Work Participation Rate and Time Limit Files for the States
The following is a list of the files that ACF Central Office sends to each ACF Regional Office to help the States checkout their data submissions and participation rates. In naming the files, the ACFCentral Office has used ff to represent the two-digit State FIPSCode and # to represent the Federal fiscal quarter (1, 2, 3, or 4).
File Name / Content / File formatCMBFff_NUMDEN.TXT / This file contains the monthly numerators, denominators, and work participation rates for the Combined overall and two-parent families workparticipationrates. / NUMDEN Format
Fff_THIST.TXT / The Transmission History Report lists the State transmissions for a fiscal year that were processes by ACF System staff. / Labeled Text File
SSPFff_DP#.TXT / SSP-MOE cases disregarded, but with sufficient hours to count as participating and counting toward the 30% limit. / LSTFORMAT_2009
SSPFff_EA#.TXT / SSP-MOE cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 excused absence hours per week for the report month. States are limited to no more than a total of 16 excused absence hours for any month / LSTHOURS_2009
SSPFff_EF#.TXT / SSP-MOE WPR Error Flag Cases. / LSTFORMAT_2009
SSPFff_HL#.TXT / SSP-MOE cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 holiday hours per week for the report month. / LSTHOURS_2009
SSPFff_HR#.TXT / SSP-MOE Cases with an Average of 80 or more Hours of Participation per Week for the Report Month / LSTHOURS_2009
SSPFff_NUMDEN.TXT / This file contains the monthly numerators, denominators, and the work participation rates for the SSP overall and two-parent families work participation rates / NUMDEN fORMAT
SSPFff_STB.TXT / SSP-MOE WPR Summary Tables / Labeled Text File
SSPFff_WRN#.TXT / SSP-MOE WPR Cases with Warnings. / LSTFORMAT_2007
SSPFff_ZP#.TXT / SSP-MOE Non-Assistance Cases / LSTZPAY
TANFff_DP#.TXT / Cases disregarded, but with sufficient hours to count as participating and counting toward the 30% limit / LSTFORMAT_2009
TANFff_EA#.TXT / TANF cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 excused absence hours per week for the report month. States are limited to no more than a total of 16 excused absence hours for any month / LSTHOURS_2009
TANFff_EF#.TXT / TANF WPR Error Flag Cases / LSTFORMAT_2009
TANFff_HL#.TXT / TANF cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 holiday hours per week for the report month. / LSTHOURS_2009
TANFff_HR#.TXT / TANF Cases with an Average of 80 or more Hours of Participation per Week for the Report Month / LSTHOURS_2009
TANFff_NUMDEN.TXT / This file contains the monthly numerators, denominators, and the work participation rates for the TANF overall and two-parent families work participation rates. / NUMDEN fORMAT
TANFff_STB.TXT / TANF WPR Summary Tables / Labeled Text File
TANFff_WRN#.TXT / TANF Cases with Warnings. / LSTFORMAT_2009
TANFff_ZP#.TXT / TANF Non-Assistance Cases / LSTZPAY
TLIMFff_CM#.TXT / TANF cases with more than 60 countable months on assistance that count toward the Federal five-year time limit. These cases count toward the 20% hardship limit. / LSTTL_CMGT60M
TLIMFff_EF#.TXT / Time Limit Error Cases / TLERRFG FORMAT
TLIMFff_STB.TXT / TANF Time Limit Summary Tables / Labeled Text File
WPRFff_RTE.TXT / Monthly Combined, TANF, and SSP WPR / LSTWPR
Comment on the above files:
Fff_THIST.TXT
The Transmission History Report can be helpful in identifying problems related to which data is being sent to the States (i.e., before or after most
recent transmission).
CMBF##_NUMDEN.TXT
This is an informational file to help States validate their monthly work participation rates. It shows the monthly combined TANF and SSP-MOE numerators and denominators for the combined overall and two-parent families work participation rates.
