Tampa Bay Times, Senator's backing of embattled DEO chief isn't based on facts

The Tampa Bay Times recently published article, entitled Senator's backing of embattled DEO chief isn't based on facts, contains several inaccuracies.  Set out below are facts for consideration.

Top Five Facts 

1. Federal intervention is not what brought about improvement to the system. It has resulted from technical fixes to the system, policy changes at the agency, increased staff, increased working hours, improved management practices, and an improving economy with fewer overall claimants. 
2. As soon as DEO leadership became aware of verified issues, they acted to correct them and to hold the project vendor, Deloitte Consulting, accountable.
3. There are less than 3,000 claimants in adjudication.  This incredible decrease is largely due to increased productivity at DEO. 
4. CONNECT has not lost any claim because of technical problems.
5. DEO tracks and has regularly published many statistics about RA claims, adjudication, appeals, and Contact Center performance.

FACT: The Florida Senate has not overlooked the technical problems that surrounded the launch of CONNECT, a modernization of DEO’s obsolete Reemployment Assistance computer system.  The Senate has previously held three separate hearings focused on CONNECT.  At each of those hearings, DEO provided detailed information about CONNECT and Senators asked numerous questions.  DEO has also repeatedly briefed legislative staff and individual Legislators about the status of CONNECT.  

FACT:  From a claimant perspective, the Reemployment Assistance program is now far outperforming the system in place prior to CONNECT.  As DEO has repeatedly said, “federal intervention” is not what brought this improvement about. It has resulted from technical fixes to the system, policy changes at the agency, increased staff, increased working hours, improved management practices, and an improving economy with fewer overall claimants.  DEO implemented these changes prior to and throughout the implementation period.

Unemployment insurance is a federal-state cooperative program, and so Florida, like all states, regularly consults with USDOL and other states about program operations. DEO had many meetings with USDOL about CONNECT both prior to and after launch.  For example, after launch, meetings occurred on November 1, 2013, December 30, 2013, and January 10, 2014.  DEO’s ability to improve claimant service and resolve issues surrounding launch led USDOL on February 20, 2014, to request that Florida consult with California about that state’s continuing problems with its modernization project. 

The Tampa Bay Times appears to be referring to a decision on January 18 to temporarily pay continuing claims in adjudication for more than seven days.  Significant uncertainty surrounded this policy change, such that as late as January 8, 2014, USDOL specifically advised DEO that it was “fully aware that there may not be room” to “pay continued claims without doing adjudications first.” Prior to January 8, USDOL did not suggest the DEO should take this step, even though DEO had previously solicited suggestions from USDOL. In January, after consulting further, USDOL and DEO jointly decided that such a step for a limited time was warranted. 

As for comparisons between Florida and California, it is not all clear what actions California specifically took, as USDOL’s February 20, 2014 request asks Florida to advise California on how DEO “went about identifying continued claims that were pending adjudication pursuant to UIPL No. 04-01 and how you handled that process.”  

FACT:  After launch, DEO monitored all reports of technical problems and claimant delays and endeavored to publicly report those issues accurately once information was verified.

In the referenced email, Director Panuccio congratulated the staff of the project for converting billions of lines of data from the thirty-year-old legacy system and properly processing nearly 20,000 claims, the majority filed that day.  In the email, Director Panuccio also referenced the technical problems that had, in those first few hours, been verified by the technical team.  In the next few days and weeks, as soon as DEO leadership became aware of verified issues, they acted to correct them and to hold the project vendor, Deloitte Consulting, accountable.  For example, on the day after launch, October 16, 2013, the project manager reported in an email to Deloitte that DEO leadership “fe[lt] there [was] more to this PIN issue that we are not seeing” and requested further investigation. 

FACT:  DEO tracks and has regularly published many statistics about RA claims, adjudication, appeals, and Contact Center performance.  Many of these measures have been reported in DEO’s daily and weekly updates about the status of CONNECT available since October 24, 2013. 

