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TO: County Directors of Social Services
ATTENTION: DSS Child Welfare Services Program Administrators
DSS Child Welfare Services Supervisors
DSS Work First Program Administrators
DSS Work First Program Supervisors
DSS Adult/Family Services Program Administrators
DSS Adult/Family Services Program Supervisors
DSS Data Entry Supervisors and Operators
DATE: March 15, 2007
Target Completion Date: April 16, 2007
I. POLICY AND BACKGROUND
In order to comply with the requirements of the Identity Theft Protection Act (S.L. 2005-414) the Division is preparing for a mass update in the Services Information System and Central Registry on the night of May 31, 2007 to replace Case Manager Numbers with a system-assigned unique nine-digit ID number.
Prior to July 1, 2005, Item 16 on the DSS-5027 (and Item 4 on the DSS-5104) required the use of the Case Manager’s Social Security Number. With SIS Change Notice No. 02-05, Item 16 was re-named “Case Manager Number” and counties were given the option of using a county-assigned nine-digit alternative worker ID, rather than a worker’s Social Security Number, as an interim measure until the Division could develop a plan for statewide conversion to an alternative identifier. Allowing the use of a county-assigned number has helped to address the security concerns of many workers; however this interim measure has worked with limited success. Aside from placing responsibility on the county for assigning and maintaining lists of numbers for workers, this practice has exacerbated the problem of non-unique numbers, multiple numbers and invalid worker numbers in the system, due to keying and assignment errors and failure to follow policy guidelines.
The Division has developed a plan, and will be making modifications to SIS, that should address these issues, insuring the assignment of unique Case Manager Numbers and improving the quality of our data for Federal and other reporting. To prepare for the mass update to convert existing numbers to a system-assigned Case Manager Number, it is imperative that counties perform certain actions to “clean-up” and correct any invalid Case Manager Numbers and insure consistency of Case Manager Names and Case Manager Numbers (or Social Security Numbers) currently in SIS and Central Registry. These actions are necessary because the system will use the Case Manager Number and Case Manager Name to assign unique ID numbers during the mass change. Case records with invalid Case Manager Number (see explanation below) will not be updated during the mass change. Inconsistent Case Manager Name from record to record (misspellings, different first and middle initials, etc.) will result in multiple IDs being assigned to the same worker. Multiple (different) Case Manager Numbers for the same worker will also result in multiple IDs being assigned to the same worker. The first step in the “clean up” process will involve eliminating invalid Case Manager Numbers in SIS and Central Registry. Counties are asked to complete this action as soon as possible and no later than April 16, 2007.
II. GENERAL INFORMATION
The purpose of this letter is to provide general information about the mass update of Case Manager Number in SIS and Central Registry and to outline the procedure for counties to follow for the first action necessary to prepare for the mass update. While more detailed information will be provided in subsequent Administrative Letters, the description of the mass update provided herein should serve to emphasize the necessity and importance of the requested actions. The first action will focus on the elimination of invalid Case Manager Numbers (or SSNs) from specific records in these systems. “Invalid” means the Worker ID/SSN consists of all “9”s, all “0”s or all spaces (i.e., “999-99-999”, “000-00-0000” or “ - - “.)
Overview of Mass Update
For the mass update, Case Manager Numbers will be assigned for all open records in SIS and for all records with a Close Date of October 1, 2006 or later. For all records closed prior to October 1, 2006, the first five digits of the existing number in Item 16 of the DSS-5027 will be redacted (e.g. xxx-xx-1416). In Central Registry, for all records with a Date of Initial Report of October 1, 2006 or later, Case Manager Number (Item 4 on the DSS-5104) will be replaced with the newly-assigned Case Manager Number from SIS, based on an exact match of the new Case Manager Number AND Case Manager Last Name, First Initial and Middle Initial. For records with a Date of Initial Report prior to October 1, 2006, the Case Manager Number will be redacted (e.g. xxx-xx-1416). These date parameters are being used to help minimize the amount of work required of county staff and at the same time preserve the integrity of child welfare services data for FFY 2007 reporting.