SSPFff_DP#.TXT
This file is sent to States for FY 2007 and thereafter. It contains cases that the State transmitted as disregard, but the cases have sufficient hours to count as participating for either the overall rate or the two-parent rate. However, if the State wants to count the case as participating, it should note that the case will also count toward the 30% limit on vocational educational training. States should review their SSP-MOE summary tables to determine how close they are to the 30% limit, before deciding whether or not to count the case as participating. To count the case as participating, the State must modify the Work Participation Status code by changing the disregard code to code ‘19” for the applicable work-eligible individual and retransmit the case. A case that is: (1) disregarded for any reason, (2) has sufficient hours of participation for the family to count as participating and (3) does not count toward the 30% limit, is counted as participating for purposes of calculating the work participation rates.
SSPFff_EA#.TXT
This is a listing of SSP-MOE cases with an individual with an average of more than 4 excused absence hours per week for the report month. A State is limited to no more than a total of 16 excused absence hours for any month. The State should check its coding of excused absence hours for the cases on this listing to ensure it is not violating the 16 hours limitation on excused absence hours.
SSPFff_EF#.TXT
This is the SSP-MOE error flag file. Coding for the cases on this list should be review to identify the data inconsistencies, the coding corrected, and the case should be retransmitted.
SSPFff_HL#.TXT
This is a SSP-MOE listing of cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 holiday hours per week for the report month. A State must specific up to ten holidays in its Work Verification Plan. Few if any States have more than two holidays in any month. Two 8 hour holidays would be a total of 16 holiday hors for the month and if the month has 4 weeks it would be an average of 4 holiday hours per week. States should check the coding of holiday hours for the cases of this listing to ensure the holiday hours are reported correctly. If a State has specified more than 2 holidays for a month in its WVP, we will make allowances for this situation in our program that generates this file.
SSPFff_HR#.TXT
The cases on this listing have, on average, 80 or more hours of participation per week for the report month. There are only 168 hours in a week and very few, if any, people work for 80 or more hours in a week, let alone, average 80 plus hours per week for a month. States should review the coding of the hours of participation for these cases. Where there are problems in coding the hours of participation, the State must correct them and retransmit the case.
SSPF##_NUMDEN.TXT
This is an informational file to help States validate their monthly SSP work participation rates. It shows the monthly SSP-MOE numerators and denominators for the SSP overall and two-parent families work participation rates.
SSPFff_STB.TXT
This is the SSP-MOE summary table. It contains summarize counts by State FIPS code, stratum, and report month of the components for the monthly overall and two-parent work participation rate calculation. States with stratified samples should review the “Total Cases” field for each stratum to ensure we are using the proper weights for estimating totals. Failure to do this may result in an invalid work participation rate.
SSPFff_ZP#.TXT
This file lists the SSP-MOE cases for which the State reported that it provided no assistance for the report month. There should not be any non-assistance cases reported in Section one data. The State should review the circumstances of these cases. If it did not provide assistance for a case on this list, it should code the Disposition field with a “2” and retransmit the case. If the State did provide assistance to the case for the report month, it should correct the amount of assistance field and retransmit the case.
TANFff_DP#.TXT
This file is sent to States for FY 2007 and thereafter. It contains TANF cases that the State transmitted as disregard, but the cases have sufficient hours to count as participating for either the overall rate or the two-parent families rate. However, if the State wants to count the case as participating, it should note that the case will also count toward the 30% limit on vocational educational training. States should review their TANF summary tables to determine how close they are to the 30% limit, before deciding whether or not to count the case as participating. To count the case as participating, the State must modify the Work Participation Status code by changing the disregard code to code ‘19” for the applicable work-eligible individual and retransmit the case. A case that is: (1) disregarded for any reason, (2) has sufficient hours of participation for the family to count as participating and (3) does not count toward the 30% limit, is counted as participating for purposes of calculating the work participation rates.
