7.4 Federal Case Registry

Overview

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 established the Federal Case Registry (FCR) as part of the expansion of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS). The FCR is a national repository for basic IV-D caseload and participant data along with Non-IV-D case information for all orders after October 1, 1998. Based upon PRWORA, each state created a State Case Registry (SCR) that contains the child support order information for the state and updates the FCR. In Wyoming, the SCR is POSSE.

The FCR assists in the location of alleged fathers or non-custodial parents to establish paternity and/or child and medical support along with enforcing and modifying existing orders. The National Directory of New Hire (NDNH) is a national database containing W-4, quarterly wage, and unemployment insurance data from federal, state and territory sources. The NDNH identifies the location of those child support participants who are newly hired, earning wages, or who have applied for or are receiving unemployment benefits.

As new or updated information is received from the SCR and the NDNH, the FCR proactively matches SCR case information and NDNH employment information. If matches are found, the FCR updates all appropriate state IV-D agencies through the FPLS.

The FCR matches proactively and provides information to state IV-D agencies when matches occur – even if the participant (e.g. a non-custodial parent) is already located. The FPLS only notifies a state of a locate “hit” if the participant is in a status of “not located.”

In addition to the proactive matches with the NDNH, the FCR also proactively matches with the following databases:

• DEERS (Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System) - assists states in identifying children receiving military medical benefits, eligible for military benefits, or those previously enrolled.

• SVES (State Verification and Exchange System) - allows states to receive information from

  • Title II,

  • Title XVI, and

  • Prisoner Locate Responses.

• Title II Pending Claims - provides information that a SSA Title II (disability benefits) claim is pending.

• MSFIDM (Multi-state Financial Institution Data Match) - provides matches with financial institution accounts and alleged fathers or non-custodial parents and are provided as asset records.

• Insurance Matches – provides matches with insurance claims information provided to the federal OCSE from participating insurers regarding civil liability claims. Information includes claims, claimant, insurer, attorney, third party administrator, and employer against FCR case participant information and is provided as asset records.

Finally, the FCR also benefits states with its intergovernmental case processing. It assists states in determining which states have a common interest in a child support participant; provides an indicator if a child support order exists; and in some instances may eliminate the need for manual searches when used in conjunction with the Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet). This is known as a CSI (Case Status Information) proactive match transaction.

Policy

In the Wyoming CSE Program, the FCR interface occurs in POSSE on the FCR screens (See Appendix 7.D – POSSE FCR Screens for details related to FCR information received in POSSE). The POSSE FCR screens are updated on a daily basis.

When reviewing a case for the next appropriate action, case workers will review POSSE FCR and Asset screens for possible address, employer, wage, asset, benefit, and insurance information.

Cross Reference

Appendix 7.C – FPLS and WY SPLS Timeframes

Appendix 7.D – POSSE FCR Screens