On the night of May 31, 2007, the mass update in SIS will occur first. For those records where Case Manager Number is to be updated (see above), the system will “read in” the last four digits of the number in Item 16. It will then add five digits to (the front of) that number using following the algorithm:
1. The 1st digit will be a ‘9’ to signify an alternate Worker ID Number.
Ex: Before mass change: 123456789
After mass change: 9 - - - - 6789
2. The 2nd and 3rd digit will be the two-digit designated county number (County 100 being 00).
Ex: Before mass change: 123456789
After mass change: 901 - - 6789 (e.g., 01 for Alamance County)
3. The 4th and 5th digit will serve as a counter and will increment if two Case Manager Numbers with the same last four digits are found within the same county and the Case Manager Name does not match exactly.
Ex: Before mass change: 123456789
After mass change: 901006789 (unique last four digits and names match exactly)
After mass change: 901016789 (two numbers found with same last 4 digits and names do not match exactly)
4. Once a unique number is determined, the new Case Manager Number and Case Manager Name to which it was assigned will be stored and the DSS-5027 will be updated.
The mass update in Central Registry will proceed in the same fashion, but will compare the system-generated number (based on the Case Manager Number found on the DSS-5104) to those already stored from the update in SIS. If the Case Manager Number and Case Manager Name can be matched exactly with those from the SIS update, the Case Manager Number will be updated on the DSS-5104 with the newly-assigned number. If an exact match cannot be found, the first five digits of the existing Case Manager Number on the DSS-5104 will be redacted and the redacted number, the Case Manager Name, Form ID, and (Initial) Report Date will be included on an Exception Report in NCXPTR.
Several reports will be generated in NCXPTR as a result of the mass updates. These reports will be described in detail in subsequent letters.
Action Required by County
As stated previously, any record with an invalid Case Manager Number (SSN) will not be updated during the mass change. Therefore, counties will first need to insure that no open records in SIS, or those closed on or after October 1, 2006, have a Case Manager Number of all “9”s, all “0”s or all spaces. Additionally, counties must insure that the same is true for all Records in Central Registry with an Initial Report Date of October 1, 2006 or later. To help counties identify and correct these records, two reports will be made available in NCXPTR. Counties are to use these reports to make edits on records in SIS and Central Registry to update Case Manager Numbers and edit Case Manager Names for consistency.
Worker ID Exception reports in NCXPTR:
1. DHRSYA WORKER ID EXCEPTIONS SYA – REPORT # SYA925 “SIS WORKER CREATION EXCEPTION REPORT”
Counties should review this report to identify those records in SIS with invalid Case Manager Numbers (labeled on this report as “SOCIAL SEC. NO.”). Records are sorted by SSN (“spaces” first, followed by “0”s and then “9”s), Worker Name (listed alphabetically), Close Date (open cases listed first, followed by closed cases, from most recently closed to those closed as far back as 10/01/2006) and finally Client ID. To correct the invalid Case Manager Numbers (SSNs), it is necessary to open and edit each record (DSS-5027) listed on the report. While this may be a tedious process, it is the only way to correct these invalid numbers. Counties that have generally followed policy with respect to entering Case Manager Numbers should not have too many of these corrections to make.
If the worker with all spaces, “999-99-9999” or “000-00-0000” for Case Manager Number also has a valid Case Manager Number on other records in SIS, counties should ideally use that number when editing the individual records.
NOTE: To determine if a worker on this list also has a valid Case Manager Number in SIS, counties could refer to a third report being made available in NCXPTR: DHRSYA WORKER ID BY COUNTY REPPT – REPORT # SYA940-1 “WORKER REPORT”. This report lists all Case Manager Names associated with a particular Case Manager Number (SSN), sorted by number. (Each number is listed only once to make the report more readable, so a name without a number to the left has the same number as the last name with a number listed above it.) A worker may appear on this report with more than one valid number, associated with one or more different “versions” of Case Manger Name. When updating the invalid IDs, the Case Manager Number (SSN) listed for the majority of records on this report should be used, assuming that is the “correct” number for that worker. Otherwise, the “correct” Case Manager Number should be used when updating the invalid IDs. (This report will also be used for a later action to insure consistency of Case Manager Name.)
