Form 1 PSDC Elements

Technical Bulletin #1
Originally issued on August 19, 2019

Title IV-E Prevention Program Data
Elements
March 24, 2025

Table of Contents

Background ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Overview of Technical Bulletin ............................................................................................................. 2
Reporting Population.............................................................................................................................. 3
Data File Structure.................................................................................................................................. 3
Information Common to other Children’s Bureau’s Data Sets .......................................................... 3
Overview of XML .............................................................................................................................. 4
Requirements for the Structure of Title IV-E Prevention Services XML Data Files ........................ 5
XML Data Tags.................................................................................................................................. 5
Grouping of Elements ........................................................................................................................ 6
Appendix A – Title IV-E Prevention Services Data File Structural Hierarchy and Element
Groupings ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix B – Data Elements and XML Tags for Title IV-E Prevention Services Data File ................ 9
Appendix C – XML Schema Definition for the Title IV-E Prevention Services Data File ................. 13
Appendix D – Examples of What to Report and for How Long .......................................................... 15
Appendix E – Data Quality Rules as of March 6, 2025 ....................................................................... 19

THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 31 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number 1.
1

OMB Approval number: 0970-0529, Expiration Date: 05/31/2025

Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

Background
On February 9, 2018, the Family First Prevention Services Act was enacted to authorize new
optional title IV-E funding for time-limited (1 year) prevention services for mental
health/substance abuse, and in-home parent skill-based programs for:
1. a child who is a candidate for foster care (as defined in section 475(13) of the Act),
2. pregnant or parenting youth in foster care, and
3. the parents/kin caregivers of those children and youth (sections 471(e), 474(a)(6), and
475(13) of the Act).
The prevention program authorized by Family First is referred to as the title IV-E prevention
program, and the services being provided under this program are referred to as title IV-E
prevention services. The title IV-E agencies that elect to implement the title IV-E prevention
program are required to submit a 5-year prevention program plan. Additionally, they must provide
an assurance in the plan that agencies will report child-specific data to the Department of Health of
Human Services as required by section 471(e)(4)(E) of the Act for each child who receives title IVE prevention services. This data is referred to as Title IV-E prevention services data (IV-E PSD).
Please see the following resources for more information:
•

•

PI-24-10 - Published: December 10, 2024 – The purpose of this Program Instruction (PI) is to
instruct state title IV-E agencies on the title IV-E prevention program requirements and on the
flexibility such agencies may provide to tribes with whom they have agreements under section
472(a)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act.
PI-24-11 - Published: December 20, 2024 – The purpose of this Program Instruction (PI) is to
instruct tribal title IV-E agencies administering or supervising the administration of title IV-E under
sections 479B and 471(a) of the Act on the title IV-E prevention program requirements, the
exemption of tribal title IV-E agencies from the evaluation waiver and continuous quality
improvement requirements, and on the flexibility title IV-E agencies may provide to tribes with
whom they have agreements under section 472(a)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act.

The Children’s Bureau (CB) will use the information from agencies operating a title IV-E
prevention program to calculate annual title IV-E prevention services measures in accordance with
section 471(e)(6)(A) of the Act. In addition, CB may use this data to assess the extent to which the
provision of the services and programs reduces the likelihood of foster care placement, increases
kinship arrangements, or improves child well-being in accordance with section 476(d)(3) of the Act.

Overview of Technical Bulletin
The purpose of this Technical Bulletin is to provide detailed information on the data elements and
information that is required to create and submit the IV-E PSD files. Agencies must submit data
files in a format that meets Administration for Children and Families (ACF) specifications. CB
revised this technical bulletin to explain these specifications, including the Extensible Markup
Language (XML) structure of the IV-E PSD files to be used in the transmission of data to the
system (Appendix C) and data elements to be reported (Appendix B). Agencies will be required
to submit data on all children with a prevention plan on a 6-month (per federal fiscal year) basis
with a transmission period of 45 days.
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

Reporting Population
There are two distinct reporting populations that agencies must include in their submissions. These
are the populations for whom or on whose behalf prevention services are provided:
1. a child who is a candidate for foster care (as defined in section 475(13) of the Act)
2. pregnant or parenting youth in foster care.

