# Federal Parent Locator Service

# Federal Case Registry

# Making the Best Use of Department of Defense (DoD) Information

# Multi-state Conference Call Notes

#### Participating States

  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
  Alabama           Kentucky          New York          Utah

  California        Maine             North Carolina    Virginia

  Colorado          Maryland          North Dakota      West Virginia

  Florida           Massachusetts     Ohio              Wisconsin

  Idaho             Minnesota         Oklahoma          Wyoming

  Illinois          Montana           Oregon            

  Iowa              Nebraska          Pennsylvania      

  Kansas            New Hampshire     South Carolina    
  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

## Purpose of the call

The purpose of the call held on October 15, 2003, was to identify
information currently available from the National Directory of New Hires
(NDNH) and Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) related to members of
the military, retired military, and civilian employees of DoD, and to
discuss how and when additional information should be requested.

Participants were encouraged to make use of the *Quick Guide to Working
with the Military as an Employer*, as transmitted with Information
Memorandum 03-03, and which also is available on the Federal Office of
Child Support Enforcement's (OCSE) web site at
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/IM/2003/im-03-03.htm>.

Information also may be found in the publication, *Working with Federal
Agencies as Employers*, referred to within Information Memorandum 03-05
and available on the OCSE web site at
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/IM/2003/im-03-05.htm>.

Additionally, Information Memorandum 03-06*, Reactivating The Federal
Parent Locator Service (FPLS) External Locate Function For The
Department Of Defense (DoD) To Eliminate The Need For Verification Of
Employment,* provides information about changes in FPLS processing and
is found on the OCSE web site at
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/IM/2003/im-03-06.htm>.

States were provided in advance :

-   Income Included in the Quarterly Wage Records (see Attachment 1)

-   Military Worldwide Locator Addresses (see Attachment 2).

Responding to a state suggestion from an earlier multi-state conference
call, participants were invited to ask questions verbally or email
questions during the call.

## A. FPLS Proactive Matches

**1. New Hire Reports (W4)**

The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) submits W4s for DoD personnel
semi-monthly, in the middle of the month and at the end of the month.
Information is sent on active duty military, new reservists, and
civilians. Generally, employee addresses are not sent on active duty and
new reservists because these persons do not yet have a permanent duty
station address.

Note: Reservists who are called to active duty are not submitted as new
hires. Activated reservists will have their income reported on the
Quarterly Wage (QW) reports. Significant changes in income for a
reservist may necessitate review and modification.

The New Hire report includes the following:

-   Employee Name, SSN, and Date of Birth

-   Employee Date of Hire

-   Employee Address (if available as discussed above)

-   Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)

-   DoD Status Code (A -- active, C -- civilian, R -- reserve)

-   Employer Address (**See Attachment 3**)

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-   Employer Optional Address (**See Attachment 3**)

The DFAS Income Withholding Customer Service Number is (216) 522-5301.

The DFAS web site for income-withholding information is
<http://www.dfas.mil/money/garnish/>.

Knowing the correct FEIN for each branch of the military will help
caseworkers locate the participant. The FEINs for DoD can be found in
the *Quick Guide to Working with the Military* and on the OCSE web site
at
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/contacts/iw_fedcontacts_detail.htm#dod>.

**2. Quarterly Wage Reports (QW)**

DoD/DMDC submits QW reports by the end of the month following the end of
each quarter in which wages were earned. Information from DoD/DMDC is
timelier than QW information submitted from states, which is submitted
by the end of the fourth month following the quarter in which wages were
earned. The difference in timeliness is due to the fact that DoD, like
other Federal agencies, is both the employer and the reporting agency.
Consequently, the information passes directly from DoD to the NDNH,
rather than through another party, e.g., a State Employment Security
Agency (SESA). Information is submitted for active military, reservists,
civilian employees, US Coast Guard (active and retirees), and DoD active
duty retirees.

Note: DoD military retirees have been included in the QW reports since
August 2003. The first QW files containing military retirees included
132,472 retiree wage records that affected all 54 states and
territories. (Wages for civil service retirees are not included in the
QW files; they must be obtained through an external locate request.)

