Three months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD’s system does not function properly.

EDD by phone

The EDD offices officially are now only open four hours a day, from 8:00 am to noon, according to their website.

I called the EDD hotline, 1-866-333-4606. It’s an information-only recorded message, which eventually tells the caller to file for unemployment benefits on the EDD website; or call 800-300-5616, the designated phone line for filing for unemployment benefits. I called that second number. The recorded message says, “We are currently experiencing more calls than we can answer.” It refers the caller back to the information-only recorded message phone line.

Ironically, the recorded message on the EDD phone line for filing for unemployment claims recommends claimants only call after 5:00 pm, before 8:00 am, or on Saturday or Sunday – that is, after hours and on weekends.

The recorded message tells callers the fastest way to file an unemployment insurance claim is through the EDD website, and tells callers to allow 10 days for processing online, or by phone.

Then the message abruptly says, “Goodbye,” and the call is terminated. There is no opportunity to file an unemployment claim on the phone.

The recorded phone messages provide a smorgasbord of general information, most of which I found unreliable as they just refer to phone messages that disconnect, or to the website which also is largely a dead end.

Software contracts

Updated software was designed and installed by EDD Contractor Deloitte Consulting to create more online access for existing claims. EDD representatives said at a November 6 Assembly hearing that a computer “glitch” delayed the payments for tens of thousands of Californians. According to News 10, Deloitte “has already been paid at least $46 million” for the project.

Deloitte Consulting also was awarded a contract for another malfunctioning government computer project. The IRS gave the firm $12.9 million to “deliver world class implementation” of the Affordable Care Act, usually called Obamacare.

The Deloitte contract was awarded two months after the Government Accountability Office found serious fault with the way the IRS was handling the implementation of the ACA, when the IRS could not account for “$67 million that was set aside in a slush fund to help pay for Obamacare,” Forbes Magazine reported. The GAO link no longer works, but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration addressed the IRS mishandling in a September report.

Permanent fix

Jason Salzetti, Deloitte’s company’s California principal, told the Los Angeles Times the company hoped for a permanent fix in “the next few weeks.” But that was a month ago and there’s still no permanent fix.

The emails obtained by the News 10 exposé show it was two weeks before managers at EDD even realized there were problems with their software upgrade, according to testimony at the November oversight hearing.

When the newly updated taxpayer-funded system was released, it created a massive backlog of unpaid unemployment payments. When EDD tried to catch up on the payments, the U.S. Department of Labor even blamed EDD for boosting the national unemployment rate, labor Recruiter.com reported.

I contacted News 10 reporter Thom Jensen by email, and asked if the EDD had ever responded to the News 10 Public Records Request. But I did not hear back from Jensen.

EDD website

On its website, the EDD claims: “The EDD promotes California’s economic health by providing information to help people understand California’s economy and make informed labor market choices.”

On the EDD Facebook page, some frustrated claimants said they have contacted their Assembly representatives and have had some success getting through to the EDD with the legislative help. However, even that can take weeks or months.

One EDD claimant told me she contacted Gov. Jerry Brown’s office out of frustration when her repeated requests for help from EDD for ongoing claims went unanswered. She said a governor’s office representative revealed they are aware of the problem, but told the woman she should not expect a response from the EDD in less than 30 days.

This is Part 2 of a series on the EDD. Part 1, an interview with Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here.

Just after the Labor Day weekend, the California Employment Development Department released a $100 million computer upgrade. It crashed.

Without warning, 150,000 jobless Californians were cut from unemployment benefits. The EDD blamed a computer glitch and said it would take weeks to fix.

November hearings in the Legislature produced promises to fix the system. In response, Henry Perea, D-Fresno, the chairman of the Insurance Committee, sent a letter to EDD Director Hilliard demanding fixes by Dec. 31. Perea identified five improvement areas:

1. “Update the criteria for scheduling determinations due to untimely certifications,” so unemployment claimants are not burdened with ongoing unnecessary work and delays;

2.  “Update the criteria for scheduling determinations due to attending school or job training,” to prevent benefit delays;

3. “Improve communications with claimants.” The EDD has been moving to more of a self-service claims system, but had not provided claimants with the necessary tools;

4. “Translation of documents and websites.” The EDD website has only a few pages in Spanish, and virtually none in other languages. If the goal is a self-service model, the EDD must help those with limited English language abilities access multiple languages on the site.

5. “Call center service improvement.” The call centers historically have been problematic, time consuming “and perhaps the most frustrating and time consuming for ongoing UI claimants.” Even under “normal” conditions, “claimant access to call centers goes from bad to impossible.”

Hearings in the new year will determine how the fixes are doing. But three months after the computer crash, the EDD’s own Facebook page remains clogged with complaints about delays in benefits.

I also called the EDD’s phone line. It refers claimants to the online computer system. Then the computer system directs claimants to call. It’s a computerized Catch-22.

Background: How the problem started

As the countdown to Dec. 31 continues, I compiled some background on what happened.

The post-Labor Day “malfunction” created a huge backlog of claims. California Labor Secretary Marty Morgernstern ordered EDD officials to pay the unemployment claims immediately, and check eligibility later. 

An EDD employee whistleblower, who claimed to work daily on the broken program, warned supervisors and coworkers that the new EDD computer system “was slow, had glitches and was not ready to be released,” Sacramento’s News 10 reported in October. Documents showed that the $100 million “California Unemployment Benefit Services system,” or CUBS, built by EDD and contractor Deloitte Consulting, was never working correctly.

“An EDD employee said managers even took time a few days before CUBS was released to let everyone know how proud they were,” News 10 said. “‘We had parties. We had celebrations. We had contests,’ the employee said. ‘We all knew it wasn’t gonna go live. When it actually did go live we were shocked.’”

In emails released by the EDD in October, News 10 reported EDD Representative Adolfo Jimenez responded to one of those “Congratulations” emails with, “Don’t pat yourselves on the back don’t congratulate yourself nor others. CUBS does not work.”

News 10 reported in a follow up email, Jimenez’s boss Donald Owens wrote, “Mr. Jimenez has been counseled regarding the nature of the email and the proper chain of command.”

Hearing

The initial outcry from unpaid claimants was so big, the Assembly Insurance Committee conducted an oversight hearing on Nov. 6. EDD representatives showed up in force and some apologized for the blunder. (The hearing video is available on The California Channel.)

However, EDD Chief Deputy Director Sharon Hilliard claimed the media reported “inaccuracies” as to what caused the delays. Hillard said the massive backlog was resolved only after EDD staff worked overtime to make manual fixes to the system.

“We underestimated the amount of effort needed to stay on top of that,” said Shell Culp, chief deputy director at the state Office of Systems Integration. Her agency was responsible for managing the computer upgrade project. Culp said the agency knew there were problems with the computer upgrade but failed to predict the backlog of claims the glitch created.

By Nov. 8, the EDD posted information on its website on indicating the problem had been fixed. As of mid-December, the message still says:

“Updated November 8, 2013, 4:30 p.m.

“The EDD is working to complete the transition to a new upgraded payment processing system as quickly as possible. We are supplying continual updates on our progress and are providing recommendations to our claimants, including how they can help us expedite this effort with the submission of their certifications for continuing benefits. For more information and updates on the new payment processing system and how it may affect you, visit the New Upgrades for the UI System page.”

Soon the Legislature will investigate and render its own judgment.