FCR

Question 1: Will the redundant filter Locate Closed Indicator be affected if a State opts not to get negative responses?
Answer 1: The Locate Closed Indicator will not be affected unless the State opts to participate in filtering. If a State opts to filter negative and/or positive Locate Responses, the State also has the option of receiving or not receiving the Locate Closed Indicator.

Question 2: When will we get the SSA Cycle Date?
Answer 2: The SSA Cycle Date will be implemented in April 2008.

Question 3: Is the Pending File for Title II benefits provided with the SVES external Locate Response or the SVES Proactive Match Response?
Answer 3: The SSA Title II Pending File is being provided as a new proactive match. If a State elects to receive the SSA Title II Pending match, the match results will be returned in a new record layout. The SSA Title II Pending match process is not related to SVES Locate responses nor SVES Proactive matching.

Question 4: How long can a client stay in the SSA Pending File?
Answer 4: A client will stay in pending status until the application is approved or denied. It is our understanding that applications for Title II benefits are normally adjudicated within 18 months.

Question 5: The Release Manifest indicates that States can issue the income withholding order (IWO) to SSA based on the information returned in the Pending File. Is this correct?
Answer 5: Yes, States should send the IWO to SSA and they will hold it until the benefits are paid.

Question 6: Will the change to eliminate the E03 response records affect the SVES Pending File?
Answer 6: No. This change does not impact the SVES Pending File.

Question 7: Is there a published list of the SSA District offices?
Answer 7: Not at this time. There is, however, a website that will match a ZIP code to an SSA District Office. The website is:
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp

Question 8: Does SSA send an FEIN to the FCR so States will know where to send the IWO? If not, does OCSE suggest that States set up a dummy FEIN for SSA, in order to automate the issuance of IWOs to SSA?
Answer 8: No, SSA does not send an FEIN to the FCR. We understand that the FEIN is a key for many States' employer database; however, it is suggested that States use another field, for instance, the address or ZIP code, for generating the IWOs to the District Office until April 2008, when the Release enhancement will begin returning the address for the local District Office in the filler area.

Question 9: Has there been discussions with SSA about them doing the e-IWO?
Answer 9: Yes, and SSA is part of the e-IWO workgroup. However, there is no projected date for implementation at this time. (Note: SSA is participating in this group as an employer.)

Question 10: If SSA does move to e-IWO, will the SSA District Office address that is being implemented as part of this Release no longer be needed?
Answer 10: Yes. When SSA moves to e-IWO, States would no longer need the District Office address.

Question 11: What is the new code that will be provided for the NameMatch Routine for FCR Person Transactions?
Answer 11: The new code for the NameMatch Routine is 'N.' It will be provided in the FCR Person/Locate Request Acknowledgement/Error Record and the FCR Person Reconciliation Record.

Question 12: Can the new NameMatch Routine return an SSN that is different from the one that was submitted by the State?
Answer 12: No. The NameMatch routine will not search for a different SSN. It will use the names that are provided (for example, nicknames), and try alternate spellings of names to establish a Name/SSN combination that exceeds the confidence threshold for SSN/Name validation.

Question 13: What are the values of the SSN validation now, before implementation of the new Name Search Routine for FCR Person Transactions?
Answer 13: The current values returned by the FCR are:

C -

The SSN that was submitted for this person was corrected.

E -

The SSN and Name combination that was submitted for this person could not be verified or corrected, but the additional person data that was provided identified an SSN for this person using SSA's ESKARI routines.

P -

The SSN was not submitted, but the additional person data that was submitted identified an SSN for this person without manual intervention and is provided; or the SSN that was submitted did not pass verification edits but an SSN was identified using SSA's alpha search.

R -

The person data that was submitted identified multiple possible SSNs for the person. The SSN that is provided was selected via the Requires Manual Review process.

S -

The person data that was submitted identified an SSN for the person using the IRS-U SSN and IRS records.

V -

The SSN and Name combination that was submitted was verified by the SSA SSN verification routines.

Space -

The SSN that was provided could not be verified or there was no SSN provided. An SSN could not be identified using the information that was submitted. See the Error Code 1 through 5 fields for a more specific explanation of the condition.

Question 14: Are Name/SSN combinations that are found using the NameMatch Routine considered unverified?
Answer 14: SSN/Name combinations that are found using the NameMatch Routine will be used for Locate and Proactive Matching. However, the new code 'N' will indicate that this SSN/Name combination was found using the NameMatch process and may not be as reliable as SSN/Name combinations that are validated with other SSN validation processes.