Caseworkers are encouraged to use the reported QW records to the fullest
extent possible since the wages are current and proactively reported to
states. Additionally, the only way to know if a reservist has been
activated is through the QW records.

The following information is included on the Quarterly Wage record:

-   Employee Name and SSN

-   Wages

-   Reporting Period

-   FEIN

-   DoD Status Code (A -- active, C -- civilian, R -- reserve, P --
    pension)

-   Employer Name and Address (**See Attachment 3**)

-   Employer Optional Address, (**See Attachment 3**)

Caseworkers should use the same contact information as provided in the
previous section.

Quarterly wages reported by DoD/DMDC are supposed to include all sources
of income, including wages, bonuses, incentives and allowances (See
Attachment 1). It was recently determined that only wages and regular
pay were being reported. DMDC has corrected its files and the third
quarter 2003 QW submission contains the correct wage amounts as
previously defined. OCSE is determining whether to replace QW
information stored on the NDNH for the prior three quarters with
corrected wage amounts. States will be notified by an E-Flash if any
changes are made to the NDNH data.

NOTE: In subsequent meetings, a decision was reached that the prior
quarters would not be replaced. OCSE is now looking into different
methods of providing base pay, bonuses, incentives and allowances.

Another QW data problem identified by caseworkers involved states not
getting QW reports for some known members of the military. It was
determined that there was a problem with the manner in which DMDC was
reporting name suffixes (e.g., Jr.) to the NDNH. Suffix information was
being submitted in the first name field. This resulted in records being
rejected due to invalid SSN and name combinations. The problem has been
corrected, and as of third quarter 2003, names will be populated in the
correct fields.

## B. DoD Information Provided Upon Request

**1. External Locate Requests**

External locate responses contain information about location, service,
date of birth, pay, and rank. External locate requests are not
proactive, they must be requested by states. The FPLS sends external
requests directly to DoD on a monthly basis.

Information is returned for active duty military, reservist, retired
military personnel, and retired civil service. Annual salary is provided
for retirees whose salaries are fixed, but is not provided for personnel
whose salaries might change from month to month. Cost of living pay
raises go into effect in January for military and civil service
retirees.

2.  **NDNH Locate Request**

Caseworkers can send an NDNH Locate Request to receive the most recent
four quarters of income information stored on the NDNH. If information
is needed for periods prior to the most recent four quarters,
caseworkers can send an employment/income verification form to the
appropriate DFAS office for the military branch. Requests for wages
prior to one year will be honored. (This is a change from the
documentation in the *Quick Guide to Working with the Military as an
Employer*, which will be amended in the next version on the OCSE web
site.)

## C. Proposal to Modify the External Locate Response

Since DMDC stopped responding to wage verification requests, several
states have indicated problems using the data systematically provided by
DMDC for DoD. Recently, states were asked to identify the income used in
guideline computations involving persons in the military. Twenty-three
(23) states responded, with 20 states indicating that they use all
income received by the military member. Since all income is reported on
the QW report, that income appears to meet the needs of the majority of
states who provided feedback. However, three states indicated that they
use only actual wages/salary and do not consider allowances. OCSE is
exploring three options for meeting the needs of those states that do
not use total income in the guideline computation.

1.  Talks are continuing to determine if it is feasible to report
    monthly income on the external locate response. Monthly income can
    be defined as wages/salary and will give caseworkers current insight
    into wages reported with a different definition than the income
    reported on QW records.

2.  DFAS has agreed that they could identify years of service on the
    external locate response. This information could be included in the
    filler portion of the file. Using years of service and rank (that is
    currently provided in the external locate response record)
    caseworkers could determine base pay. Base pay and Basic Allowances
    for Housing (BAH) can be found at the DFAS web site on
    <http://www.dfas.mil/money/milpay/pay/>.

3.  In a meeting held after the conference call, OCSE is considering
    obtaining three wage amount fields from DoD. One field would contain
    base wage amount, another would contain other periodic payments such
    as allowances, and the third field would contain bonuses or one time
    payments such as re-enlistment or signing bonuses. For those states
    that want all-inclusive income, OCSE would total the amounts in the
    three DoD wage fields and provide the total amount in the wage field
    on the QW Proactive Match and NDNH Locate Request records.