Agencies must include program and services data for any candidate for foster care (as defined in
section 475(13) of the Act) whose title IV-E prevention plan is active during the reporting period.
Thus, for the first reporting period that an agency is required to submit data, the reporting population
includes any candidate whose prevention plan started before the reporting period and whose plan
was still active on the first day of the reporting period. The submissions should include all the
programs and services that were provided to or on behalf of the candidate as part of their prevention
plan.
For example, if a candidate had a prevention plan that began in May, prior to the October 1
reporting period start date, and that plan was still active, then that candidate should be
included in the reporting period.
Agencies must continue to include data related to the candidate’s prevention plan for each reporting
period until the candidate exits the reporting population, which occurs 24 months after the
prevention plan start date. This means that agencies will submit services data from prior reporting
periods even after the prevention plan ends, for as long as the candidate remains in the reporting
population.
A pregnant or parenting foster youth enters the reporting population on the title IV-E prevention
plan start date (element 8) and exits the reporting population 12 months after the start date. Agencies
must submit program and services data for any pregnant or parenting youth whose title IV-E
prevention plan start date falls in the reporting period or is active on the first day of the first
reporting period. For the first reporting period that an agency is required to submit data, the
reporting population includes any pregnant or parenting youth whose prevention plan started before
the reporting period and whose plan was still active on the first day of the reporting period. The
submissions should include all the program and services that the pregnant or parenting youth
received as part of their prevention plan.
Agencies are not required to provide information for elements 13, 14, and 14a for pregnant or
parenting youth who are in foster care. Therefore, agencies should indicate null values for these
elements. The following sections provide additional information about entering null values.

Data File Structure

Information Common to other Children’s Bureau’s Data Sets
Information that is in the title IV-E prevention services dataset and is also reported in the
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), National Child Abuse and
Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and/or National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) needs to
be consistent across data systems. This information includes, but may not be limited to:
•

Title IV-E Agency (element 1). This is the title IV-E agency responsible for submitting the
IV-E PSD. For state and territorial agencies, the title IV-E agency identifier is the 2-digit
state Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 2 code. The state FIPS codes can be
located on the Census Bureau’s website and are maintained by the American National
Standards Institute. 2 For Tribal agencies, the title IV-E agency identifier is the last three
digits of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tribal identifier data code standard.
The “Tribal Entity Mapping” Excel spreadsheet is maintained and updated on the EPA’s
website. 3

•

Child Identifier (element 2). This identifier should be the unique identifier associated with
the candidate or pregnant or parenting youth in foster care. For candidates, the AFCARS
record number should be used if it has already been assigned. If an AFCARS
identifier/record number has never been assigned to a candidate, the title IV-E agency should
assign a unique value that will become their AFCARS record number if they enter foster
care. For pregnant or parenting youth in foster care, the AFCARS record number will be
their child identifier for this data file.

This supports the CB’s ability to follow the experiences of individuals through our data systems.
The agency must apply and retain the same encryption routine or method for the child identifier
across all report periods. The child identifier must be encrypted in accordance with ACF
standards. 4

Overview of XML
XML uses tags (angle brackets) to mark up, structure, and annotate data in a way that is both
readable by computers and legible to users. Extensible means that users can define and extend
markup elements to meet their own requirements.
XML was chosen for use with the IV-E PSD file because it offers distinct advantages as a file
format.
•
XML is stored in plain text for maximum system compatibility.
• XML is widely used and is based on defined standards.
•

Because of its extensibility, XML may be tailored to the requirements of the title IV-E
prevention services system.

Census FIPS Codes: https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/2021/demo/popest/2021-fips.html
EPA Tribal identifier data standards: https://www.epa.gov/data-standards/tribal-identifier-data-standard
4
For information on encryption, see AFCARS Technical Bulletin #21 - Technical Bulletin 21: XML File Structure &

2

3

Encryption: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/laws-policies/technical-bulletins/afcars

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•

XML is self-documenting, so the markup provides semantic information on the file contents.

•

XML provides a flexible means of providing contextual structure to hierarchical and other
complex data.

•

XML is easily parsed, so the marked-up information may be read and extracted from the file
without difficulty.

Requirements for the Structure of Title IV-E Prevention Services XML Data Files
•

A valid transmission will consist of a IV-E PSD file.

•

The data file will be well-formed XML documents in accordance with defined World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C) XML standards (see http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml).

•

The overall structure of the XML-based data file is dictated by an associated W3C XML
Schema (Family_First_XMLSchema.xsd); see Appendix C.

