Child Care Bureau: Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

Child Care and Development Fund

Please Note: Revised Technical Bulletin Number Three has been superseded by a second revision of Technical Bulletin Number Three, published July, 2006.

Technical Bulletin #3r

ACF-801 Case-Level Data Standards (also in Word and PDF)
REVISED: March 1, 2002

This Technical Bulletin lists the data standards for the ACF-801 Child Care Quarterly Case Record Form. This Form, which is submitted by States and Territories to the Child Care Bureau, includes key case-level data required by the statute governing the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The data standards described here serve as the principal guideline to identify errors in case-level data. The submitting State or Territory must correct data that fail to meet these data standards.

The data standards for each item in the ACF-801 are found in the table listed below. Data Element numbers in this document relate to January 2002 and beyond submissions. A new Data Element, i.e., Family Size, was introduced in January of 2002. Consequently, Data Element numbers for pre-January 2002 submissions will differ by one beginning with the Data Element of Family Size.

I., II. Data Element # and Name: The first two columns list the number and name of each item that must be reported. These items reference the ACF-801 Child Care Quarterly Case Record Form (see ACYF-PI-CC-01-02). For example, the first item of the table, "1. Sample Month/Year of Report Period", is the date of the reporting period. It is located in Section I, row 1 of the ACF-801 form.

III. Field Size: The third column lists the size (number of digits or characters) of the data element. Any response that does not use all of the available digits should be right aligned and padded with zeroes. For example, for the seventh row of the table, item "7", the Field Size is 4. If the value were $150, it would be entered as 0150 so that it contains 4 digits.

IV. Missing Data Standard: The fourth column indicates whether or not the data element is required.

V. Out of Range Standard: The fifth column indicates the acceptable range of data values. All values must occur within this range. For example, for the fifth row of the table, element "6: Reason for Receiving Subsidized Care", the value must occur within the range of 1 to 5. Values less than 1 or greater than 5 are in error.

VI. Internal Consistency Standard: The sixth column lists the standards for consistency among related elements. All of these standards are intuitively logical relationships. For example, the value of element "1. Sample Month/Year of Report Period" must be later than or equal to the value of elements number 8 (Month/Year Child Care Assistance Started) and 25 (Month/Year of Birth).

