AFCARS Open Office Hours for the Implementation of AFCARS 2020

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AFCARS

OpenOfficeHours

fortheimplementation

ofAFCARS2020

Children'sBureauDataAnalyticsandReportingTeam

February 6,

2023

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TechnicalBulletins

TechnicalBulletin20:Regulations,DataElements,andExamples

Thisincludesdetailedinformationonwhatandhowtoreporteachelement.

TechnicalBulletin21:FileStructure &Encryption

ThisincludestheXMLtagsandthedatagroups.Italsocontainstheencryption

requirement forchildrecordnumber.

TechnicalBulletin22:ReportingPopulationandDataExtraction

Containshowtoextractthecorrectreportingpopulationanddataextraction

examples.

TechnicalBulletin23:ComplianceandPenalties

Thisincludesthepolicyandrulesthatwillbevalidatedatthetimeyouuploadthe

AFCARS fileandhowtocalculate thepenalties.

AFCARS2020TechnicalBulletins

www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data‐research/afcars‐technical‐assistance

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NavigationPane

Regulation

ExplanatoryText

Examples

Data Constraints

Change Status

StructureofTechnicalBulletin

TB#20Page 23

TB#21AppendixE

TB#22AppendixA

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FundsSubjecttoaPenalty

CB‐496ClaimLinesUsedforPenaltyCalculation

• Line5.In‐PlaceAdmin– CasePlanningandManagement

• Line6.In‐PlaceAdmin– EligibilityDetermination

• Line7.In‐PlaceAdmin– ProviderandAgencyManagement

• Line8.In‐PlaceAdmin– LegalRepresentation

• Line10a.FCCandidateAdmin– CasePlanning&

Management

• Line10b.FC CandidateAdmin– LegalRepresentation

• Line10c.SexTraffickingAdmin

• Line11a.Non‐CCWISProjectOperations

• Line11b.Non‐CCWISProjectDevelopment

• Line15.TrainingCosts– Staff,Provider&Professional

Partner

TB#23Page 18

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PartialPenaltyExamplesfor23A,23B,24A,&24B

KEY

PQA=PriorQuarterAdjustmentonCB‐496

Noncompliant AFCARSFiles

23Asubmission &initial noncompliance

23Breportingperiod

23Areportingperiod

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

23Apenaltyquarter

23AQ3496report

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

23Anotice

ofpenalty

amount

(1/6

of1%)

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

24Bnotice

ofpenalty

amount

(1/4

of1%)

AND

23A

updated

penalty

amount

(1/6

of1%)

23Acorrectedfile&final noncompliance

23Bsubmission &initial noncompliance

PQA– 23A

23BQ1496report

PQA– 23A

23Bpenaltyquarter

PQA– 23A,23B

23Bcorrectedfile&final noncompliance

24Asubmission &initial noncompliance

24AQ3496report

PQA– 23A,23B

24Apenaltyquarter

24Areportingperiod

23Bnotice

ofpenalty

amount

(1/4

of1%)

24Breportingperiod

TB#23AppendixC

PQA– 23A,23B,24A

24Anotice

ofpenalty

amount

(1/4

of1%)

24Acorrectedfile&final noncompliance

24Bsubmission &initial noncompliance

24Bpenaltyquarter

24BQ1496report

PQA– 23A,23B,24A,24B

24Bcorrectedfile&final noncompliance

 NationalChildWelfare DataManagement System

(NCWDMS)

AFCARS2020PilotTraining

2/6/23

PilotMetricsataGlance(sofar)

 A couple of approximate metrics to share with you all based on the

pilot usage thus far as of the end of last week:

o 212 new accounts were created for users for participation in

the pilot

o We already have 105 logins from users

o A total of 21 STTs have participated in the pilot thus far

o 221 total transmission files have been uploaded into

NCWDMS

Note:Pleasekeeptestinginthesystemasthisisagreattimetoobtainyour

feedbackduringthispilottimeframe.

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

Pilot Timeframe &UpcomingMilestones

2023

Mar2023

Apr2023

May2023

June2023

1/2/23

3/1/23

issues

4/1/23

5/15/23

23ASubmission

Period

Pilottimeframe

Webinar#1

1/9/23

Webinar#2

2/6/23

NCWDMS

Resolutionof

Training Training

Jan

Feb

criticalpilot

PilotStart

PilotEnd

Date

Remember: Testing of the file upload process can continue after the pilot period ends and can even continue through the

submission periods as transmissions can be done without having to become official submissions.