•

The XML structure must begin with a proper XML declaration, including the appropriate
character encoding.

•

The required encoding is UTF-8 Unicode, with the corresponding initial declaration:
o

Only the 128 characters defined by the ASCII encoding schema may be included in
the data, except for the record number (element F2 – Child Identifier). The record
number must contain only printable UTF-8 characters and exclude the defined control
characters (such as 0 to 31 and 127) and unassigned characters (such as 129, 141,
143, 144, 157).

•

Except for characters used in the encrypted child identifier (data element F2), all other data
in the file should be standard (not extended) printable ASCII and should exclude the defined
control characters (0 to 31 and 127).

•

Additionally, the data within XML element tags must exclude several characters with special
syntactic meaning in XML:
o the ampersand character (&),
o the left-angle bracket character (<),
o the right-angle bracket character (>),
o the single quotation mark ('), and
o the double quotation mark (").
To indicate a null value in XML, there should be nothing between the opening and closing
tags of an element. Below is an example for “null” in element 12:
o

•

XML Data Tags
The naming convention for XML tags is based on the title IV-E prevention services data elements,
as defined in Appendix B. The name of the XML tag for a title IV-E prevention services data
element consists of an initial “F,” plus the element number, followed by a descriptive name in
lowercase with underscores separating words, for example:
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= Element 1: Title IV-E Agency
A list of the XML tags for each IV-E PSD element is provided in Appendix B.

Grouping of Elements
The XML schema for each file groups some of the elements for two purposes:
1. to logically group a set of related elements; and
2. to nest an element, or series of elements, that can occur more than once, e.g., services.
The IV-E PSD file consists of a top level (root) element, . Data elements containing data
global to the whole file are included directly under , e.g., . Beneath
each file includes a group element, , which contains multiple group
elements: each child corresponds to all the title IV-E prevention service data for an
individual child on a given prevention plan. Appendix A shows diagrams of the groupings.

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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

Appendix A – Title IV-E Prevention Services Data File Structural
Hierarchy and Element Groupings
Data

XML provides a structural hierarchy to a data file by organizing the data into nested sets of
tags to reflect one-to-many and other dependent relationships between elements. For example,
one child may have multiple service records. The following figures show the grouping of the
elements for the IV-E PSD file.
Figure 1 shows the root element and its direct child elements. The data for the title IV-E PSD
service XML files are nested within the root XML tag, . Directly within this are two
data elements pertaining to the entire file:
(1) the title IV-E agency, and
(2) the reporting period, as well as the records element that contains a record element for
every child and prevention plan.
Figure 1 - The root element data and its child elements

Record
Figure 2 shows the structure of the record element and its associated child elements. Since a
child can receive more than one service during a prevention plan, service information is nested
within the services element. Likewise, since there can be multiple dates of entry into foster
care, they are nested within the dates_of_entry_into_foster_care element.

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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements
Figure 2 - The record element and its child element

Services
The services element contains 0 or more service elements that contain the details of each
service provided during the prevention plan. Figure 3 shows the service element and its child
elements.
Figure 3 - The service element and its child elements

Dates of Entry into Foster Care
Figure 4 shows the element dates_of_entry_into_foster_cares consist of 0 or more elements of
F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care.
Figure 4 - The dates of entry into foster care elements and its child element

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Appendix B – Data Elements and XML Tags for Title IV-E Prevention Services
Data File

5
6

Element
No.

Element name

Definition

XML tag name

Data Constraint

1

Title IV-E
Agency

Indicate the title IV-E agency responsible for
submitting the data.

F1_title_iv_agency

String
State agencies: 2-digit
state FIPS code 5
Tribal agencies: 3-digit
EPA Tribal standard
code 6

Report Date

Indicate the date that corresponds with the end of the
report period.

report_date

Date
YYYYMM

2

Child Identifier

Indicate the child's identifier/record number. This is
an encrypted, unique person identification number
that is the same for the child across all report periods
agencywide.

F2_child_identifier

String
Encrypted (by ACF
Standards), unique
within title IV-E agency

3

Date of Birth

Year, month, and day of the child’s birth.

F3_date_of_birth

Date
YYYYMMDD

4

Sex

Indicate as appropriate.

