across eight offices and the use of seasonal clerks to handle temporary workload increases.
Operational disruptions were minimal despite recent regional wildfires: Koutre said the San Diego office was evacuated Oct. 31 and the Oxnard office closed Nov. 6, with both offices reopening quickly and other offices stepping in to serve the public.
Bach also announced the death of longtime colleague Sunae Franklin, who passed Nov. 2, 2024; she recounted Franklin’s more than 20 years of service across multiple offices and offered condolences to the family.
Chair Allen noted the board closed 752 appeals in the past month, saying 711 were processed under CAMS and 41 under the legacy system. He asked that recruitment windows for open IT positions remain long enough over the holidays to attract qualified candidates.
On procedure, the board approved the minutes of the October meeting. The transcript records Member Michael Ng saying, "I make the motion and I vote to approve," and Vice Chair Laura Kentmanning voting to approve; the transcript also records Chair Michael Allen initially stating he would abstain and later saying "I approve," which creates an inconsistency in the recorded roll-call statements. The board counsel stated there was no closed-session business, and Chair Allen adjourned the meeting.
What happens next: staff said they have begun scheduling 2025 meetings with the U.S. Department of Labor and EDD to discuss backlogs and recovery planning, and the CAMS rollout continues through planned release groups.
Note on names and transcript inconsistencies: the transcript contains inconsistent spellings of several participant names (for example, variations on Vice Chair Laura Kentmanning and Member Robert Witkowski/Wykowski). This article uses the spellings as they first appear in the official transcript and notes the inconsistencies above.