Question 15: How will you handle the unverified SSNs that are on the FCR now?
Answer 15: OCSE is planning to execute a special run of all unverified SSNs through the SSN/Name verification routines and the NameMatch Routine. States will be notified of those SSN/Name combinations that verify or pass the NameMatch routine.

Question 16: Can you provide statistics on the number of records that will be provided to the States as a result of the NameMatch Routine?
Answer 16: When the NameMatch process was implemented in the NDNH, approximately 9% of the unverified SSN/Name combinations successfully passed the NameMatch routine process.

Question 17: When States receive the new 'N' code for the NamesMatch Routine, will States also receive the probability code for the match?
Answer 17: Probability percentages are not being returned to States.

Question 18: What is the threshold that is used for finding a match?
Answer 18: The algorithms that the software uses are complex and difficult to explain in the Q&As. Extensive testing was done by OCSE to determine the best match threshold.

Question 19: When OCSE runs the unverified SSN/Name combinations on the FCR through the NameMatch Routine, when will the responses be provided to States?
Answer 19: States will be advised through an E-Flash when the special 'sweep' of unverified SSN/Name combinations will be processed.

Question 20: If an unverified SSN/Name combination successfully passes the Name Search Routine, will OCSE submit these participants to the external Locate sources for matching?
Answer 20: Yes. First an Acknowledgement Record will be sent to notify the States of the change in status of the SSN, and then OCSE will send a Locate Request for the person to the NDNH and the external Locate sources, that is DoD, FBI, IRS, SSA, DVA and NSA. Match results from these Locates will be returned to States.

IRG

Question 1: For CCI 2165, if a State imports the file into the State system, will it require a programming change?
Answer 1: This enhancement will require a programming change to use the new Address Type 2 values if your State downloads from the IRG Directory.

Question 2: Will Tribal Address contain FIPS codes?
Answer 2: No, they will contain Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) codes. These BIA codes are the location codes that the FPLS Data Standards Team approved. The reason that we are not using FIPS codes is because Tribes are not associated with States. They are only associated with regions.

Question 3: Do you have a list of the BIA codes?
Answer 3: The Data Standards Team provided a list of BIA codes in DCL 07-02.

Question 4: Are Address 2 type codes for TRB coming in the future?
Answer 4: Address Type 2 codes have been approved. OCSE has updated the record layout and posted the new version on the website. See FPLS EFlash 08-01 (issued 01/04/08) for details. There are two Address Type 2 codes that are associated with Address Type 1 'TRB': 'T01' (Tribal Office 1) and 'T02' (Tribal Office 2).

Question 5: When States do their monthly download, will they be able to download their current file separate from the one with the new Tribal codes?
Answer 5: The State has the option of downloading or not downloading the Tribal codes along with the other address records.

Question 6: Is there a way States can get a test file?
Answer 6: Please contact Angela Kasey at (202) 205-3423 or Angela.Kasey@acf.hhs.gov.

Question 7: Our State system could have a problem with international addresses because we have not programmed these updates into our system. If we say 'NO', will these international addressees be excluded from the IRG interface until we are ready to turn them on?
Answer 7: This change will display the International Records option, which will provide you with the following:

• Yes - International Records included in the download file directly from the IRG, or
• No - International Records are excluded in the download file directly from the IRG.

All active records with the exception of Tribal will be included in the update file via CSENet.

Question 8: When the new Tribal FIPS/Location codes go into effect, will there be one FIPS code for the Tribal/CSE office and a different code for the Tribal court location? For example, if the Navajo Nation CSE Office is 90123, will the Navajo Tribal Court, which we just learned has courts in 10 different cities, have a code of 90123 or 90 something else or a code for each location, or will the courts and the Tribal CSE office have the same FIPS?
Answer 8: Tribal Child Support Offices and Tribal Courts will not have the same Location Codes. Each Tribal Child Support Office will be identified by their BIA Location Code. Currently, the IRG provides a Tribal Court Contact for each State, which is located under each county.

NDNH

Question 1: Regarding the proposed future enhancement that will advise States when the QW amount changes, will States be alerted when there is an increase as well as a decrease in the wage amount? Can this enhancement be amended to also provide the percent of increase or decrease?
Answer 1: This change will notify States when there is an increase or decrease in the QW amount. In response to States' request, the FCR-NDNH Locate/Proactive Match Response Record will be changed to add a new field that indicates the percent of change in the Wage Amount from the pervious quarter. Participation in this enhancement will be optional for States.