F4_sex

Numeric
1 = Male
2 = Female

5a

Race – American
Indian or Alaska

A person having origins in any of the original peoples F5a_child_race_american_i
of North or South America (including
ndian_alaska_native

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

Census FIPS Codes: https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/2021/demo/popest/2021-fips.html
EPA Tribal identifier data standards: https://www.epa.gov/data-standards/tribal-identifier-data-standard

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Element
No.

Element name

Definition

XML tag name

Data Constraint

Native

Central America), and who maintains tribal
affiliation or community attachment.

5b

Race – Asian

A person having origins in any of the original
peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian
subcontinent, including, for example,
Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and
Vietnam.

F5b_child_race_asian

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

5c

Race – Black or
African
American

A person having origins in any of the black racial
groups of Africa.

F5c_child_race_black_afric
an_american

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

5d

Race – Native
Hawaiian or
Other
Pacific Islander

A person having origins in any of the original
peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific
Islands.

F5d_child_race_hawaiian_
pacific_islander

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

5e

Race – White

A person having origins in any of the original
peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

F5e_child_race_white

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

5f

Race –
Unknown

The child's race is unknown because the race, or at
least one race of the child, is unknown or the child
and/or parent is not able to communicate the child’s
race.

F5f_child_race_unknown

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

5g

Race –
Declined

The child or parent(s) or legal guardian(s) has
declined to identify a race.

F5g_child_race_declined

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

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Element
No.

Element name

Definition

XML tag name

Data Constraint

6

Hispanic or
Latino
Ethnicity

Answer “yes” if the child is of Mexican, Puerto
Rican, Cuban, Central or South American origin, or
a person of other Spanish cultural origin regardless
of race. Whether or not a person is Hispanic or
Latino is determined by how they define themselves
or by how others define them. In the case of young
children, parents determine the ethnicity of the
child.

F6_child_hispanic_latino

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes
8 = Declined

9 = Unknown

Declined – The child or parent(s) or legal
guardian(s) has declined to identify ethnicity.
Unknown – The child and/or parent is unable to
communicate the child’s ethnicity
7

Pregnant or
Parenting Youth
in
Foster Care

Is the child a pregnant or parenting youth in foster
care as described in section 471(e)(2)(B) of the
Act?

F7_pregnant_or_parenting_
youth

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

8

Prevention Plan
Start Date

Indicate the year, month, and day that the title IV-E
agency identified the child in a prevention plan.

F8_prevention_plan_start_d
ate

Date
YYYYMMDD

9a

Type of Service
–
Substance
abuse
prevention
and treatment
services

Identify the title IV-E prevention service category
for each service provided during the 12-month
period beginning on the prevention plan start date.

F9a_type_of_service_subst
ance_use

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

9b

Types of Service
– Mental
Health

Identify the title IV-E prevention service category
for each service provided during the 12-month
period beginning on the prevention plan start date.

F9b_type_of_service_ment
al_health

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

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Element
No.

Element name

Definition

XML tag name

Data Constraint

9c

Types of Service
– In-home parent
skill-based
programs

Identify the title IV-E prevention service category for F9c_type_of_service_paren
each service provided during the 12-month period
t_skills
beginning on the prevention plan start date.

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes

10

Service Start
Date(s)

Enter the start date(s) of the title IV-E prevention
service(s).

F10_service_start_date

Date
YYYYMMDD

11

Cost of Service(s)

Enter the total expenditures for each title IV-E
prevention service provided within the 12 months
following the prevention plan start date.

F11_cost_of_service

Numeric
Dollar amount (round to
the nearest dollar)

12

Service End
Date(s)

Enter the date(s) that each title IV-E prevention
service ended. Note: This date cannot be after the 12
months following the prevention plan start date. If
the title IV-E prevention service is still being
provided as of the end of the report period, please
indicate Null.

F12_service_end_date

Date
YYYYMMDD
Null

13

Foster Care
Indicate whether the candidate was in foster care
Placement Status
exactly 12 months from the prevention plan start
at 12 months from date.
prevention plan
start date

F13_foster_care_status_at_
12_months

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes
Null

14

Foster Care
Entry

Indicate whether the candidate entered foster care as
defined in 45 CFR 1355.20 within 24 months of the
prevention plan start date.

F14_
foster_care_status_at_24_m
onths

Numeric
0 = No
1 = Yes
Null

14a

Date of Entry into
Foster Care

If yes to #14, enter year, month, and day of each
entry into foster care.

