WRIS Advisory Committee

1
WRIS Advisory Committee
Technical Operations Review

• Amanda Gohl, ACS
• Martha Hazelrigg, ACS

July 14 -15, 2008 New Orleans, LA
2
Operational Participants

• 50 States Submitted DDBI for Exchanging Data on
  WRIS this Quarter
• AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO (FTP), CT, DC, DE, FL
  (FTP), GA, IA, ID, IL, IN (FTP), KS, KY, LA, MA
  (FTP), MD, ME (FTP), MI (FTP), MN (FTP), MO, MS,
  MT, NC, ND (FTP), NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH
  (FTP), OK (FTP), OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN (FTP),
  TX, VA, VT(FTP), UT, WA, WI, WV, and WY.
• States Not Participating Currently
• HI, PR, VI

3
How Does WRIS Work?

• PACIA Requests Data
• Assigned Request ID
• Identify Quarters of Data Requested
• Identify SSNs for data subjects
• Customize search option, if desired
• Provide a Need-By Date for the Request
  Clearinghouse Process
• Submits Request
• Clearinghouse
• DDBI Match
• - Request forwarded to appropriate SUIA(s)
• SUIA(s) Responds
• Clearinghouse Process
• Requester told data are available
• Requester must download within 14 days. Response
  is purged

4
WRIS Design and Operation
PACIA
SUIA
WRIS Clearinghouse
SUIA Mainframe
WRIS.ORG
5
The Distributed Data Base Index (DDBI)

• File is maintained by WRIS Operations Contractor
  at the WRIS Clearinghouse
• Identifies those SSNs for which wages have been
  reported to WRIS states
• Contains data for eight quarters
• Data refreshed each quarter by SUIA in accordance
  with schedule established by the WRIS Advisory
  Committee

6
Edits to SSNs in DDBI Input File

• SSN edits for DDBI
• When SUIAs send in DDBI data, the Clearinghouse
  edits out SSNs that might have been test data
  such as all 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s,
  8s, 9s, or spaces. Also, SSNs starting with
  000 and 999 are removed.
• Otherwise, the Clearinghouse accepts the SSNs
  sent by the SUIA. It is up to the SUIA to ensure
  that valid SSNs are provided in the DDBI file.

7
Edits to SSNs in Request Files

• WRIS PACIA Upload
• There are no SSN edits within the web upload
  function. It is up to the PACIA to ensure that
  valid SSNs are sent.
• WRIS Clearinghouse Processing
• The WRIS request is received from the server and
  processed on the mainframe. The edit program
  ensures the SSN is numeric in all nine positions,
  does not equal 123456789 and the first three
  bytes of the SSN do not equal 000 or 999.

8
Edits to Response Records

• Zero Wage Record Edit
• The change to bypass 0 wage records in the output
  file was made in July 2001.
• The total number indicated on the WRIS Bulletin
  email for a request is calculated based on the
  number of Type 2 response records returned from a
  state.
• The Type 2 record counts the number of SSNs and
  counts each SSN one time whether or not there are
  wages reported.
• NOTE Each wage will have a record. If someone
  worked each quarter and more than one job in a
  quarter, there will be a record for each job in
  each quarter.
• The output file with the detail records does not
  include any SSN records returned with a wage
  amount of zero, even when the SSN record is
  returned from the responding state.
• The result is that a count is added to the WRIS
  Bulletin email count, but the SSN does not appear
  in the output file.
• NOTE States have reported discrepancies between
  what was reported on the WRIS Bulletin email for
  the Request File and what your MIS staff received
  in the output file. The discrepancies are a
  result of a record being returned by a state with
  zero wages reported for the SSN.

9
WRIS Clearing House Security

• Secure Socket Layer Technology
• Private Frame Relay Network with Encryption
• Limited Access to System
• Passwords/User IDs
• Physical Security of Hardware Software
• Timely Destruction of Data

10
DDBI Input Schedule

• DDBI submittal schedule was adjusted to first
  week following the quarter end.
• DDBI schedule posted on the WRIS Website
• WRIS 2006 DDBI Available Two Weeks Earlier
• Cycle 01-2008 DDBI input due NLT Jul 7th Online
  as of Jul 14, 2008
• Cycle 02-2008 DDBI input due NLT Oct 3rd Online
  as of Oct 13, 2008

11
WRIS Traffic Reports

• Request data and response data are recorded
  within the month they occur.
• Rolling 12-month YTD column has been added, which
  includes the number of requests, number of SSNs,
  and number of responses returned to the PACIA.
• WRIS traffic reports emailed to the WAC
  distribution list
• Monthly Reporting Data Storage
• Header data for monthly reporting retained at the
  Hub for a rolling 12 months to support the
  reporting function.
• Detail records deleted after 14 days.