States will be advised well in advance of implementation, if any changes
are made to the DoD external locate responses.

## D. The 'Work Number' for Civilian Income Information

DoD has contracted with a third-party provider, TALX Corporation, Inc,
for employment and wage verification for its civilian personnel. The
Work Number database has basic employment information, address, and
payroll data, including year-to-date pay, and a payroll history for the
prior two years. DoD electronically updates information to TALX Corp.
every pay period. States may register for this service by phone at (800)
660-3399 or via the Internet at
<http://www.theworknumber.com/socialservices/>. See IM-03-03 (*A Quick
Guide to Working with the Military as an Employer*) for additional
details about this service and the options available.

## E. Additional Information Requests

DFAS will only accept verification of employment (VOE) requests for
historical wage data over one year old. Linda Krabbenhoft explained that
the volume of requests became too great for them to continue to manually
respond to all income verification requests. The backlog for responding
to income verifications was found to be in excess of four months. It was
determined that QW wage reports actually get to caseworkers faster than
completed income verifications. Consequently, DFAS no longer accepts
requests for current wage information.

As an alternative to sending VOEs, caseworkers may submit a
judge-ordered subpoena or a Privacy Act Request to DFAS to obtain
additional information. DFAS does not respond to administrative
subpoenas, as they are not subject to state laws, according to Rod Winn
of DFAS. Currently, DFAS responds to requests for a Leave and Earning
Statement (LES), but since those requests are essentially asking for
current wages, DFAS may soon stop responding to those requests as well.
Some states also submit requests under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), although this is discouraged due to the record keeping involved
in tracking a FOIA request.

Any document requesting historical income information should be sent to
the appropriate DFAS location, based on the branch of service for the
employee (see *A Quick Guide to Working with the Military as an
Employer* for address information). If caseworkers do not know the
military branch for the employee, the letter can be sent to the DFAS
Denver Center for forwarding to the appropriate location. Currently,
DFAS is destroying most of the income verification requests for current
wages.

North Carolina staff suggested that DFAS should report wages to the NDNH
monthly to avoid all problems with wage verifications. Linda Krabbenhoft
stated that DFAS will give the NDNH any data it can accept -- but the
NDNH currently is not set up to accept wage records on a monthly basis.
This would constitute a major change to the NDNH and OCSE is not
considering this change at this time.

## F. Contact FCR State Technical Support for System Issues Only

DFAS has been sending letters to caseworkers referring individual case
inquiries to the FCR State Technical Support (State TS) Liaisons. The
letters seem to imply that the State TS Liaisons have avenues to obtain
information other than the data available through the NDNH or external
locate requests. This is not the case. State TS Liaisons do not have
additional access to information.

This issue was addressed with DoD/DFAS and the incorrect information
being disseminated will be rectified. DoD/DFAS will only refer state
systems staff to the State TS Liaisons when questions or issues arise
about programming and FPLS data usage.

## G. Serving Income-Withholding Notices to DoD

Kids First is the DFAS electronic child support submission system that
can process individual income withholding requests via an on-line web
system, as well as via a batch process interface using the OCSE CSENet
2000 system. More information on Kids First, and how to access it, is
available from the DFAS Cleveland field organization at (216) 522-5118,
or at the DFAS Kids First section on the OCSE web site at
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/csenet/dfas/dfas.htm>. To
sign up for Kids First, states should contact Larry Sharpley at (216)
522-5435, ex. 41677.

Several states that use Kids First expressed satisfaction with the
process. Mark Close in South Dakota previously has expressed a
willingness to help other states implement the batch process. Staff in
Iowa also have indicated a desire to help other states. Currently ten
(10) states are using the web site for sending in income-withholding
notices on 2,500 to 3,000 people per month. Five (5) states are using
the batch process to submit 12,000 orders per month.

