Dear Colleague DC9610

ACF/Office of Child Support Enforcement


of New System to Identify SSNs Implementation


FEB 22 1996                             DC 96-10

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS


Dear Colleague:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is implementing a
new interface between its Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS)
and the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Enumeration
Verification System (EVS).  The new interface will significantly
enhance the FPLS capability to identify Social Security Numbers
(SSN) because the number of data elements needed to identify an
SSN is significantly reduced.  This new system for SSN
identification was piloted last year in several states.

Performance measures of EVS pilot operations were positive with
an average match rate of 30% for the eight participating states.
A total of approximately 190,000 SSNs were identified through the
pilot.  One computer match performed for the state of New York
resulted in the identification of 51,500 SSNs.  A single match
identified almost 25,000 SSNs for Arizona.  Nationwide
implementation is scheduled for March 1996.  I strongly urge all
states take advantage of this new system.  The enclosed gives
further details on the proposed expanded FPLS capabilities for
identifying SSNs.

Again, full implementation is scheduled for March 1996.  However,
tape users of the FPLS may begin submitting cases now and should
contact Joan O'Conner at (202) 401-9267 prior to sending the
cases.  If you have any questions or would like our assistance,
please contact Joan.

                              Sincerely,




                              David Gray Ross
                              Deputy Director
                              Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosure

cc:  ACF Regional Administrators
      CSE Regional Program Managers
      ACF Assistant Regional Administrators
      State Parent Locator Supervisors





      ENHANCEMENT OF FPLS CAPABILITIES FOR IDENTIFYING SSNs

The current system used by the FPLS to identify SSNs requires
several data elements.  They are the name and date of birth of
the non-custodial parent (NCP), and at least three of the
following data elements: NCP's city-state-country of birth, NCP's
mother's first-middle-last names, and NCP's father's first-
middle-last names.

There are several drawbacks to using the current process.  First,
it requires a number of data elements which in many cases are not
known.  Second, the matches must be nearly exact, which means
that a positive match will not result if, for example, names are
not spelled correctly, or the metropolitan area of the parent's
birth is given instead of the precise location.

In July of 1994, SSA authorized the Office of Child Support
Enforcement to use the Enumeration and Verification System (EVS)
217 process for the purpose of identifying SSNs in several pilot
states.  Only three data elements are required for the EVS-217
process: the NCP's name, date of birth and gender.

Performance measures of EVS pilot operations during the past year
have been positive with a match rate of 30%.  Accuracy is
particularly high when the name submitted along with date of
birth and gender are fairly unique.  However, Social Security
Numbers cannot be identified through EVS-217 when a common name,
date of birth and gender combination is submitted.  For this
reason the FPLS has been operating its current process along with
EVS-217.  (Thus, it is still better to provide the additional
data elements required by both processes because if EVS-217 does
not return a valid SSN, FPLS will attempt to forward the case to
the current process which requires these additional data
elements.)

The new interface with EVS is not projected to interfere or
effect any of the existing functionality of the FPLS or require
changes in the FPLS input and output specifications.  States,
however, would need to make program changes to extract the cases
having just the three data elements required for EVS-217
processing.

The steps in the enhanced FPLS SSN identification process are as
follows.  First, states should continue to submit their cases
with an unknown SSN in the FPLS format.  Second, upon receipt,
the cases will be reformatted and forwarded to the EVS-217
system.  Third, if the SSN is not identified by the EVS-217
system, cases meeting the data element requirement will be
submitted to the current process where another attempt will be
made to identify the SSN.  Fourth, for cases where the SSN was
identified and the State indicated to send a case to other
federal/state agencies, via FPLS, for address and benefit
information, the case will automatically be processed by the
FPLS.  Fifth, all responses will be returned to the state in the
FPLS format.  Sixth, all SSN identification and locate requests
will be subject to the standard FPLS fee.

                 NATIONWIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF
                   A SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY SSNs:
                  A FPLS-EVS-GPRA SUCCESS STORY


April 1, 1996, marked the nationwide implementation of an
enhancement to OCSE's Enumeration Verification System (EVS)--an
enhancement that makes it possible to identify Social Security
Numbers (SSNs) in cases with minimal information about the
noncustodial parent.  The EVS system is an automated process to
verify, correct, and identify SSNs through an interface with the
Social Security Administration's enumeration database.

This new feature can be accessed in two ways: 1) by going
directly to the existing EVS system; or 2) by going through a new
Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) interface with EVS.  Either
way, the capability to identify SSNs is increased significantly.

The new process originated as a pilot conducted by OCSE to test
the EVS system capability to identify SSNs.  Based on the initial
findings, OCSE recruited states to participate.  In addition,
several states conducted the pilot as a demonstration under the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).  A total of eight
states participated in the pilot:  Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Florida, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

To locate an SSN using the new feature of EVS, only three data
elements are required: the noncustodial parent's name, date of
birth, and gender.  The alternative FPLS process requires the
above data plus at least three of the following pieces of
information about the noncustodial parent: city-state-country of
birth; mother's first-middle-last names; and father's first-
middle-last names.

Pilot states and OCSE staff identified performance measures to
evaluate the new EVS process.  These include maintaining
statistics on the number of cases submitted and the number of
"hits" (SSNs identified).  Some states are also tracking cases by
function for up to a year to collect the number of locates
verified, the number of paternities established, the number of
support obligations established, and the amount of collections
received.

Performance measures of the pilot operations have been positive
with an average match rate of 30% for the eight participating
states.  Approximately 190,000 SSNs for approximately 665,000
cases were identified through the pilot.  One computer match
performed for the state of New York resulted in the
identification of 51,500 SSNs.  Another done for Arizona
identified almost 25,000 SSNs.  Approximately 30,000 of the pilot
cases were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for
tax refund offset.  Preliminary data for the 1995 tax year
indicates $1.6 million has been collected thus far through tax
refund offset.

Accuracy is particularly high when the name submitted along with
date of birth and gender are fairly unique.  However, Social
Security Numbers may not be identified through EVS when a
familiar name such as Smith or Brown accompanies the date of
birth and gender.  For this reason the FPLS continues to operate
its alternative process along with EVS.  Thus, when submitting
cases to FPLS, it is still better for states to provide the
additional data elements required by the alternative process.
Then, if EVS does not return a valid SSN, FPLS will forward the
case to the alternative process for SSN identification.

The new process does not change either the EVS or the FPLS input
and output specifications.  In order to identify SSNs, states
will need to specify 0's for the SSN field and 217 for the
processing code in the input specifications, and furnish name,
sex code and date of birth of the individual.

The new FPLS interface with EVS does not interfere with the
existing functionality of the FPLS.  States, however, would need
to make program changes to include cases for submission to FPLS
that have just the three data elements required for EVS
processing.

Additional information can be obtained from staff in the Division
of Program Operations.  If you have questions about processing
directly through EVS, call Greg Jordan at (202) 401-9394.  For
assistance with processing through FPLS call Joan O'Connor at
(202) 401-926.