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SourcesofXMLUploadFailures

• InvalidXMLSyntax

• Unclosedtags

• Unmatchedopenandclosingtags

• Impropernestingoftags

• Invalidcharacters

Problemscanbedetectedinyourbrowser!

InvalidXMLwillalwaysresultinafileuploadfailure.

• InvalidXMLSchema(element relationships,structure,anddata typesoftheXMLdocument).

• Unknowntags

• Missingtags

• Missingnamespaceondata tag

• Structureotherwiseinconsistent withXMLSchemaDefinition(XSD)

ProblemscanNOTbedetectedinyourbrowserbutcanbeidentifiedthroughmanualinspectionofyourXMLandXSDorusingavailableparsing

tools.

Dependingontheissue,someXSDissuesmayresultinfileuploadfailures,whereasothers(e.g.,out‐of‐rangevalues)mayresultincompliance

ordataqualityerrors.

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XMLSchema Definition (XSD)Files

AFCARSTechnicalBulletin#21:https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training‐technical‐

assistance/technical‐bulletin‐21‐xml‐file

• AFCARS 2020XMLFileStructure &Encryption

• Overviewoffilestructure,elements,andelementgroupings:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/AFCARS_Technical%20Bulletin%2021_updated.pdf

• Out‐of‐HomeCareXSD

• XSDSchemaDefinitionforOut‐of‐HomeCare DataFile(zipofschema_ooh.xsd):

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/XSD%20Schema%20Definition%20for%20Out‐of‐

Home%20Care%20Data%20File%20%20%28.zip

• AdoptionandGuardianshipAssistanceXSD

• XSDSchemaDefinitionforAdoptionandGuardianshipAssistanceFile(zipofschema_assistance.xml):

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/schema_assistance.zip

• FamilyFirst:https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training‐technical‐assistance/revised‐technical‐bulletin

AFCARSXSDs

XSDsdefinetheelements,attributes*,datatypes,andrelationships

withinXMLdocuments.

TheAFCARSXSDs(schema_ooh.xsd,schema_assistance.xml)each

specify:

• Arootdataelementcontainingasequenceofrequiredadditional

elements,includingasetof1ormorerecordelements.

• Aseriesof“simple”and“complex”datatypesthatdefineeach

element.

*Note:theAFCARSXMLdocumentsdonotincludeanyattributes.

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AFCARSXSDManualInspection

• ChecktheXMLagainsttheXSD:Inatexteditor,comparethe

elementsintheXMLdocumentwiththeelementsdefinedintheXSD.

EnsurethattheelementsintheXMLmatchtheelementsdefinedin

theXSD,includingthenames,order,andnumberofelements.

• Validatethedata types:Verify thatthedataintheXMLelementsisof

thecorrectdatatype,asdefinedintheXSD.

• Validatethestructure:EnsurethatthestructureoftheXML

document matchesthestructuredefinedintheXSD,includingthe

nestingofelements.

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AFCARSOOHCExamples

• Validfile with3records

• Invalidsyntax:

• Tagprematurelyclosed:line29.

• Invalidcharacter:line232.

• Invalidschema:

• Unknowntag:<E110_E111_victim_sex_trafficking_reporting_foobar>,line676.

• Missingtag:<E110_E111_victim_sex_trafficking_reporting>;shouldbeonline676.

• Mis‐orderedsequence:<E15_child_race_black>precedes<E14_child_race_asian>,line19.

• Out‐of‐range value:,Value“2”specifiedinsteadofoneofthevalidun‐quotedvalues(0,1,2,

or3),line28

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PendingEnhancements

• Improvementstohandlecompliancechecksonverylarge

child‐records(deployed)

• Improvementstoprovideusefulfeedbackforfailuresdueto

XMLsyntaxerrors

• Improvementstohandlelargefiles

• Implementingtheremainingbatchofdata qualitychecks

• Navigationtothecompliancereportdirectlyfromthe

transmissionandsubmissionscreendisplayofthe

correspondingfilerecord

• WillbeworkingsoononrequirementsfortheSTTFrequency

Reportaswellasprintingofreports.

Questions???