#	Data Element Name	Field Size	Missing Data Standard	Out-of-Range Standard	Internal Consistency Standard
Section I. HEAD OF FAMILY UNIT
1	Sample Month/Year of Report Period	6	Always required.	Format YYYYMM: 1998 <= YYYY <= current year 01 <= MM <= 12 (for 1998 04 <= MM <= 12).	This Element must be: - later than or equal to the date entered in Element 8 (Month/Year Child Care Assistance to Family Started) - later than or equal to the date entered Element 25 (Month/Year of Birth).
2	Unique Identification Case Number (Optional Element prior to October 2000)	15	Before October 2000: Not required. October 2000 and after: Required if Element 3 (Family SSN) is not reported.	All characters allowed.	Before October 2000: No internal consistency standard. October 2000 and after: If Element 3 (Family SSN) is not reported, then this Element must be reported and must uniquely identify the family over time (i.e., each monthly submission).
3	Social Security Number (Required Element prior to October 2000)	9	Before October 2000: Required. October 2000 and after: Optional.	All valid SSNs allowed. --if child SSN, then all characters allowed Current rules on Invalid SSNs: No 000-xx-xxxx, xxx-00-xxxx, xxx-xx-0000 SSNs	Before October 2000: If the answer to Element 5 (Single Parent) = 9, then Element 3 (Head of Household SSN) must equal Element 16 (Child SSN). October 2000 and after: No internal consistency standard.
4	FIPS Code	5	Always required.	Valid 5 digit FIPS code.	No internal consistency standard.
5	Single Parent	1	Always required.	0 - 1, 9: 0 = No; 1 = Yes 9 = Not applicable; child is reported as head of household.	Before October 2000: If this Element is coded 9, then the following internal consistencies must hold: - Element 3 (Head of Household SSN) must equal Element 16 (Child SSN) - Element #6 (Reason for Receiving Care) is equal to 4 (protective services). October 2000 and after: If this Element is coded 9, then the following internal consistency must hold: Element 6 (Reason for Receiving Care) is equal to 4 (protective services).
6	Reason for Receiving Subsidized Child Care	1	Always required.	1 - 5: 1 = Employment, including on-the-job training; 2 = Training/Education; 3 = Both Employment and Training/Education; 4 = Protective Services; 5 = Other.	No internal consistency standard.
7	Total Monthly Child Care Copayment by Family	4	Required if Element #6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1000	This field must be: - less than the sum of Element 27 (Total Expected Dollar Amount per Month to be Received by the Provider) for all the children in the family - less than or equal to Element 9 (Total Monthly Income)
8	Month/Year Child Care Assistance to Family Started	6	Always required.	Format YYYYMM: 1970 <= YYYY <= current year 01 <= MM <= 12	This field must be earlier than or equal to the date entered in the Element 1 (Sample Month/Year of Report Period).
Section II. FAMILY RECEIVING ASSISTANCE INCOME BY SOURCE
9	Total Monthly Income for Determining Eligibility	5	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - to maximum allowed in state look up table.	This field must be greater than or equal to the amount entered in Element 7 (Total Monthly Child Care Copayment for the Family).
10	Employment Income, Including Self - Employment (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
11	Cash or Other Monetary Assistance under Title IV of the Social Security Act (TANF) (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
12	State Program for which State Spending is Counted Towards TANF MOE (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
13	Housing Voucher or Cash Assistance (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
14	Assistance under the Food Stamps Act of 1977 (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
15	Other Federal Cash Income (for Example SSI) (Yes/No)	1	Required if Element 6 is 1, 2, 3 or 5.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	No internal consistency standard.
16	Family Size	2	Before January 2002: Data element does not exist. January 2002 and after: Required.	Before January 2002: None. January 2002 and after: 1-99.	Before January 2002: None. January 2002 and after: If Element 5 (Single Parent) = 9, then this Element must = 1; If Element 5 is not = 9, then this Element must be greater than or equal to the number of children receiving services + 1.
Section III. DEPENDENT CHILDREN RECEIVING CHILD CARE
17	Child Social Security Number (Optional Element)	9	Not required	Alphanumeric	Before October 2000: If the answer to Element 5 = 9, then Element 3 (Head of Household SSN) must equal Element 16 (Child SSN). October 2000 and after: No internal consistency standard.
18	Hispanic or Latino (Ethnicity)	1	Before FY 2000: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2000: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No 1 = Yes	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: No internal consistency standard.
19	American Indian or Alaskan Native (race)	1	Before FY 2003: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2003: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: At least one of Elements 19 through 23 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1).
20	Asian (race)	1	Before FY 2003: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2003: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: At least one of Elements 19 through 23 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1).
21	Black or African American (race)	1	Before FY 2003: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2003: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: At least one of Elements 19 through 23 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1).
22	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (race)	1	Before FY 2003: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2003: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: At least one of Elements 19 through 23 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1).
23	White (race)	1	Before FY 2003: Phased-in requirement. (See Internal Consistency Standard.) Effective FY 2003: Always required.	0 - 1: 0 = No; 1 = Yes.	Before FY 2000: At least one of Elements 17 through 22 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1). FY 2000 and after: At least one of Elements 19 through 23 must be answered "Yes" (equal to 1).
24	Child Gender	1	Always required.	1 - 2: 1 = Male; 2 = Female.	No internal consistency standard.
25	Month/Year of Birth	6	Always required.	Format YYYYMM: 01 <= MM <= 12 current year - Maximum age of child from State look-up table <= YYYY <= current year	This Element must be earlier than or equal to the date entered in Element 1 (Sample Month/Year of Report Period).
26	Type of Child Care	2	Always required.	01 - 11: 01=Licensed/regulated in-home child care; 02=Licensed/regulated family child care; 03=Licensed/regulated group home child care; 04=Licensed/regulated center-based care; 05=Legally operating in-home care provided by a non-relative; 06=Legally operating in-home care provided by a relative; 07=Legally operating family child care provided by a non-relative; 08=Legally operating family child care provided by a relative; 09=Legally operating group home child care provided by a non-relative; 10=Legally operating group home child care provided by a relative; 11=Legally operating center-based care.	No internal consistency standard.
27	Total Expected Dollar Amount per Month to be Received by the Provider	4	Always required.	0 - 1000	No internal consistency standard.
28	Total Hours of Child Care During the Month	3	Always required.	1 - (12 times the number of days in reporting month)	No internal consistency standard.

** Elements #17 through #28 are coded for each child receiving Child Care assistance