Tribal Access to the FPLS
TDCL-16-01
TRIBAL DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER
TDCL-16-01
DATE: February 22, 2016
TO: ALL TRIBAL IV-D DIRECTORS
RE: Tribal Access to the FPLS
Dear Tribal Colleague:
On September 29, 2014, the President signed Public Law 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 (Act). Section 302 of the Act provides the authority and this TDCL describes the process for Tribal IV-D programs to access the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS).
BACKGROUND
The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement held the following series of telephone calls, meetings, and tribal consultations concerning the FPLS.
- On October 16, 2014, OCSE hosted a Tribal Directors call to discuss Section 302 of the Act. During the call, we described access to the FPLS through the Child Support Portal to include the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), Federal Case Registry (FCR), DoD Entitlement information, and external locates. External locates are matches that are completed with other federal agencies.
- On January 14, 2015, we sent an email to the Tribal Directors listserv to inform directors that we were analyzing tribal access to key FPLS functions using the federal Child Support Portal.
- On April 15, 2015, I sent a Dear Tribal Leader Letter inviting tribal leaders to engage in consultation on Section 302 of the Act. The letter provided information to register to attend the consultation and an option to participate remotely. On April 17, 2015, we sent an email to the Tribal Directors listserv, sharing information about the consultation.
- On April 22, 2015, the Federal Register [80 FR 22525 (PDF)] published a notice announcing the consultation.
- On May 15, 2015, ACF Leadership notified ACF Principals and Tribal Leaders that the ACF Tribal Consultation scheduled for May 21, 2015, was postponed due to low registration numbers. OCSE immediately sent an email to the Tribal Directors listserv about this postponement, and advised that the OCSE consultation would continue as planned.
- On June 9, 2015, I met with Tribal Directors during a lunch meeting at the National Tribal Child Support Association conference.
- On June 19, 2015, additional information was sent to the Tribal Directors listserv.
- On June 30, 2015, a Tribal Directors conference call was held to discuss FPLS fees.
- On July 22, 2015, the Tribal Consultation report was distributed via the Tribal Directors listserv and posted on the OCSE website.
- On August 14, 2015, a Tribal Directors conference call was held to review the Security Agreement.
HOW TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE FPLS
1. The tribe must submit an independent security self-assessment to OCSE. OCSE will review the self-assessment to determine compliance with the appropriate security measures.
An independent self-assessment, also called an independent security assessment, is performed by a competent independent evaluator who is well versed in Information Assurance and IT cybersecurity technology, processes, and methodology to validate existing security controls and make a determination of a general security posture of an IT system.
An unbiased, outside entity must conduct the independent security assessment. The independent security assessment must include information on the security controls defined within a documented security agreement and detailed findings (if any) and recommendations to improve the tribal child support agency’s plans, procedures, and practices. The tribal child support agency must make a report of such an independent assessment available to OCSE for review and approval prior to obtaining access to the FPLS.
The following assessments are acceptable:
- Internal Revenue Service Safeguard Review Report;
- Social Security Administration Independent Verification and Validation;
- A review conducted by an independent tribal auditing organization; or
- A review conducted by an independent auditing firm outside the tribal organization/agency.
2. OCSE will forward the Security Agreement, which includes the tribal-specific fee, to the Tribal Director. We will also include a Reimbursement Agreement with instructions and payment options to remit payment.
3. The Tribal Director will return both the signed Security Agreement and the Reimbursement Agreement. Fees must be paid upon receipt of the invoice, but no later than 90 days of signing the agreement. This may be done by check, credit card or electronic funds transfer. Instructions on how to remit payment will accompany the invoice.
4. Once the Security and Reimbursement Agreements are executed, OCSE will contact the tribe to coordinate training. OCSE will provide each tribe with technical assistance and training via webinars. Once training is completed, tribes can begin to access the FPLS.
What FPLS data will tribes be able to access through the Portal?
- National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) — New Hires, Quarterly Wage and Unemployment Insurance
- The NDNH is the national registry of employment, wages, and unemployment application and benefit information. The registry receives approximately 625 million wage records from state workforce and federal agencies and 35 million unemployment applications or benefit records from state workforce agencies each year.
- $760 million in child support collections is attributed to NDNH matches in 2015
- The NDNH is the national registry of employment, wages, and unemployment application and benefit information. The registry receives approximately 625 million wage records from state workforce and federal agencies and 35 million unemployment applications or benefit records from state workforce agencies each year.
- Federal Case Registry (FCR) — IV-D and non-IV-D cases
- The FCR is a nationwide registry of child support cases. It contains 20 million case records, and information on 27 million parents and 21 million children.
- Tribal programs are not required to send tribal case information to the FCR; however, the programs will benefit from the information contained in the FCR.
- The FCR is a nationwide registry of child support cases. It contains 20 million case records, and information on 27 million parents and 21 million children.
- External Locates — Federal agencies
- External locate matches provide data from other federal agencies. These include:
- Department of Defense — provides information on active duty personnel, reservists, and retired military personnel
- Department of Veterans Affairs — provides information on beneficiaries
- Federal Bureau of Investigation — provides information on active, inactive, and retired employees
- Social Security Administration — provides disability and retirement income; Supplemental Security Income; death information and prisoner information on 5,407 federal, state and local facilities
- External locate matches provide data from other federal agencies. These include:
- DOD Entitlement Application - Entitlement information for active and reserve service members
- DoD Entitlement is an application on the Portal that allows tribes to request military entitlement information for noncustodial parents, putative fathers, and custodial parents. It may only be used to establish or modify child support orders.
If you have questions, need additional information or wish to begin the process of receiving FPLS data through the Child Support Portal, please contact Linda Boyer, Data Access and Security Manager, Division of Federal Systems, Office of Child Support Enforcement at Linda.Boyer@acf.hhs.gov or (202) 401-5410.
Sincerely,
Vicki Turetsky
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement
cc: ACF/OCSE Regional Program Managers