ACF-700 Reporting Tips
1. Do not leave blank spaces on the ACF-700 form:
Every data element field should contain a count, an average, or NA* (Not Applicable). Do not use decimals, dollar signs, dashes, or other characters.
If you offer the service but did not serve any CCDF children or families in a given category, such as an age group or a type of care, record the number zero ("0") in the field.
If the information requested does not apply to your program—that is, you do not provide that service with your CCDF grant—enter NA.*
*In the ACF-700 Electronic Submission Site, “NA” should be entered as it appears here (with no slash). “N/A” and “n/a” will not be accepted in the electronic form.
2. Make sure you count the right thing:
Except for data element #1, all of the ACF 700 data elements require counts of children and not counts of families. Even though data elements refer to family characteristics, they still require counts of children who received services, and it is important to count each child in the family who fits into each specific element category. For example, data element #7-poverty threshold is based on family income, but you still must report the number of children who fall into each category.
3. Report the value (count or average) that is requested:
Some data elements require that you provide counts (for example, counts of families or children) while others require that you provide averages.
Counts are required for data elements 1, 2b, 3a-i, 4a-f, 7a-d, and 8a-d.
Averages are required for data elements 2a, 5, 6a, and 6b.
For more information on calculating averages, refer to the guidance for the particular data element in Section VI of the Guide for CCDF Tribal Lead Agencies (ACF-700).
4. Be careful counting children more than one time (duplicating counts):
Unduplicated Counts: In Column A (with the exception of elements 2a, 5, and 6a-6b which ask for averages), you should count each family or child only once regardless of how many times they may have entered and exited service during the Federal fiscal year, or if they received services from more than one provider during the year.
Duplicated Counts: For columns B-L, a child should be counted once in each care-type column from which they received services. This means that a child may be counted in more than one care type for data elements 2b, 3a-i, and 8a-d. However, the child should not be counted more than once within a single provider type column. The number of children reported by provider type may add up across the row to be equal to or greater than the total unduplicated count reported in Column A, however this number may not be less than the number in Column A.
5. Conduct Quality Checks to be sure your numbers add up correctly:
Some numbers reported for different data elements must add up to and match other numbers. Use the information in the table below to make sure your numbers add up correctly. All elements marked with an asterisk (*) indicate checks that are automatically conducted on the ACF-700 Electronic Submission Site. Use the electronic ACF-700 submission site to help you ensure accuracy.
|
Data Accuracy Check Summary |
|
|
Element |
Consistency Check |
|
Element 1, Column A |
Element 1 should be less than or equal to Element 2b. |
|
Element 2a, Column A |
Element 2a should be less than or equal to Element 2b. |
|
Element 2b, Column A |
Element 2b, Column A, should be greater than or equal to Element 1 and greater than or equal to Element 2a, Column A. |
|
Element 2b, Columns B-L |
The total of Element 2b, Columns B-L should be equal to, or greater than Element 2b, Column A. |
|
Element 3a-i, Column A |
The total of Element 3a through 3g in Column A should be equal to Element 3h, Column A.* The total of Element 3h, Column A and Element 3i, Column A should equal Element 2b, Column A.* |
|
Element 3a-i, Columns B-L |
For each type of care, the total of Elements 3a to 3g in each column should equal the number in Element 3h for that column.* For each care type, the total number of children in Element 3h and element 3i for that column should equal Element 2b of that column. * The total sum across each row (Columns B-L) must be equal to, or greater than the number reported on the same row in Column A. |
|
Element 4a-f, Column A |
The total of Elements 4 a-f, Column A should equal Element 2b, Column A.* |
|
Element 5, Column A |
Generally, full-time care is about 160 hours per month. If most of your children are receiving full-time care, your reported average monthly hours of service per child would not likely be substantially higher or substantially lower than 160 in Column A or in any one care type (Columns B-L). If, however, you primarily operate a Before or After School program, your average hours per month may be substantially lower. The average hours should be representative of the program that you operate and the services that you provide. |
|
Element 5, Columns B-L |
|
|
Element 6a, Column A |
In most cases, the subsidy amount (6a) will be larger than the co-payment amount (6b) for both the total column (A) and for each individual care type column (B-L). If your reported co-payment is higher than your reported subsidy, you may have an error in your data. |
|
Element 6a, Column B-L |
|
|
Element 6b, Column A |
|
|
Element 6b, Columns B-L |
|
|
Element 7(a-d), Column A |
The sum of 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d must equal Element 2b, Column A.* |
|
Element 8 a-d, Column A |
The sum of 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d must equal Element 2b, Column A.* |
|
Element 8a-d, Columns B-L |
The sum of 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d must equal Element 2b in the same column. * The total sum across each row (Columns B-L) must be equal to, or greater than the number reported on the same row in Column A. |
6. Tips for Completing the Supplemental Narrative:
The Supplemental Narrative (Part 2 of the ACF-700 report) is divided into two pages on the submission site. You must respond to the questions on both pages for your submission to be considered complete. Do not leave any questions blank.
Indicate Tribal program details and activities by checking the appropriate boxes to respond to the questions, and provide further details in the “Describe” boxes. All “Describe” boxes have a text limit (including spaces) of 4,000 characters.
For increased security, the website will ’time out’ in the case of prolonged inactivity. It is recommended that you first type and save your responses detailing your activities in a separate Word document and then copy and paste them in the “Describe” boxes. This is to ensure your text responses are not lost and you do not need to re-type all of the information.
Click the Save/Submit Form button at the bottom of the page to save all entered information before navigating to the next page.