# Presentation: 276406

## Interstate Communications and Case Processing

**Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement**
**July 2004**

## The OCSE Network Links 54 Diverse Child Support Enforcement Agencies Together for the Effective Processing of Interstate Cases

-   **A total of 54 **
**   ****jurisdictions**
**     *****  50 states**
**     *****  District of**
**         ****Columbia**
**     *****  3 territories**
**            ****-  Guam**
**            ****-  Puerto Rico**
**            ****-  Virgin Islands**

## Goal

**    ****Expedite interstate case processing and the collection of child support payments by electronically exchanging UIFSA information via the OCSE Network **

_**CSENet 2000 Automates UIFSA Forms**_

## CSENet 2000

**CSENet 2000 simplifies interstate communications**
**States/territories send their CSENet files (transactions) electronically to the OCSE server directly from their  Child Support Enforcement system**
**States/territories receive transactions, including error files, directly from the OCSE 2000 server**

## Interstate Communications

**Interstate Communications**

## Business ActivityCSENet Function Relationship

_**CSENet 2000 Function**__** **_
**LO1 - Quick Locate**
**CSI  - Case Status Information**
**ENF - Enforcement**
**MSC - Managing State Cases**
**PAT - Paternity Establishment**
**EST - Order Establishment**
**	****       **
**COL - Collection**

_**Business Activity**_
**Locating noncustodial parents (NCPs)**
**Gathering information (FCR)**
**Enforcing support order**
**Ongoing case activity, administrative**
**services **
**Establishing paternity**
**Establishing support order**
**Income tax offset notification**

## UIFSA and CSENet Transactions 

**The next two slides provide examples of the various interstate business activities **
**CSENet functions that support these activities are identified**

##    Interstate Case Activities - Governed by UIFSA & CFR

- General Testimony

- Paternity Affidavit

- Support Petition

- Locate Data  Sheet

**PAT**

- Transmittal #1

**    ****Paternity Establishment**

- General Testimony

- Support Petition

- Locate Data  Sheet

**Modification**

- Support Petition

- Locate Data  Sheet

**Change of Payee/Redirect**

**   ****Interstate Case Activities - Governed by UIFSA & CFR**

- Notice of Controlling Order

- General Testimony

- Support Petition

- Locate Data  Sheet

**Order Establishment**

**EST**

- Transmittal #1

- General Testimony

- Notice of Controlling Order

- Support Petition

- Locate Data  Sheet

**Establishment**

##    Interstate Case Activities - Governed by UIFSA & CFR

- Transmittal #3

**MSC**

**CSI**

**COL**

**Status Request**

**Request for Assistance/Discovery**

**Request/Provide**
**Case Information**

**Notification of ****Tax Offset**

**   ****Interstate Case Activities - Governed by UIFSA & CFR**

- Registration Statement

**Registration of**
** ****Foreign Order**

- Locate Data Sheet

**    ****Notice of Hearing**

## Interstate Business Electronic Components

**Interstate Business Electronic Components**

## Action and Reason Codes

**Action code describes the action of the transaction**
**R – Request (an initiating transaction)**
**A – Acknowledgment of receipt of a Request**
**P – Provision of information/Response**
**M – Reminder (used when a Response is overdue)**
**U – Update of a previously transmitted Request**
**C – Cancel a previous Request**
**Reason code clarifies the activity**
**Activities such as “paternity hearing scheduled” or “additional information needed to proceed” have unique Reason codes**
**Not contained in all transactions, e.g., PAT R (Blank) is a Paternity Request**

## Function, Action, Reason Codes

**Examples of Function, Action, Reason codes**
**CSI R FRINF**
**Request all available IV-D case information due to notification from the FCR of participant existing in another IV-D case in another state**
**PAT A AADIN**
**Acknowledgment – additional information needed to proceed**
**PAT P PICHS**
**Response – Paternity hearing scheduled**
**185* valid transactions**
***MSC P REJCT added as part of OCSE Release 04-01 Minor, August 20, 2004**

## Building a Transaction

## Transaction Components

**Header**
**Data Blocks**
**Data Elements**

## Component 1: Header

**A Header begins every transaction**
**Provides identifying information on the case, source, destination, and content of the transaction**
**Contains “Indicators,” used to show which data blocks (if any) and the number of data blocks the transaction contains**
**Includes a combination of codes that specify the Function, Action, and Reason of the business activity communicated**

## Component 2: Data Blocks

**The Header may be followed by one or more data blocks **

**Header**

**Order **
**Data Block**

## Data Block Descriptions

**Case Data Block**
**General case information, status, contact, and payment address**
**NCP ID Data Block**
**Physical description of NCP or putative father**
**NCP Locate Data Block**
**Location and employer information regarding the NCP or putative father**

## Participant Data Block
Information about other people involved in the case. Relationship field indicates the relationship of each person in the case, e.g., custodial party, dependent.
Order Data Block
Support or paternity order information
Collection Data Block
Information about a tax offset
Information Data Block
General text information

**Information about other people involved in the case. Relationship field indicates the relationship of each person in the case, e.g., custodial party, dependent.**
**Order Data Block**
**Support or paternity order information**
**Collection Data Block**
**Information about a tax offset**
**Information Data Block**
**General text information**

