TABLE OF CONTENTS THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Scope 1.2 Overview 2.0 STATE SPECIFICATIONS 2.1 Enabling ICR Communications 2.2 File Format 2.2.1 ICR Header Records 2.2.2 ICR Data Records 2.2.3 ICR Acknowledgment Records 2.3 Receiving ICR Data 2.4 Sending ICR Data 2.5 ICR Data Set Allocation Parameters 2.6 Data Sets for Outgoing ICR Data 2.7 Data Sets for Incoming ICR Data 2.8 Naming Conventions for ICR Data Sets 3.0 TECHNICAL SUPPORT APPENDICES ICR HEADER RECORD LAYOUT ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 1.0 ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 2.0 ICR ACKNOWLEDGMENT RECORD LAYOUT

THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

The purpose of this document is to provide States with the specifications to exchange interstate case reconciliation (ICR) data via the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Network. This document describes the ICR data exchange process and provides guidance for States to implement the exchange of ICR data. This process is identified in the FPLS Release 01-01 Manifest Minor (OCSE Reference #85) which is available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/library/relmgnt/relmgnt.htm.

Implementation of the ICR data exchange capability is scheduled for November 19, 2001.

Section 1.0: Introduction provides the scope and overview of the ICR data exchange process.

Section 2.0: State Specifications describes how States prepare for and use the ICR data exchange process.

Section 3.0: Technical Support provides information on the assistance available to States.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

With the passage of the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988, States have been aggressively pursuing the design, development, implementation, and operation of comprehensive, statewide automated child support enforcement systems. Case numbers are a primary identifier used by States' automated child support systems for interstate cases.

1.1 Scope

The scope of this interstate case reconciliation (ICR) document is to provide States with a format and discuss the process for the electronic exchange of data to reconcile interstate case numbers with another State.

1.2 Overview

States requested an automated delivery mechanism for the exchange of ICR data. This document provides States the necessary interface information to exchange ICR data over the OCSE Network.

All ICR data requires a designated location on the State CSE system. These data locations are referred to as data sets in this document. To successfully exchange ICR data with another State, data set and scheduling information must be provided by both States. The scheduling information provides the OCSE Network a window for pickup and delivery of data from and to the State CSE systems. To exchange ICR data, two States must also agree to exchange ICR data using either Version 1.0 or 2.0 of the ICR Data Record Layout provided in Appendices B and C.

The following steps outline the method of exchanging ICR data via the OCSE Network once States provide the necessary data sets and agree to exchange the same version of an ICR data record with another State:

1. At a time designated by the sending State, ICR transaction data is retrieved by the OCSE server from the Outgoing ICR Transactions and Outgoing ICR Responses data sets on a State CSE system. An ICR Log file reporting all ICR file transfer activities from the State is sent to the State.
2. At a time designated by the receiving State, ICR transaction data is sent by the OCSE server to the Incoming ICR Transactions and Incoming ICR Responses data sets on the State CSE system. An ICR Log file reporting all ICR file transfer activities to the State is also sent.

ICR data is retrieved from and sent to the same location on the State CSE system that is used for exchanging CSENet 2000 data. Therefore, the userid and password used to log on to the State CSE system will be the same as those used for CSENet data.

CSENet also offers another case reconciliation capability using the Case Information (CSI) transaction. Contact your CSENet 2000 technical representative or the Service Desk at 1-800-258-2736 for more information.

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2.0 STATE SPECIFICATIONS

The ICR data exchange is executed in two separate processes. The process of retrieving ICR data from a State is referred to as a Receive-ICR Interface. The process of sending ICR data to a State is referred to as a Send-ICR Interface. Sections 2.2 through 2.8 outline these processes and their specifications. To exchange ICR data, two States must establish an ICR Exchange Agreement using the process described in Section 2.1.

2.1 Enabling ICR Communications

Below are the steps necessary to enable ICR communications between two States:

• The Point-of-Contact (POC) from State A contacts the POC from State B to agree to exchange ICR information and to confirm the version number (1.0 or 2.0) of the ICR Data Record Layout to be used.
• Both POCs contact their State's CSENet 2000 technical representative or the Service Desk at 1-800-258-2736 to request that ICR communications be enabled with the other State.
• The CSENet team updates the ICR Communications Matrix.
• The CSENet technical representatives contact States with notification that ICR communications have been enabled as requested.

Note: Prior to the November 19, 2001 implementation, all communications will be for testing. After the implementation date, all communications will be for production.

2.2 File Format

The following three types of records will be transferred during ICR data exchanges:

• ICR Header records,
• ICR Data records, and
• ICR Acknowledgment records.