TANFff_EA#.TXT
This is a listing of TANF cases with an individual with an average of more than 4 excused absence hours per week for the report month. A State is limited to no more than a total of 16 excused absence hours for any month. The State should check its coding of excused absence hours for the cases on this listing to ensure it is not violating the 16 hours limitation on excused absence hours.
TANFff_EF#.TXT
This is the TANF error flag file. Coding for the cases on this list should be review to identify the data inconsistencies, the coding corrected, and the case should be retransmitted.
TANFff_HL#.TXT
This is a TANF listing of cases with an individual who has an average of more than 4 holiday hours per week for the report month. A State must specific up to ten holidays in its Work Verification Plan. Few if any States have more than two holidays in any month. Two 8 hour holidays would be a total of 16 holiday hors for the month and if the month has 4 weeks it would be an average of 4 holiday hours per week. States should check the coding of holiday hours for the cases of this listing to ensure the holiday hours are reported correctly. If a State has specified more than 2 holidays for a month in its WVP, we will make allowances for this situation in our program that generates this file.
TANFff_HR#.TXT
The cases on this listing have, on average, 80 or more hours of participation per week for the report month. There are only 168 hours in a week and very few, if any, people work for 80 or more hours in a week, let alone, average 80 plus hours per week for a month. States should review the coding of the hours of participation for these cases. Where there are problems in coding the hours of participation, the State must correct them and retransmit the case.
TANF##_NUMDEN.TXT
This is an informational file to help States validate their monthly TANF work participation rates. It shows the monthly TANF numerators and denominators for the TANF overall and two-parent families work participation rates.
TANFff_STB.TXT
This is the TANF summary table file. It contains summarize counts by State FIPS code, stratum, and report month of the components for the monthly overall and two-parent work participation rate calculation. States with stratified samples should review the “Total Cases” field for each stratum to ensure we are using the proper weights for estimating totals. Failure to do this may result in an invalid work participation rate.
TANFff_ZP#.TXT
This file lists the TANF cases for which the State reported that it provided no assistance for the report month. There should not be any non-assistance cases reported in Section one data. The State should review the circumstances of these cases. If it did not provide assistance for a case on this list, it should code the Disposition field with a “2” and retransmit the case. If the State did provide assistance to the case for the report month, it should correct the amount of assistance field and retransmit the case.
TLIMFff_CM#.TXT:
This file lists cases with more than 60 months on Federal assistance that are countable toward the Federal five-year time limit. These cases are not necessarily error cases. We send them to you because there is a 20% limit on the number of cases that can exceed the 60 countable months. States should monitor the number of cases that exceed the 60 countable months to ensure it does not place itself in a penalty situation for exceeding this limitation.
TLIMFff_EF#.TXT
This is the Federal five-year time limit error flag file. States should review the cases on this file to determine the data inconsistencies, correct them, and retransmit the cases.
TLIMFff_STB.TXT
This is the Federal five-year time limit summary file. It is sent to States for their information and review.
WPRFff_RTE.TXT
The file contains the monthly overall and two-parent work participation rates for TANF, SSP-MOE (if applicable), and the combined rates/
LSTFORMAT_2009 File Format
Columns / Explanation of Coded Values01 -02 / State FIPS Code
04 – 05 / Stratum
07 – 08 / Report Month
10 – 20 / Case Identification Number
22 / Type of Family
24 / Number of Work-Eligible Individuals
26 / 1 means used for reported count
28 / 1 means counted as participating for overall rate
30 / 1 means a family with no work-eligible individuals
32 / 1 means disregarded from the overall rate for reason 1
34 / 1 means disregarded from the overall rate for reason 2
36 / 1 means disregarded from the overall rate for reason 5
38 / 1 means listed-in-error case
40 / 1 means counted toward the 30% limit for the overall rate due to vocational educational training
42 / 1 means counted toward the 30% limit for the overall rate due to SSA
44 / 1 means counted toward the 30% limit for the overall rate due to EDRE
46 / 1 means a family with deemed core hours for the overall rate
48 –50 / Number of deemed core hours for the overall rate
52 / 1 means a family disregarded, but had sufficient hours to count as participating for the overall rate
54 / 1 means a family with a DV exempt adult for overall rate
56 – 57 / All Families Error Flag code
59 / Number of parents for two-parent rate
61 / 1 means a family included in the two-parent rate
63 / 1 means a family counted as participating for the two-parent rate
65 / 1 means disregarded from two-parent rate for reason 2
67 / 1 means disregarded from two-parent rate for reason 5
69 / 1 means one of the two parents is a NCP not used in the two-parent rate.