F14a_date_of_entry_into_f
oster_care

Date
YYYYMMDD

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Appendix C – XML Schema Definition for the Title IV-E Prevention
Services Data File
The schema document can be downloaded from the Children’s Bureau website.

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Appendix D – Examples of What to Report and for How Long
What to Report and for How Long: Pregnant or Parenting Youth
Figure 5 is an example of what should be reported for a pregnant or parenting youth and for how long.
It consists of a series of adjacent boxes designed to represent consecutive 6-month prevention
program data collection periods. A solid black line shows a sample prevention plan for a pregnant or
parenting youth that starts on January 1, 2022, and ends 12 months later on December 31, 2022.
Figure 5 - What to Report and For How Long Pregnant or Parenting Youth Example

Based on this sample prevention plan, Table 1 shows for each submission what services (elements 9a–
9c), costs (element 11), and foster care entries elements to report (elements 13, 14, and 14a).
Table 1 - What to Report and For How Long Pregnant or Parenting Youth Example

Submission
Date

Window

Start Report Services/Costs From

Foster Care Entries Elements

Apr. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to Mar. 31, 2022

Not Applicable

Oct. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2022

Not Applicable

Apr. 1, 2023

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Not Applicable

Oct. 1, 2023

Out of the reporting population

Not Applicable

What to Report and for How Long: Candidate for Foster Care
Figure 6 is an example of what to report for a candidate for entry into foster care and for how long. It
consists of a series of adjacent boxes designed to represent consecutive 6-month prevention program
data collection periods. A solid black line shows a sample prevention plan for a candidate for entry into
foster care that starts on January 1, 2022, and ends 12 months later on December 31, 2022. A dotted
line shows the foster care follow-up period extending an additional 12 months until December 31, 2023.

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Figure 6 - What to Report and For How Long Candidate for Foster Care Enters Foster Care Example

Based on this sample prevention plan, Table 2 shows for each submission what service (elements 9a–
9c), costs (element 11), and foster care entries elements to report (elements 13, 14, and 14a).
Table 2 - What to Report and For How Long Candidate for Foster Care Enters Foster Care Example

Submission
Date

Window

Start Report Services/Costs From

Foster Care Entries Elements

Apr. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to Mar. 31, 2022

Not Applicable

Oct. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2022

Not Applicable

Apr. 1, 2023

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at
12 Months

Oct. 1, 2023

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at
12 Months

Apr. 1, 2024

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at
12 Months, Foster Care Entry

Oct. 1, 2024

Out of the reporting population

Out of the reporting population

What to Report and for How Long: Candidate for Foster Care Who Enters Foster Care
Figure 7 is an example of what to report for a candidate for entry into foster care who enters foster
care, and for how long to report the data. It consists of a series of adjacent boxes designed to represent
consecutive 6-month prevention program data collection periods. A solid black line shows a

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sample prevention plan for a candidate for entry into foster care that starts on January 1, 2022, and
ends on July 1, 2022, due to the candidate entering foster care. A dotted line shows the foster care
follow-up period extending until December 31, 2023, 24 months after the prevention plan start date.
Figure 7 - What to Report and For How Long Candidate for Foster Care Example

Based on this sample prevention plan, Table 3 shows for each submission what service
(elements 9a–9c), costs (element 11), and foster care entries elements to report (elements 13, 14,
and 14a).
Table 3 – What to Report and For How Long Candidate for Foster Care Example

Submission Window Start
Date

Report Services/Costs From

Foster Care Entries Elements

Apr. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to Mar. 31, 2022

Not Applicable

Oct. 1, 2022

Jan. 1, 2022, to July 1, 2022

Foster Care Entry

Apr. 1, 2023

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at 12
Months, Foster Care Entry

Oct. 1, 2023

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at 12
Months, Foster Care Entry

