Delaware labor officials say backlog fell to about 1,999 but state still misses federal 21‑day payment standard

The Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee heard on Jan. 22 that the Delaware Department of Labor has narrowed a longstanding unemployment‑insurance backlog but remains well short of federal timeliness standards.

Analysts for the committee said their staff review found Delaware did not consistently meet the U.S. Department of Labor performance standard that states pay 87% of first unemployment benefits within 21 days. Amanda Wade McAtee, an analyst for the Division of Legislative Services, told the committee the national 2025 average for first‑payment timeliness was about 83%, while Delaware’s average for 2025 was about 50% within 21 days.

Secretary of Labor Nicole Moultrie argued the department has pursued a “people‑centered” reset to address immediate service problems while continuing modernization. Moultrie told the committee the department launched a “Mission Backlog” initiative, hired 23 casual seasonal employees to free adjudicators for complex work, and completed a Phase 1 backlog cleanup to improve case visibility and sequencing.

“We have reached over 70% resolution of our backlog as of today’s date,” Moultrie said, noting work to cross‑match data, identify duplicate cases and prioritize cases that do not require adjudication.

Marie Cameron, the department’s subject‑matter lead on UI, described new dashboards that will track key performance indicators (KPIs) publicly and internally. Cameron said the dashboards show first‑payment timelines, federally required AOP metrics, and adjudicator‑level productivity. She told the committee the department currently receives 300–500 claims per week and is processing roughly 300–400, leaving an operational gap of about 100 claims in a typical week.

Cameron reported the active backlog at the meeting was 1,999 claims, down from roughly 7,500 at the pandemic peak. She also described fraud‑detection tools that flagged concentrated claim activity — “we were able to capture that and prevent that” — and said the department prevented about $269,000 in potential benefit losses in Q3 2025 and detected zero improper payments due to fraud during that period.

Committee members pressed officials about funding and timelines for full modernization. Moultrie said the department is negotiating a contract with Google for an AI‑assisted adjudication tool — described in testimony as the “Google Adjudication Assistant” — and expects to execute the agreement by the end of the month and complete the program by the end of the calendar year, using ARPA funds. Moultrie said the department also resumed a contract with Infosys this calendar year to continue tax‑system development after a prior strategic termination.

On ARPA dollars, Cameron told the panel the department manages a separate bucket of ARPA funding for modernization and reported approximately $26,000,000 remains to be spent; she warned those dollars expire at the end of 2026. Committee analysts and members noted that certain unspent federal integrity grants were rescinded by the U.S. Department of Labor in May 2025, and asked whether Delaware’s modernization plans remained at risk; DOL said its current ARPA allocation for modernization is separate and not subject to the rescission discussed.

Lawmakers also queried several operational points: whether the claimant portal is publicly accessible (staff said public portal access had been disabled in prior years and that staff retain internal access), whether customer feedback will be included in KPIs (DOL said it will pursue survey/QR‑code feedback and publish metrics), and how much of the backlog involves complex adjudication (staff said most backlog claims have attached issues requiring research). Committee members raised concerns about staff turnover, which DOL said peaked at roughly 75–87% turnover for some cohorts since 2021 and remains a recovery challenge.

Officials emphasized legal and policy constraints around automation. Moultrie and staff said the department is exploring automation and AI to collect more complete initial claim files and to automate routine adjudications where federal rules allow; they cautioned that federal guidance typically requires a merit employee to sign off on adjudications outside of pandemic waivers.

The committee lost quorum later in the meeting because of an overlapping Senate session; members agreed to continue oversight at a later meeting and staff announced public comment procedures and the next JLOSC hearing date.

The committee also voted early in the session to approve minutes from a prior meeting (vote recorded 9 yes, 1 absent).