71 / 1 means one of the two parents is disabled and family is not used in the two-parent rate
73 / 1 means counts toward the 30% limit for the twp parent rate due to Voc. Ed.
75 / 1 means counts toward the 30% limit for the two-parent rate due SSA or EDE
77 / 1 means a two-parent family was disregard, but had sufficient hours of participation to countfor the two-parent rate.
79 / 1 means a two-parent family with a DV exempt parent
81 / 1 means family has deemed core hours for the two-parent rate
83 – 85 / Number ofdeemed core hours for the two-parent rate
87 / Two-Parent Family Error Flag Code
LSTHOURS_2009 File Format
This file format has sevenlines for two-parent families and four lines for all other families. The first line is the same for all families and is in LSTFORMAT_2009 file format. The second line contains either the WPS or hours of participation for each of the twelve countable work activities for the individual used in the overall rate or for the first of the two parents used in the two-parent rate. The third line contains the holiday hours for the unpaid work activities and the fourth line contains the number of excused absence hours for each of the unpaid work activities.
If there are linesfive through seven, they contain the work activity data for the second parent used in the two-parent rate. The following is the format for the second and subsequent lines.
Columns / Explanation of Coded Values01 – 02 / Work Participation Status Code
04 – 06 / Unsubsidized Employment
08 – 10 / Subsidized Private-Sector Employment
12 – 14 / Subsidized Public-Sector Employment
16 – 18 / Work Experience
20 – 22 / On-the-Job Training
24 – 26 / Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance
28 – 30 / Community Service Programs
32 – 34 / Vocational Educational Training
36 – 38 / Job Skills Training
40 – 42 / Education Directly Related to Employment for Individuals With No High School Diploma or Certificate of High School Equivalency
44 – 46 / Satisfactory School Attendance for Individuals With No High School Diploma or Certificate of High School Equivalency
48 – 50 / Providing Child Care Services to an Individual who is participating in a Community Service Program
52 – 54 / Other Work Activities
LSTWPR File format
Columns / Meaning1st Row / Overall Rates
01 – 02 / State FIPS Code
05 – 09 / Oct. WPR
14 – 18 / Nov. WPR
23 – 27 / Dec. WPR
32 – 36 / Jan. WPR
41 - 45 / Feb. WPR
50 – 54 / Mar. WPR
59 – 63 / Apr. WPR
68 – 72 / May WPR
77 – 81 / Jun. WPR
86 – 90 / Jul. WPR
95 – 99 / Aug. WPR
104 – 108 / Sep. WPR
113 – 117 / Monthly Average
2ndRow / Two-Parent Rates
05 – 09 / Oct. WPR
14 – 18 / Nov. WPR
23 – 27 / Dec. WPR
32 – 36 / Jan. WPR
41 - 45 / Feb. WPR
50 – 54 / Mar. WPR
59 – 63 / Apr. WPR
68 – 72 / May WPR
77 – 81 / Jun. WPR
86 – 90 / Jul. WPR
95 – 99 / Aug. WPR
104 – 108 / Sep. WPR
113 – 117 / Monthly Average
LSTZPAY File Format