**Data Block Descriptions**

## Headers and Data Blocks

**A Header is required for all transactions**
**Some transactions (CSI and MSC Requests and Updates) require only a Header, although other data blocks may be added**
**All other transactions require one or more data blocks**
**Some transactions require specific data blocks under certain conditions**
**For example, an LO1 Response requires the NCP Locate data block, if the state has been successful in finding NCP or employer information**
**Data blocks must be added to a transaction in a specified order**
**Case, NCP ID, NCP Locate, Participant, Order, Collection, Information**

## Sample Transaction Structures

## Required Data Blocks

**Legend**
**R****	**Required data block
**Blank****	**Non-required data block
**A****	**Required if the Response is successful, i.e., the second character of the Reason code is S
**B****	**At least two Participant data blocks required on these transactions: one with the Relationship code of C, and one with the Relationship code of D
**C****	**Required if the Attachments indicator in the Header is Y (applies to all transactions)

| REQUIRED DATA BLOCKS |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Data Block Name | Requests and Updates, Action Codes R and U |  |  |  |  |  | Responses, Action Code P |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | LO1 | CSI | EST | ENF | PAT | MSC | LO1 | CSI | EST | ENF | PAT | MSC | COL |
| Header | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Case | R |  | R | R | R |  | R | A | R | R | R | R | R |
| NCP-ID | R |  | R | R | R |  | R |  | R | R | R |  |  |
| NCP Locate |  |  | R | R | R |  | A |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Participant |  |  | B | B | B |  |  | A |  |  |  |  |  |
| Order |  |  |  | R |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Collection |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | R |
| Information | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |

## Component 3: Data Elements

**Each data block contains data elements, for example the local FIPS state code**
**Use of a data block requires that certain data elements and/or specific values be present**
**Rules govern the use of data elements**

## Transaction Characteristics

**Each transaction is a string of data terminated with a new-line character that signifies the end of the transaction**
**Formatting rules apply to all data, for example, dates must be formatted as CCYYMMDD**
**Transactions can be of variable length (maximum 8481)**
**Refer to the CSENet Data Block Record Layout for additional information about data block characteristics and data elements**

## A Sample Case-Closure Transaction

**The next slide contains a simplified sample transaction that contains only the required data block (Case) and data elements for the transaction**
**CSENet Data Block Layout contains additional data elements for the Case data block that states may use**
**Transaction Functional Matrix (TFM) recommends additional data blocks as essential to conducting business and automating transaction processing**
**Below the transaction is a detailed description of the**
**data elements in the Header**
**the two required data elements from the Case data block****	**

## Note: The CSENet Data Block Record Layout contains fixed-length fields. Spaces in the example provided reflect unused fields, as well as instances when the maximum number of characters in a field were not used. 

| A Sample Transaction Notifying a State That a Non-TANF Case Is Closed |  |
| --- | --- |
| 91000009500000003000000011761    PMSC2004071529C3112        001234567      GSC0220040701N100000020040715032804           NC (An invisible new-line character signifies the end of the transaction) |  |
| Transaction Data Elements and Data | Description |
| ************************** HEADER ************************
Local FIPS State	91
Local FIPS County	000
Local FIPS Sub	00
Other FIPS State	95
Other FIPS County	000
Other FIPS Sub	00
CSENet 2000-Version-Number	003	
Transaction-Serial-Number	000000011761
Error-Reason-Code (future use)		
Transaction-Type (future use)		
Action-Code	P	
Functional-Type-Code	MSC	
Transaction-Date	20040715
Case-ID	29C3112
Other-Case-ID	001234567	
Action-Reason	GSC02

Action-Resolution-Date	20040701
Attachments-Indicator	N	
Case-Data-Indicator	1	
NCP-Identification-Indicator	0	
NCP-Locate-Data-Indicator	0	
Participant-Data-Indicator	0	
Order-Data-Indicator	0	
Collection-Data-Indicator	0	
Information-Indicator	0	
Date-Received	20040715
Time-Received	032804
Processing-Complete (future use)		
Attachments-Due-Date (future use)		
Sent-To-State-Host (future use)		
Interstate-Forms-Printed (future use)		
*************************** CASE *************************
Case Type	N	
Case Status	C	
		 | Beginning of the Header (Note: no separator between the Header and data blocks in transactions)
Sending state’s FIPS code
Sending state’s County code (if applicable)
Sending state’s Sub code (if applicable)
Receiving state’s FIPS code
Receiving state’s County code
Receiving state’s sub code
CSENet 2000 Version Number
Serial number assigned by the sending state
Blank
Blank
Transaction is a Provide/Response
Managing State Cases
Date in CCYYMMDD format
Sending state’s case ID
Receiving state’s case ID
Case Closure: No longer a current support order and arrearages are under $500 or unenforceable under state law
Date in CCYYMMDD format
No attachments for this transaction.
A Case data block is included in the transaction.
No NCP ID data block included
No NCP Locate data block included
No Participant data block included
No Order data block included
No Collection data block included
No Information data block included
Date in CCYYMMDD format
Time in HHMMSS (military) format
Blank
Blank
Blank
Blank
Beginning of Case data block (Note: no separator between data blocks in transactions)
Non-TANF Case
Closed for the reason indicated in the Action-Reason code |

- Note: The CSENet Data Block Record Layout contains fixed-length fields. Spaces in the example provided reflect unused fields, as well as instances when the maximum number of characters in a field were not used.