No claims were “denied” because of CONNECT.  If a claimant had a technical issue preventing filing or delaying adjudication, that issue has not been held against his or her claim.  For example, claimants who experienced PIN problems during the first week of launch were not denied benefits for that week; once the PIN problem was resolved, they were able to file a claim for that week.  It is important to note that claims are properly denied everyday for reasons such as ineligibility, earnings, or fraud. Not every claim is a valid claim. 

FACT: As stated in the December 27, 2013 CONNECT Daily Update, USDOL’s website is displaying data from reports that may need to be revised due to initial technical problems with the federal reporting feature of CONNECT.  In any event, during the period in question, Florida’s unemployment rate fell from 6.9 to 6.3, so some decrease in RA claims could be a result of our improving economy. Moreover, because of technical problems, we know that some claims were delayed for adjudication longer than is typical, which would also account for some decrease in the number of claims paid in the week filed.  CONNECT has not lost any claim because of technical problems.  

FACT: Both before and after launch DEO has regularly updated the public with details about the CONNECT system, including technical problems once such information was verified as accurate.  For example, on November 4, 2013, Director Panuccio directly testified to the Senate that “…the first two weeks of implementation have been rockier than expected…” and “…delays are still possible…” for a number of reasons, one of which being that “we know that some technical problems are causing our adjudication and appeals units to process cases less quickly than they otherwise might.”  Moreover, on October 24, 2013, DEO began proactively communicating updates about CONNECT’s performance, and DEO began providing daily updates on November 7, 2014.

FACT: As with many services provided to the agency, the massive modernization of DEO’s RA computer system was publicly procured so that an expert vendor with experience in the field could undertake the project.  As with any contract, DEO was entitled to full performance, including a launch free of high-impact defects.  Deloitte did not deliver on that contractual obligation, so DEO has held the company accountable, recovering millions in restitution and demanding the technical fixes of high-impact defects that have now been delivered.  But even while holding Deloitte accountable, DEO has recognized its ultimate obligation to serve claimants and other customers of the agency.  Accordingly, DEO employed a variety of solutions to better serve claimants and other system users while technical problems persisted.  For example, DEO increased staff, increased operational hours, and implemented system workarounds throughout the launch period—measures which helped process claims much more quickly while Deloitte was still fixing high-impact defects. 

FACT: Prior to the launch of the system, DEO increased staff from 970 to 1,200. Between launch and December 20, 2013, DEO added about 200 more staff members. And since December 20, DEO added more than 300 staff members.  Because the RA program’s performance has improved so significantly, it is not necessary for DEO to add all of the additional staff contemplated in the early January hiring plan.

As for comparisons to the problems with healthcare.gov, there are many current media reports that the system is still losing records and denying access for system users. CONNECT has never lost a claim or record and since the launch on October 15, nearly 1.8 million total claims have been filed using CONNECT and more than $479 million has been paid to claimants. 

FACT: Prior to the launch of CONNECT, 48,000 claimants had an active case in adjudication.  This number increased to at least 60,000 in the first two months after CONNECT’s launch.  Today, that number stands at less than 3,000, an active caseload that is below any in recent memory.  This incredible decrease is due multiple factors, and the expiration of federal long-term benefits (EUC) is not the most significant.  First, it is undisputed that technical fixes and additional staff allowed DEO to greatly increase adjudication productivity.  Second, the EUC issues in the active caseload after the launch of CONNECT still had to be adjudicated; they did not disappear with the expiration of EUC.  Third, most adjudication issues arise during initial claims and continued claims for state benefits.  Less than 35 percent of all adjudication claims prior to the launch of CONNECT and expiration of EUC centered around EUC issues. 

It is important to note that a well-functioning RA system always has cases in active adjudication.  The number can fluctuate based on system demand, and could increase if more claimants are in the system, including EUC claimants, should long-term benefits be reenacted.  As it always has, DEO will endeavor to ensure all claimants are timely and accurately served.

Contact: DEO Communications, 850.617.5600, media@deo.myflorida.com 

About DEO

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