2.2.1 ICR HEADER RECORDS

Each ICR file must contain a leading Header record in the format specified in Appendix A. The ICR Header record contains addressing information necessary for the OCSE server to determine the destination State for the data. Also included in each Header record is the version of the ICR Data Record Layout being exchanged.

2.2.2 ICR DATA RECORDS

The ICR data record layouts specified in Appendix B (Version 1.0) and Appendix C (Version 2.0) provide the information necessary to program State CSE systems to enable the exchange of ICR information. For ICR response records, a one-digit indicator field is used to identify whether there is a match for the sending State's case number on the responding State's CSE system.

2.2.3 ICR ACKNOWLEDGMENT RECORDS

After retrieval of ICR data from a State by the OCSE server, the sending State is sent an Acknowledgment with a message stating whether or not the data in the file was routed for delivery to the destination State(s). After delivery of ICR data to a State, the sending State is sent another Acknowledgment as a delivery notification. Note: These notices only verify that the OCSE sever delivered the file to its intended destination.

The Acknowledgment record layout is specified in Chart D-1 in Appendix D. The possible messages in an Acknowledgment record are listed in Chart D-2 in Appendix D.

2.3 Receiving ICR Data

The data transfers in a Receive-ICR Interface are:

1. Retrieve any data from the Outgoing ICR Transactions data set.
2. Retrieve any data from the Outgoing ICR Responses data set.
3. Empty the Outgoing ICR Transactions data set by uploading an empty file.
4. Empty the Outgoing ICR Responses data set by uploading an empty file.
5. Upload an ICR Acknowledgment into the ICR Acknowledgments data set.
6. Upload the ICR Log into the ICR Logs data set.

For each file retrieved, if the first record in the file is not a Header record or if any Header records are invalid, an error message is written to the State's ICR Acknowledgments file and no data in the file is delivered to other States.

An ICR file can contain multiple Header records for multiple destination States. All records in an ICR file are routed for delivery to the receiving State's FIPS code in the first Header record until the receiving State FIPS code is changed by a succeeding Header record.

Data retrieved from an Outgoing ICR Transactions data set will be routed for delivery to the Incoming ICR Transactions data set of the destination State. Data retrieved from an Outgoing ICR Responses data set will be routed for delivery to the Incoming ICR Responses data set of the destination State.

2.4 Sending ICR Data

The data transfers in a Send-ICR Interface are:

1. Upload any ICR Transactions into the Incoming ICR Transactions data set.
2. Upload any ICR Responses into the Incoming ICR Responses data set.
3. Upload any ICR Acknowledgments into the ICR Acknowledgments data set.
4. Upload the ICR Log into the ICR Logs data set.

Because the data uploaded in steps 1 and 2 above may come from multiple States, the State CSE system should be able to process data from multiple States in one ICR file using the file's Header records to determine the originating State for each record.

2.5 ICR Data Set Allocation Parameters

Chart 2-1 provides allocation parameters for the ICR data sets with the following comments:

• The Download/Upload column refers to whether data in the data set is downloaded from or uploaded to the State CSE system.
• Record lengths are provided in bytes. The lengths shown do not include carriage returns or line feed characters.
• Read and write privileges on these data sets must be granted to the userid used to log on to the State system.
• The amount of space required for ICR data sets will vary by State.

CHART 2-1: ICR DATA SET SPECIFICATIONS

Data Set	Download/ Upload	Record Length	Required	Data in the Data Set	Sample Data Set Name
Outgoing ICR Transactions	Download from State, then empty	200	Y	Initial transactions to other States.	ICR.OUT. INIT
Incoming ICR Transactions	Upload/Append to State	200	Y	Initial transactions from other States.	ICR.IN.INIT
Outgoing ICR Responses	Download from State, then empty	200	Y	Response transactions to other States.	ICR.OUT.RESP
Incoming ICR Responses	Upload/Append to State	200	Y	Response transactions from other States.	ICR.IN.RESP
ICR Acknowledg-ments	Upload/ Append to State	80	N	Information regarding the success or failure of ICR data exchanges.	ICR.ACKS
ICR Logs	Upload/ Append to State	120	N	Detailed report of all network activities during ICR data exchanges used to diagnose errors.	ICR.LOGS

2.6 Data Sets for Outgoing ICR Data

During a Receive-ICR Interface, ICR data is downloaded from the Outgoing ICR Transactions and Outgoing ICR Responses data sets on the State CSE system. After successfully downloading data from these data sets, the OCSE server uploads an empty file into each data set to prevent receiving duplicate transactions from the State. The OCSE server also uploads an ICR Log and ICR Acknowledgment to the State CSE system.