## Transaction Functional and Business Usage

**Steps for Building Requests and Responses**

**State B**

**State A**

**Request**

**Response**

## Quick Locate (LO1)	

**The Quick Locate process is a highly successful way of locating noncustodial parents (NCPs) in an efficient manner**
**Often the initiating state believes the NCP may be in one of several states and may send an LO1 Request to each**

## The LO1 Request is typically used to obtain an address or employer when a state/territory has reason to believe that the NCP works or resides in another jurisdiction 

**The LO1 Request is typically used to obtain an address or employer when a state/territory has reason to believe that the NCP works or resides in another jurisdiction**** **

**Steps for Building an LO1 Request**

## Steps for Building an LO1 Response

**Upon receiving a Quick Locate request, the responding state/territory should use its resources to attempt to locate the NCP**
**The responding state**
**need not initiate a case of its own**
**should report any findings to the initiating state, whether successful or unsuccessful **

## Case Status Information (CSI)

**Provides states/territories an automated method to obtain comprehensive case and order information from another state**
**Supplements the information from the Federal Case Registry (FCR)**

## Steps for Building a CSI Request

**A state receives an FCR Query/Proactive Match Response Record indicating that the NCP and/or CP are involved in a case in another state**
**The state evaluates the case to determine if a CSI Request for additional information is warranted**
**For example, there is no order or the NCP has stopped paying on an existing order**

## Steps for Building a CSI Response

**Upon receiving a CSI request, the responding state should automatically build a CSI Response  **
**States and territories are encouraged to send all available information in the CSI Response**
**Once a Response is received, the initiating state can then determine the next case-processing action**

## Enforcement (ENF)

**The enforcement process is used by states to request and receive assistance with the enforcement of a support order**
**Reasons for initiating an Enforcement Request are numerous, for example:**
**Modify a support order**
**Request collection of an existing order or of arrears **
**Request administrative review of a tax offset **

## Steps for Building an ENF Request

**Once interstate enforcement action is determined to be necessary, the state generates and sends an ENF Request to the state with jurisdiction for enforcement**

## Steps for Building an ENF Response

**After processing the case, the responding state builds an ENF Response to provide status information or outcome**
**Once a Response is received, the initiating state can then determine the next case-processing action**

## Managing State Cases (MSC)

**The MSC transaction is used to communicate a variety of ongoing business activities in interstate cases and administrative services under UIFSA**
**For example, case status updates:**
**Case-type change**
**NCP left the state**
**Field-office change**
**Hearing date notification**
**Case closure**

## Steps for Building an MSC Request

**An MSC Request can either be automatically generated by the CSE system or manually initiated by the caseworker**

## Steps for Building an MSC Response

**Typically, an MSC Response is used to return information specified in a Request from another state**
**However, it can also be used to provide information or relay an activity that has occurred in an ongoing case**
**Once a Response is received, the initiating state can then determine the next case-processing action**

## Paternity (PAT)

**The Paternity function is used when long-arm processing is inappropriate or has been unsuccessful**

## Steps for Building a PAT Request

**Once it has been determined that a PAT Request is necessary, the state builds a Request to send to the state that has jurisdiction for paternity establishment**

## Building a PAT Response

**The responding state:**
**Builds a new case or updates an existing case**
**Process the case and use PAT Responses to communicate status and outcome**
**Once a Response is received, the initiating state can then determine the next case-processing action**

## Establishment (EST)

**The Establishment function supports the establishment of support orders in interstate cases**

## Steps for Building an EST Request

**After identifying a case for which another state needs to establish support, the initiating state builds an EST Request**

## Steps for Building an EST Response

**The responding state:**
**Builds a new case or updates an existing case**
**Processes the case and uses EST transactions to provide status and outcome to the initiating state**
**Once a Response is received, the initiating state can then determine the next case-processing action**

## Collections (COL)

**The Collection function is used to notify another state that a tax offset has been received and disbursed**
**There is a single valid COL transaction, ****COL P CITAX**

## Steps for Building the COL Transaction

**COL P CITAX identifies monies received from a Federal or state tax offset or adjustments of the original offset**

## Development Resources

**CSENet 2000 Interface Guidance Document (IGD)**
**Valid Transactions Table**
**Data Block Record Layout**
**Transaction Functional Matrix (TFM) **
**End User Support and Technical (Software and Network) Groups**
**OCSE Website contains the following:**
**States’ CSENet information, including state contacts****http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/csenet/contacts/csenet.htm**
**Exchange Agreement information****http://ocse3.acf.hhs.gov/ext/irg/sps/selectastate.cfm**
**	****http://151.196.108.20/irg/overview.asp**
**CSENet 2000 IGD and Appendices **
**	****http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/csenet/library/csenet2000/csenet2000.htm**