Apr. 1, 2024

Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022

Foster Care Placement Status at 12
Months, Foster Care Entry

Oct. 1, 2024

Out of the reporting population

Out of the reporting population

What to Report and for How Long: Candidate for Foster Care Sequential Prevention Plans
Prevention plans are limited to 12-month periods at a time. However, it may be necessary to have
sequential prevention plans in cases where services are still needed after the end of the first prevention
plan. If the prevention plan is for a candidate for entry into foster care, each of these prevention plans
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

require separate reporting for the foster care elements. This can result in a single entry to foster care
being reported for two different prevention plans for the same child.
Figure 8 shows two sequential prevention plans. It consists of a series of adjacent boxes designed to
represent consecutive 6-month prevention program data collection periods. The solid green line shows a
sample prevention plan for a candidate for entry into foster care that starts on January 1, 2022, and ends
on December 31, 2022, 12 months later. The solid orange line shows another prevention plan for the
same child starting on January 1, 2023, and ending on December 31, 2023.
Both prevention plans depicted also have separate foster care follow-up periods. The dotted green line
shows the first prevention plan’s follow-up period ending December 31, 2023, 24 months after its
associated prevention plan started. The dotted orange shows the first prevention plan’s follow-up period
ending December 31, 2024, 24 months after its associated prevention plan started.
The thick solid line represents a service that starts as part of the first prevention plan but continues into
the second prevention plan. Since the first prevention plan ends on December 31, 2022, data on this
service provided up to that date should be included as part of the first prevention plan. Data on this
service provided after December 31, 2022, should be included as part of the second prevention plan.
Figure 8 - What to Report and For How Long Candidate for Foster Care Sequential Prevention Plans Example

Program and services data associated with the first prevention plan should be reported in each of the
three reporting periods. Foster care elements should be reported through the end of the fifth reporting
period, which is when 24 months have elapsed from the first prevention plan start date.
Additionally, program and services data for the second prevention plan should be reported in the third,
fourth, and fifth reporting periods. Foster care elements for the second prevention plan should be
reported through the end of the seventh reporting period, which is when 24 months have elapsed from
the second prevention plan start date.

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Appendix E – Data Quality Rules as of March 6, 2025

Appendix E lists the data quality rules that will be applied to elements contained in the uploaded files.

F2_missing_or_empty
F2_child_identifier cannot be missing or empty.
F2_missing_or_empty
F2_child_identifier should be 12 characters long and should not contain illegal characters in XML [<,
>, “, ', `].
F2_F8_unique_inconsistency
There should be only one record with the same F2_child_identifier and F8_prevention_plan_start_date
in the file.
F3_missing_or_empty
F3_date_of_birth cannot be missing or empty.
F3_out_of_range
F3_date_of_birth should be a valid YYYYMMDD.
F3_out_of_range_100_years
F3_date_of_birth cannot be any date after the transmission processing date or more than 100 years
before the transmission processing date.
F3_report_date_inconsistency
F3_date_of_birth should be before the reporting period end date.
F3_F7_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 1 (Yes), current age of pregnant or parenting youth should be >
8.
F4_out_of_range
F4_sex should be 1 (Male) or 2 (Female) or null (Other).
F5_inconsistency
At least one of data elements F5a - F5g should be 1 (Yes).
F5a_missing_or_empty
F5a_child_race_american_indian_alaska_native cannot be missing or empty.
F5a_out_of_range
F5a_child_race_american_indian_alaska_native should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

F5b_missing_or_empty
F5b_child_race_asian cannot be missing or empty.
F5b_out_of_range
F5b_child_race_asian should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F5c_missing_or_empty
F5c_child_race_black_african_american cannot be missing or empty.
F5c_out_of_range
F5c_child_race_black_african_american should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F5d_missing_or_empty
F5d_child_race_hawaiian_pacific_islander cannot be missing or empty.
F5d_out_of_range
F5d_child_race_hawaiian_pacific_islander should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F5e_missing_or_empty
F5e_child_race_white cannot be missing or empty.
F5e_out_of_range
F5e_child_race_white should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F5f_missing_or_empty
F5f_child_race_unknown cannot be missing or empty.
F5f_out_of_range
F5f_child_race_unknown should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F5g_inconsistency
If F5g_child_race_declined = 1 (Yes), data elements F5a - F5g should all be 0 (No).
F5g_missing_or_empty
F5g_child_race_declined cannot be missing or empty.
F5g_out_of_range
F5g_child_race_declined should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F6_missing_or_empty
F6_child_hispanic_latino cannot be missing or empty.
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

