DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER
DCL-04-25
DATE: June 9,
2004
TO: ALL STATE IV-D
DIRECTORS
RE: FPLS Release
04-01
Dear Colleague:
In August 2004, the Federal Office
of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) will implement provisions of
Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) Release 04-01. This
release includes enhancements to the Federal Case Registry (FCR),
the Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet) and the Federal
Offset system. These enhancements were developed in response
to state feedback provided to OCSE during conference calls and
through on-going interaction with the states. The
enhancements are in line with continuing efforts to promote
automated use of FPLS data and to improve data quality.
Similar to previous FPLS Manifest Releases, the August 2004
changes are deemed minor since implementation of the enhancements
can be delayed until state planning and resources can accommodate
the changes.
These two enhancements being made
to the FCR will:
- Modify the FCR to no longer allow
the use of asterisks and backslashes in the FCR Case Identifier
(ID) field. Any add, change, or locate record containing an
asterisk or backslash in any position of the Case ID field will be
rejected. This enhancement is in line with OCSE’s goal
of improving interstate communications through ongoing Case ID
synchronization and the Interstate Case Reconciliation (ICR)
effort.
- Provide states with a
Self-Employment Indicator in the FCR Locate Response Record for the
Social Security Administration (SSA) locate responses. This
indicator provides states with additional employment information.
An annual wage amount field will be added to the record;
however, for this release the wage field will not contain data.
The field will be populated in a future release. State
systems will need to be programmed to accept the new
Self-Employment Indicator field.
The enhancements to CSENet
will:
- Add a new transaction to CSENet
2000 to indicate that a Case ID match was not found based on the
Case ID provided by the sending state for an L01, MSC, ENF, EST,
PAT or COL transaction. This enhancement will allow states to
use CSENet 2000 to identify a Case ID that is not synchronized with
the other state and take the necessary actions to begin the
reconciliation process.
- Modify Case ID and Other-Case-ID
validation criteria to match FCR Case ID validation criteria.
This enhancement supports OCSE’s goal for improving
interstate communications through ongoing Case ID synchronization
and the ICR effort.
This release includes six items
related to the Federal Offset system designed to:
- Provide states with a more
efficient method of submitting case updates. This enhancement
improves the synchronization of data between state and Federal
files by enabling the states to submit multiple updates in a single
cycle on the same case; enhances states’ ability to track
past enforcement actions for a case; reduces the volume of records
returned in the reject/warning field; and reduces the number of
error codes received by states.
- Allow for additional date fields
on the DoS Certification or Withdrawal Screen. This
modification will enhance the states’ ability to take action
on a case by providing accurate information regarding the
obligor’s status in the Passport Denial
Program.
- Provide states with an enhanced
Current Year Query Screen for case information. This
enhancement improves access to case information held at the Federal
level and expands detail history for better case management and
tracking of state data maintained at the Federal level.
- Offer states whose notices are
generated by OCSE an option to request that a Pre-Offset Notice be
generated at any time on an existing case. This modification
will enable states to easily request the issuance of a Pre-Offset
Notice at any time on an existing case.
- Give additional warning code
counts in the Reject Control Record and on the Weekly Update
Report. This enhancement will improve reconciliation between
the actual number of records in the Rejected Case Submission and
Update field and the counts reported in the control record of the
Rejected Case Submission and Update File.
- Provide states with a filing
status indicator (single or joint) in the offset detail record on
the online query screen. This enhancement improves the
accuracy of collection information provided to states when querying
case collection information.
For a copy of the Release Manifest
for the August 2004 release, or for the detailed specifications
regarding these modifications to the FCR, CSENet and Federal Offset
systems, refer to the following OCSE website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/.
States may contact their State
Technical Support (State TS) liaisons with any questions regarding
the August 2004 enhancements, or to discuss programming
enhancements that would enable state systems to effectively process
the data and maximize data usage. For a listing of the State
TS liaisons refer to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/contacts/fcrtscontacts.htm.
States also may contact Christine Jennings at cajennings@acf.hhs.gov.
Sincerely,
Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D.
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement
cc: Regional Program
Managers
ACF Regional Administrators