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This Technical Bulletin lists the data standards for the ACF-801 Child Care Case Record Form. This Form, which is submitted by States and Territories to the Office of Child Care (OCC), includes key case-level data required by the statute governing the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).

This Technical Bulletin describes the formatting requirements for the ACF-801 data submission file. These formatting guidelines should be followed by all States and Territories when creating the file for electronic submission to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). All questions about the file format should be directed to the Child Care Automated Reporting System (CARS) Team. This Technical Bulletin provides guidance for implementing provisions of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (Public Law 113-186) of 2014 and makes other revisions to strengthen administrative data reporting 

The purpose of this Technical Bulletin is to clarify several issues surrounding the ACF-801 reporting requirements. Section II provides guidance related to definitions of specific data elements and data element response options. Section III contains contact information if you have questions or need further assistance.

The Child Care Data Tracker (Tracker), available to tribes and territories, is a comprehensive case management tool designed to support the collection, management, and utilization of the case-level information needed for the generation of the required ACF-700 and ACF-801 reports.

This Technical Bulletin describes the requirements for formatting the ACF-801 data submission file.