As stated previously, manual income-withholding notices should always be
sent to:

DFAS Cleveland Center

ATTN DFAS GAG CL

P.O. Box 998002

Cleveland, OH 44199-8002

North Carolina and Kentucky staff commented they needed to receive
addresses and income data faster on new recruits. Rod Winn explained
that wages for new recruits are not on the DFAS system for at least four
months. This means that wage data on new recruits are not available,
except at the local base, until the QW submission from the most current
quarter in which the recruit joined the military is processed through
the NDNH. John Calhoun in Florida suggested that contacting the base
Provost Officer or the JAG office could secure service when needed.

Rod Winn offered to give workshops at any state conference to help
caseworkers better understand how to use DoD information and interact
with DFAS, including Kids First.

## H. DoD Medical Verifications

DMDC continues to respond to requests from caseworkers to verify
enrollment of children in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility
Registration System (DEERS). About 85% of the time, in processing a
request for medical information, DMDC finds that the child is already
enrolled in DEERS. Medical verification requests should be sent to:

DMDC Support Office\
Attn: CA99\
400 Gigling Road\
Seaside, CA 93955-6771

In order to reduce the amount of manual verifications being processed at
DMDC, a plan is being evaluated by OCSE and DoD to perform a match
between DEERS and the FCR to flag children enrolled in DEERS. States
will be involved as the process evolves since states will need to
develop a way to accept an indicator of DEERS enrollment. States should
look for more information as this plan is formulated.

## I. EFT with DoD

DFAS is finalizing plans to begin EFT/EDI transmissions to State
Disbursement Units (SDUs) for child support payments from military
retirees in December. SDUs will be notified when the change is
implemented for affected individuals. DFAS is planning to implement EFT
for active duty personnel in April 2004.

***Action Items/Issues:***

States were asked whether in the future they preferred one to three
smaller conference calls, or one large conference call, as future
multi-state conference calls are planned. Mixed opinions were expressed
by states.

OCSE will follow up with Pat Venza about getting wages for new recruits
sooner than what comes on quarterly wage reports. Subsequent discussion
revealed that information about wages is maintained for new recruits at
DMDC and is reported to NDNH through QW wage reports.

OCSE will investigate whether states that do not use the all-inclusive
military QW income amounts in guideline computations will benefit from
receiving monthly wages in the external locate response record as an
alternative for determining participant income.

Ohio -- caseworkers have indicated that they cannot access the QW data
for participants employed by DoD. Linda Hudson is working with Cindy
Lucas of Ohio on the problem.

Ohio -- will provide a revised listing for getting E-Flashes. Linda
Hudson forwarded a request to Cindy Lucas asking for names, type of
E-Flash the person is to receive, and his or her e-mail and mailing
addresses.

Ohio -- Denice R. Goldsworthy wants to ensure that information from this
call is sent to her at her fax number which is 503-656-2599 so she can
report to her state. Notes will be sent after being finalized for
release.

North Carolina and Kentucky -- need to receive income data faster for
newly hired recruits. They stated it takes too long to wait for a QW
report when they are trying to establish an order. Linda Hudson will
double-check to determine whether income can be made available sooner on
new recruits.

North Carolina -- asks when the *Quick Guide* will be revised with
current information. Rod Winn indicated that the guide is undergoing a
final edit and should soon be available on the OCSE web site.

Nebraska - asked to verify that DoD external locate is still 'A01' for
the automated process. That was confirmed.

> **Attachment 1**
>
> **Income Included in Quarterly Wage Records**
>
> ***For Active Duty:***
>
> Amount of Accrued Leave Pay Amount of Separation Payment
>
> Amount of Contract Cancellation Pay and Allowances
>
> Base Pay Basic Allowance for Subsistence
>
> Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) (previously Basic Allowance for
> Quarters)
>
> Career Sea Pay Career Sea Pay Premium
>
> Diving Duty Pay Enlistment Bonus
>
> Essential Service Pay Family Separation Allowance Type I, II
>
> Foreign Duty Pay Foreign Language Proficiency Pay
>
> Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay I, II, III Hostile Fire Pay
>
> Nuclear Officer Accession Bonus Overseas Extension Pay
>
> Proficiency Pay Regular Reenlistment Bonus
>
> Rental Charge for Inadequate Government Quarters
>
> Selective Reenlistment Bonus