It is recommended that the State CSE system append, rather than overwrite, new transactions to the Outgoing ICR Transactions and Outgoing ICR Responses data sets. Appending allows the OCSE server to pick up multiple files of transactions from the State system if needed.

2.7 Data Sets for Incoming ICR Data

During a Send-ICR Interface, data is uploaded into four data sets on the State system: Incoming ICR Transactions, Incoming ICR Responses, ICR Acknowledgments and ICR Logs. In order for this data to be successfully uploaded, a data set needs to be allocated for each data type with the parameters specified in Chart 2-1. If a data set has not been allocated but the OCSE server has data set creation permission, the OCSE server creates the data set during the upload. In this case, the default State CSE system parameters are used for the data set.

In States where CSENet data is appended to data sets, ICR data is appended to the ICR data sets described in the above paragraph. In States where CSENet data sets are overwritten during each upload of CSENet data, the ICR data sets are overwritten with each upload of ICR data. Note that each data set that is appended to will increase in byte size until the space allocated for it is filled, unless it is emptied by the State CSE system.

If an ICR data set is in a Generation Data Set Group (GDG), each ICR data upload will create a new data set cycle. If a cycle is not processed before another upload occurs, there will be two cycles to process, which usually requires manual intervention.

2.8 Naming Conventions for ICR Data Sets

The information below provides an example of data set names. The State should define theparameters in the Data Set Names section of a State Profile. When providing data set names,use the naming conventions required by your State CSE system.

Outgoing ICR Transactions Data Set Name: ICR.OUT.INIT

Outgoing ICR Responses Data Set Name: ICR.OUT.RESP

Incoming ICR Transactions Data Set Name: ICR.IN.INIT

Incoming ICR Responses Data Set Name: ICR.IN.RESP

ICR Acknowledgments Data Set Name: ICR.ACKS

ICR Logs Data Set Name: ICR.LOGS

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3.0 TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Any questions or problems concerning the transmission of ICR data between the State CSE system and the OCSE server should be directed to the CSENet technical representative or the Service Desk at 1-800-258-2736.

During the initial executions of the ICR data exchange with a State, the CSENet team works closely with the State to resolve any communications issues. Any errors generated during a ICR data exchange will be written to a report for use as an end user support tool. An additional important resource for diagnosing and solving problems is the data in the ICR Logs data set, which contains detailed output from the ping(s), connections, logons, and data transfers executed during the ICR data exchange.

Some States may desire to conduct testing to verify the accuracy of their CSE system programming and ICR data prior to the scheduled implementation date of the ICR data exchange software. Pilot testing provides each State an opportunity to exchange test ICR transactions with:

• the OCSE server using FIPS code 9100000,
• other States participating in pilot testing, or
• their own system through loopback testing.

CSENet technical representatives will be available to provide analysis and feedback concerning test transactions.

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APPENDICES

A. ICR HEADER RECORD LAYOUT

CHART A-1: ICR HEADER RECORD LAYOUT

Field Name	Starting Position	Length	Type	Comments
File Identifier	1	3	Alphanumeric	"ICR" constant
Sending State FIPS	4	2	Alphanumeric	First two digits of FIPS code that identify the State generating this file
Receiving State FIPS	6	2	Alphanumeric	First two digits of FIPS code that identify the State receiving this file
Number of Records	8	7	Numeric	Number of records in this file, NOT including the header record
Date Generated	15	8	Date	MMDDYYYY format for the run date of the job that created the file
Version Number	23	5	Alphanumeric	Version number of the ICR File Layout
Filler	28	153	Alphanumeric	Spaces - for expansion and to make the header the same length as data exchange record
Total record length is 180 bytes.

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B. ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 1.0

CHART B-1: ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 1.0

Field	Field Description	Number of Characters	Character Type
1	Sending State's Case Number	15	Alphanumeric (1)
2	Other State's Case Number	15	Alphanumeric (1)
3	Sending State's FIPS Code	7	Alphanumeric (1)
4	Non-custodial Parent's Social Security Number	9	Alphanumeric (1)
5	Custodial Parent's Social Security Number	9	Alphanumeric (1)
6	Non-custodial Parent's Last Name	21	Alphanumeric (1)
7	Non-custodial Parent's First Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
8	Non-custodial Parent's Middle Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
9	Non-custodial Parent's Suffix	3	Alphanumeric (1)
10	Non-custodial Parent's Date Of Birth	10	MM-DD-YYYY (2)
11	Custodial Parent's Last Name	21	Alphanumeric (1)
12	Custodial Parent's First Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
13	Custodial Parent's Middle Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
14	Custodial Parent's Suffix	3	Alphanumeric (1)
15	Custodial Parent's Date of Birth	10	MM-DD-YYYY (2)
16	Error Record - No Match Found	1	Numeric (3)
Total record length is 180 bytes.

