Electronic Service Delivery In Social Services Case Study:
Appeals Delivery And Management System (ADMS) By AMITA

The Appeals Directorate within Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) is responsible for the delivery and management of employment insurance appeals. The HRDC Appeals Management Board administers the appeals process for employment insurance candidates who dispute the amount of the benefit government legislation entitles them to receive. The regulations require that all appeals be heard within a specific timeframe and that each case receives appropriate hearings and representation.

The Directorate engaged AMITA to review how existing applications delivered appeals services. Coping with continuing staff reductions while improving service to citizens and meeting national standards for appeals processing time was a challenge.

The Directorate's top priorities were to improve speed of the appeals process, reduce the number of court cases and the liability of decision-making, enhance consistency of case management, and facilitate decentralization of service delivery.

The solution was the Appeals Delivery and Management System (ADMS). ADMS is a front line information system that facilitates access to case particulars. It increases the productivity of HRDC staff by making it easier to manage and process employment insurance appeals. AMITA analyzed all the Directorate's business rules, identified opportunities and priorities for enhancing appeals service and developed the network architecture to streamline operations through automation. The appeals database AMITA designed accommodates current and future information. The system also provides an inquiry capability for users and standardized reporting capabilities. The ADMS system was customized to meet all the Directorate's requirements: building and testing alpha and beta versions, implementing the production system, documentation, training, quality assurance, support and maintenance.

Caption: The Canadian Federal Government's employment insurance Appeals Delivery and Management System (ADMS) speeds service to citizens who appeal decisions about their benefits. Front line staff manage and process appeals, case by case, through an easy-to-use Web browser interface to ADMS's enquiry, processing, scheduling and reporting capabilities.