***Additional income included for officers only.***

> Aviation Career Incentive Pay Aviation Officer Continuation Pay
>
> Additional Special Pay Board Certified Pay
>
> Incentive Special Pay Miscellaneous Officer Pay
>
> MORB/Nurse Bonus Amount Nuclear Career Accession Bonus
>
> Nuclear Career Annual Incentive Bonus
>
> Nuclear Qualified Officer Continuation Pay
>
> Saved Pay Saved Pay for Health Professionals
>
> Variable Special Pay

***For Reserves:***

> Aviation Career Incentive Pay Airborne Warning and Control Systems
>
> Basic Ad Pay Career Sea Pay
>
> Controller Pay Diving Duty Pay
>
> Foreign Duty Pay Foreign Language Proficiency Pay
>
> Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay I, II, III
>
> Hostile Fire Pay And /Or Imminent Danger Pay
>
> Monthly Basic Pay
>
> Reserve Component Incentive Program Payments
>
> Reserve Component Incentive Program Education Payments
>
> Separation Pay
>
> Special Pay for Reserve Medical Officers Payments
>
> ***For Civilians:***
>
> Award Amount I, II & III Final Compensatory Time Paid
>
> Locality Payment Lump Sum Leave Pay
>
> Manual Pay Adjustments Amount Overtime Paid
>
> Severance Pay Amount Voluntary Separation Incentive
>
> **Attachment 2**

Military Worldwide Locator Addresses

Army Active Duty Note: This can only be used by personnel who

Army Worldwide Locator otherwise have access to the Army

USAEREC web site. It is not available to child support

8899 E. 56th Street staff generally due to confidentiality

Indianapolis, IN 46249 requirements related to September 11, 2001.

<http://www.erec.army.mil/wwl>

\(703\) 325-3732

Army Reserve or Retired

Commander

ARPERCEN

9700 Page Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63132

\(314\) 538-3777

Navy

Navy Personnel Command

(PERS 312)

5720 Integrity Drive

Millington, TN 38055-3120

[http://www.navydirectory.smartlink.navy.mil](http://www.navydirectory.smartlink.navy.mil/)

\(901\) 874-3388

Air Force

Headquarters

ARMPC/RMIQL

550 C. Street West, Suite 50

Randolph AFB, TX 78150

[http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil](http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/)

Marine Corps

Headquarters, USMC

Code MMSB-10

208 Elliot Road, Room 201

Quantico, VA 22134

\(703\) 784-3942

Coast Guard

US Coast Guard

Personnel Command

2100 2nd Street, West

Washington, DC 20593

\(202\) 267-1340

Fax (202) 267-4985

> **Attachment 3**

**DoD Employer Addresses**

Army (Active Duty FEIN is 359990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 351819323)

DFAS Indianapolis Center

ATTN DFAS PMTCBC IN

8899 East 56th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46249-0865

Navy (Active Duty FEIN is 349990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 341586724)

DFAS Cleveland Center

ATTN DFAS GAF CL

1240 East 9th Street

Cleveland, OH 44199-8002

Marines (Active Duty FEIN is 539990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 539990000)

DFAS Kansas City Center\
ATTN DFAS GA KS\
1500 East 95th Street\
Kansas City, MO 64197-0001

Air Force (Active Duty FEIN is 849990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is
849980000)

DFAS Denver Center\
ATTN DFAS GA DE\
6760 East Irvington Place\
Denver, CO 80279-8000

DoD Civilian Employee (FEIN is 311575142)

DFAS Denver Center\
ATTN DFAS GA DE\
6760 East Irvington Place\
Denver, CO 80279-8000

#### ***DoD Active Duty Retirees (FEIN is 340727612)***

DFAS Cleveland Center

ATTN DFAS GAF CL

1240 East 9th Street

Cleveland, OH 44199-8006

Coast Guard Retirees (FEIN is 529980000)

USCG Human Resources SVC & Info Center

444 S E Quincy Street

Topeka, KS 66683-3591

**Employer Optional Address**, for all military income withholding:

DFAS Cleveland Center

ATTN DFAS GAG CL

P.O. Box 998002

Cleveland, OH 44199-8002