1. Alphanumeric designates that the field may have any combination of numerals and alphabetic characters.
2. MM-DD-YYYY designates a numeric format that prescribes a two-digit code for the month (i.e., MM equals 01 for the month of January, 02 for the month of February, etc.,) followed by a separator, followed by a two-digit code for the day of the month (i.e., DD equals 01 for the first day of the month, 02 for the second day of the month, etc.,) followed by a separator, followed by a four-digit code for the year (i.e., YYYY equals the year such as 1997, 1998, etc.)
3. This field is used to inform the sending State exchanging data that the above listed record has no match on the responding State's system. The data field is numeric and will have a 0 representing a match, or a 1 for no match.

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C. ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 2.0

The following two additional fields differentiate Version 1.0 and Version 2.0 of the ICR Data record layout:

• 16 - Initiating/Responding indicator has been added to insure that interstate roles are accurate. The valid values are I, R, U for Initiating, Responding or Unknown, respectively. This reflects the type of interstate case on the Sending State's system.
• 18 - Filler has been added so that potential changes in the future can be accommodated without requiring a change in record length.

CHART C-1: ICR DATA RECORD LAYOUT VERSION 2.0

Field	Field Description	Number of Characters	Character Type
1	Sending State's Case Number	15	Alphanumeric (1)
2	Other State's Case Number	15	Alphanumeric (1)
3	Sending State's FIPS Code	7	Alphanumeric (1)
4	Non-custodial Parent's Social Security Number	9	Alphanumeric (1)
5	Custodial Parent's Social Security Number	9	Alphanumeric (1)
6	Non-custodial Parent's Last Name	21	Alphanumeric (1)
7	Non-custodial Parent's First Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
8	Non-custodial Parent's Middle Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
9	Non-custodial Parent's Suffix	3	Alphanumeric (1)
10	Non-custodial Parent's Date Of Birth	10	MM-DD-YYYY (2)
11	Custodial Parent's Last Name	21	Alphanumeric (1)
12	Custodial Parent's First Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
13	Custodial Parent's Middle Name	14	Alphanumeric (1)
14	Custodial Parent's Suffix	3	Alphanumeric (1)
15	Custodial Parent's Date of Birth	10	MM-DD-YYYY (2)
16	Sending State's Initiating/Responding Indicator	1	Alphanumeric(1)
17	Error Record - No Match Found	1	Numeric (3)
18	Filler	19	Alphanumeric(1)
Total record length is 200 bytes.

1. Alphanumeric designates that the field may have any combination of numerals and alphabetic characters.
2. MM-DD-YYYY designates a numeric format that prescribes a two-digit code for the month (i.e., MM equals 01 for the month of January, 02 for the month of February, etc.,) followed by a separator, followed by a two-digit code for the day of the month (i.e., DD equals 01 for the first day of the month, 02 for the second day of the month, etc.,) followed by a separator, followed by a four-digit code for the year (i.e., YYYY equals the year such as 1997, 1998, etc.)
3. This field is used to inform the sending State exchanging data that the above listed record has no match on the responding State's system. The data field is numeric and will have a 0 representing a match, or a 1 for no match.

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D. ICR ACKNOWLEDGMENT RECORD LAYOUT

Chart D-1 provides the layout of the records that will be uploaded into the ICR Acknowledgment data set. These records will provide information regarding the success or failure of ICR data exchanges.

CHART D-1: ICR ACKNOWLEDGMENT RECORD LAYOUT

Field Name	Starting Position	Length	Type	Comments
Transfer Date	1	8	Date	MMDDYYYY format for the date of the ICR data transfer.
Transfer Time	9	6	Number	HHMMSS format for the time of the ICR data transfer.
Message	15	65	Alphanumeric	A message stating the success or failure of ICR data exchanges.

Chart D-2 lists the messages that may appear in the Message field in an ICR Acknowledgment record.

CHART D-2: ICR ACKNOWLEDGMENT MESSAGES

Message	Description
##### ICR RECORDS RECEIVED AND ROUTED FOR DELIVERY TO FIPS ##	##### is the number of records successfully received and routed for delivery to the destination State.
UNDELIVERED: NO ICR EXCHANGE AGREEMENT WITH FIPS XX	There is no ICR Exchange Agreement with FIPS XX in the Receiving State FIPS field in one of the ICR Header records.
UNDELIVERED: NO ICR HEADER RECORD	There is no ICR Header record in the file.
##### ICR RECORDS DELIVERED TO FIPS XX	##### is the number of records sent to FIPS XX.