12
WRIS Traffic Reports

• States are allowed to submit the same SSNs as
  many times as the State/PACIA chooses within any
  monthly reporting period. 
• The traffic reports show cumulative traffic and
  may indicate greater percentage matches than
  would be expected as in those cases as noted by
  Bill Meehan.
• In the case where there is only one file
  submitted and there is a higher than expected
  match percentage, the situation could be the
  result of one PACIA request file of SSNs matching
  against SSNs reported as having wages in multiple
  states.  There would be a match counted for that
  SSN in each State.

13
WRIS Traffic Reports

• Many States/PACIAs send the same files multiple
  times to see if they get additional matches so
  the number of SSNs and the number of matches
  shown on the monthly traffic report should not be
  used as an indicator of the percentage match
  against a single group of SSNs.  The number of
  SSNs submitted and the number of matches would be
  a cumulative number. Submitting the same file
  multiple times burdens the SUIA side and should
  not be the normal process.
• 500,000 SSNs for a given set of quarters, the
  PACIA may get a match of 3 on the first
  submittal, a match of 4 on the next submittal
  and a match of 4 each on three more submittals. 
  The traffic report would show 2,500,000 SSNs sent
  matching each time, resulting in a cumulative
  percentage rate of the 3 plus the 4 matches or
  19. 

14
WRIS Traffic Report Sample
15
WRIS Traffic Report Sample
16
WRIS Usage Comparison
17
WRIS Security Procedure Enhancements

• Account Administration
• Password reset cycle for WRIS PACIA users
  approved by the WRIS Advisory Committee in
  February 2005
• Implemented in February 2006.
• Require reset every 60 days or next logon after
  60 days.
• System will notify the user on sign-in.
• New accounts that have not been activated within
  20 days are disabled.
• A list of PACIA accounts that have not had a
  logon for more than 120 days will be follow-up
  with ETA to escalate to the State PACIA contact
  to determine which accounts should be closed.

18
WRIS Enhancements

• Provide capability to upload and download larger
  files. 
• Completed implementation of the status bar
  capability that will provide users with a visual
  indication of progress on their file upload to
  the WRIS server.
• Completed implementation of zip function as an
  upload or download to prevent state timeout
  issues.

19
WRIS Common Measures Pilot

• Current Status on Hold
• History
• 12 States Were Participating
• AK, AR, CA, FL, IN, KS, ME, NE, NJ, OH, OR, WA
• Implemented in December 2005
• Route requests
• By individual program
• By PRE WRIS data sharing agreement.
• Traffic reports in format similar to WRIS to
  report by state, PRE, and program.

20
WRIS Processing Network
21
WRIS Processing Schedules

• PACIA Requests Are Received 24x7x365
• System sends email acknowledgement of PACIA
  request
• System sends email documenting number of SSN
  matches against your query request
• Requests Distributed to Production States at 330
  p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday

22
WRIS Processing Schedules

• SUIA Responses Are Sent to Website at 630 a.m.
  Eastern Time (no later than need-by date)
• System Sends Email Notification That Your
  Response Data Are Posted and Available for
  Display or Download
• Data Deletion Schedule for Web Postings
• Data that have been downloaded to PACIAs PC are
  deleted from WRIS.org after 14 days
• Data that have been displayed at WRIS.org are
  deleted from WRIS.org after 14 days
• All data are deleted from WRIS.org after 14 days
  whether or not the data have been accessed

23
Points of Contact
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. Amanda
Gohl, Account Manager 407-306-4914 Amanda.l.gohl
_at_acs-inc.com Martha Hazelrigg, Deputy Account
Manager 407-306-7228 Martha.c.hazelrigg_at_acs-inc.
com Cynthia Binkley, Customer Support
Manager 407-306-2695 8am 5pm Mon Fri
Eastern Cynthia.binkley_at_acs-inc.com 7x24x365
Customer Support 1800-327-9250 Option 2