At the time a record is being edited for Case Manager Number, counties could, if necessary, also edit the Case Manager Name to match the way it is on the majority of those records with the most common valid Case Manager Number, however this step can also be accomplished later during a process to be described in a subsequent Administrative Letter. (This second action will not require opening each client record to edit Case Manager Name. If Case Manager Name is corrected along with the correction of the Case Manager Number (SSN), there should be fewer edits required later.)
If the worker with all spaces, “999-99-9999” or “000-00-0000” for Case Manager Number has no other valid Case Manager Number on other records in SIS, counties should do one of the following:
o Replace the invalid number with the worker’s real Social Security Number, or
o Replace the invalid number with the last four digits of the worker’s real SSN, preceded by any other five digits, as long as the resulting number is unique and does not belong to any other worker in the county (counties could use the “9” + “two-digit County Number” – “00” – format for this purpose), or
o Replace the invalid number with any unique 9-digit number, keeping in mind that the last four digits will form the basis of the system-assigned Case Manger Number during the mass update.
Once corrections are made to a Case Manager Number (SSN) such that a valid number is used, the worker will no longer appear on this report. This report will be updated nightly in NCXPTR so that counties can monitor their progress on this phase of the cleanup.
2. DHRCYA WORKER ID EXCEPTIONS CYA – REPORT # CYA935 “CYA WORKER CREATION EXCEPTION REPORT”
After completing the correction of invalid Case Manager Numbers in SIS, counties should refer to this report to identify those records in Central Registry (CYA) with invalid Case Manager Numbers, and those records where the Case Manager Number (labeled on this report as “SOCIAL SEC. NO.”) and Case Manager Name could not be matched exactly to a record in SIS. Records are sorted by SSN (“spaces” first, followed by “0 then “9”s and finally valid numbers), Worker Name (listed alphabetically), Initial Report Date (most recent first), and finally Form Number (ascending). Each DSS-5104 Form Number listed on the report should be opened in Central Registry using the Update function. The information for Case Manager Number should be edited, if necessary, to match the most common valid Case Manager Number in SIS (see REPORT # SYA940-1 “WORKER REPORT”). Case Manager Name should be updated on the DSS-5104 to match the way the name appears on the majority of SIS records for the valid Case Manager Number (SSN) selected.
Once a Form has been updated for a valid Case Manager Number, and a match exists for Case Manager Number and Case Manager Name as it appears on the Form, and the way it appears in SIS for that Case Manager Number (see REPORT # SYA940-1 “WORKER REPORT”), the worker will no longer appear on this report (CYA935). This report will be updated nightly in NCXPTR so that counties can monitor their progress on this phase of the cleanup.
All counties are asked to insure that the Case Manager Number (Social Security Number) is valid on all DSS-5027s and Central Registry Forms (DSS-5104) listed on these Exception Reports. Failure to make these corrections will prevent the State systems from creating a unique, valid Case Manager Number for these workers. Counties will eventually be required to update these records, either for federal reporting purposes or the next time these forms are updated. Counties are asked to complete these corrections by the night of April 16, 2007. This will enable continuation of the process (subsequent actions to insure consistent use of Case Manager Name and Case Manager Number) to prepare for the mass update the following month.
If you have any questions, please contact the Information Systems Support staff of the Performance Management/ Reporting and Evaluation Management Section at (919) 733-8938.
Sincerely,
Hank Bowers, Chief
Performance Management/Reporting & Evaluation Management Section
HB/mb
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For questions or clarification on any of the policy contained in these manuals, please contact your local county office. |
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