F6_out_of_range
F6_child_hispanic_latino should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes) or 8 (Declined) or 9 (Unknown).
F7_missing_or_empty
F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth cannot be missing or empty.
F7_out_of_range
F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F8_missing_or_empty
F8_prevention_plan_start_date cannot be missing or empty.
F8_out_of_range
F8_prevention_plan_start_date should be a valid YYYYMMDD.
F8_out_of_range_100_years
F8_prevention_plan_start_date cannot be any date after the transmission processing date or
more than 100 years before the transmission processing date.
F8_report_date_inconsistency
F8_prevention_plan_start_date should be on or before the reporting period end date.
F8_F3_inconsistency
F8_prevention_plan_start_date should be on or after F3_date_of_birth.
F9_inconsistency
At least one of data elements F9a_type_of_service_substance_use,
F9b_type_of_service_mental_health, and F9c_type_of_service_parent_skills should be 1
(Yes).
F9a_missing_or_empty
F9a_type_of_service_substance_use cannot be missing or empty.
F9a_out_of_range
F9a_type_of_service_substance_use should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F9b_missing_or_empty
F9b_type_of_service_mental_health cannot be missing or empty.
F9b_out_of_range
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

F9b_type_of_service_mental_health should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F9c_missing_or_empty
F9c_type_of_service_parent_skills cannot be missing or empty.
F9c_out_of_range
F9c_type_of_service_parent_skills should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F10_missing_or_empty
F10_service_start_date should not be missing or empty.
F10_out_of_range
F10_service_start_date should be a valid YYYYMMDD.
F10_out_of_range_100_years
F10_service_start_date cannot be any date after the transmission processing date or more
than 100 years before the transmission processing date.
F10_report_date_inconsistency
F10_service_start_date should be on or before the reporting period end date.
F10_F3_inconsistency
F10_service_start_date should be on or after F3_date_of_birth.
F10_F8_inconsistency
F10_service_start_date should be on or after F8_prevention_plan_start_date.
F10_F12_inconsistency
F10_service_start_date should be on or before F12_service_end_date.
F11_missing_or_empty
F11_cost_of_service cannot be missing or empty.
F11_out_of_range
F11_cost_of_service should be a whole number.
F12_out_of_range
F12_service_end_date should be a valid YYYYMMDD.
F12_out_of_range_100_years
F12_service_end_date cannot be any date after the transmission processing date or more than 100
years before the transmission processing date.
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

F12_report_date_inconsistency
F12_service_end_date should be on or before the reporting period end date.
F12_F8_inconsistency
F12_service_end_date should be within 12 months after F8_prevention_plan_start_date.
F12_missing_F14a_inconsistency
If there are one or more valid YYYYMMDD entries for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care,
F12_service_end_date should not be null (Service has not ended).
F12_F14a_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No), all entries for F12_service_end_date should be before
the earliest entry for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care.
F13_out_of_range
F13_foster_care_status_at_12_months should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes) or null (Not applicable).
F13_F7_F8_after_followup_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) and report_date > 12 months after
F8_prevention_plan_start_date, F13_foster_care_status_at_12_months should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F13_F7_F8_before_followup_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) and report_date < 12 months after
F8_prevention_plan_start_date, F13_foster_care_status_at_12_months should be null (Not
applicable).
F14_out_of_range
F14_ foster_care_status_at_24_months should be 0 (No), 1 (Yes) or null (Not applicable).
F14a_out_of_range_100_years
F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care cannot be any date after the transmission processing date or
more than 100 years before the transmission processing date.
F14a_F7_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No), F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care should be a valid
YYYYMMDD.
F14a_F7_report_date_inconsistency
All entries for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care should be on or before the reporting period end
date.
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Technical Bulletin #1: Title IV-E Prevention Program Data Elements

F14_F7_F8_after_followup_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) and report_date > 24 months after
F8_prevention_plan_start_date, F14_foster_care_status_at_24_months should be 0 (No) or 1 (Yes).
F14_F7_F8_before_followup_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) and report_date < 24 months after
F8_prevention_plan_start_date, F14_foster_care_status_at_24_months should not be 0 (No).
F14a_F7_F8_inconsistency
All entries for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care should be on or after
F8_prevention_plan_start_date.
F14a_F7_F14_false_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) when F14_foster_care_status_at_24_months = 0 (No),
there should be no entry for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care.
F14a_F7_F14_true_inconsistency
If F7_pregnant_or_parenting_youth = 0 (No) when F14_foster_care_status_at_24_months = 1 (Yes),
there should be at least one entry for F14a_date_of_entry_into_foster_care.
Dropped_Prevention_Plans
At least one prevention plan reported in the prior period’s submission is missing from this period’s
submission.

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