Understanding the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) Verifications

The VaCMS has the ability to check customer employment information utilizing the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) interface to determine eligibility and the correct amount of SNAP benefits approved at the time of certification. Information obtained via NDNH only can only be used for SNAP. Other benefit programs must follow-up on information using their program specific policy. This guide explains how this feature works in the VaCMS during the Intake or Redetermination / Renewal processes.

The Commonwealth is required to verify a customer’s employment information at the time of certification for SNAP recipients. The NDNH for the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) provides the information to the local departments after comparing VaCMS files on active adult SNAP recipients. Any NDNH matches found are used to help confirm the recipient’s compliance with regulatory requirements.

The VaCMS creates a data file on all customers over the age of 18 who have a valid SSN and are receiving SNAP. The VaCMS file is generated and sent to an agreed upon location (FTP Directory) on the last Thursday of every month after 11 p.m. and contains the following information:

• Current date

• FIPS

• Customer SSN

• Customer first and last name

• Total number of records in the transmission    

Records include:

1. Current month Pending and Approved Intake applications received before the last Thursday of the month

2. Current month applications due for renewal that have been processed early and are still pending

3. Current month applications due for renewal and no action has been taken.

Pending and Approved Intake applications received after the last Thursday of the month are sent in the next month’s file for W4 matches.

Once the files reach the agreed upon location (FTP Directory), they are sent to the NDNH.

After the files are sent, a comparison is conducted between the VaCMS and the NDNH. The files are returned to the VaCMS for validation and matching. The record is considered a match and stored in the FTP Directory only if a complete SSN match is found between the NDNH file and the VaCMS. If the SSN is missing, then the record is stored as an exception. The VaCMS processes the most recent file stored in the FTP Directory.

Once the VaCMS receives the files from the NDNH, the total number of matches and errors are displayed on the VaCMS Dashboard for the Worker 1 / Primary Eligibility Worker assigned to a case, and the supervisor’s VaCMS Dashboard under Caseload Statistics. For supervisors, the numbers are the total number of matches and errors for all of their workers. Clicking the number hyperlinks navigates you to the NDNH Search page and search results will be prepopulated.

The total number of matches and errors that are due for processing more than 39 days from the match received time are also displayed under Caseload Statistics. A record is considered a duplicate match if the match has the same employer, same hire date and same wage. This is not counted as a separate match when the worker is notified of matches.

To dispose of the NDNH matches in the VaCMS, the process begins on the NDNH Search page. The NDNH Search page is accessible to workers with at least one of the following roles:

• Primary Worker - Search can be performed by Worker ID, Case ID and Client ID.

• Supervisor - Search can be performed by Worker ID, Unit ID, Case ID and Client ID.

• • When supervisor accesses the page, the unit # for which they are the primary supervisor (even if multiple unit #s) will be prepopulated and disabled.

• Regional Specialists - This role has read-only access.

• • Region they belong to will be defaulted and disabled. They can search for any case within their region using FIPS.

• State Program Specialists - This role has read-only access.

After receiving the matches, you or the supervisor must dispose of the NDNH matches within 90 days. A match is disposed of when an impact case code is entered into the VaCMS and the match is submitted. The VaCMS flags records that are not disposed of within 90 days and they are no longer displayed on the worker’s or the supervisor’s Dashboard or the NDNH page.

To search for and dispose of an NDNH match:

1. From the Left Navigation, click Interfaces and then click New Hire.

   • The NDNH Search page displays.

2. In the Search Criteria section:

   • Enter the Client #.

• • Enter the Case #.

  • Select the Impact Case Codes from the dropdown menu.

  • Select the Unit from the dropdown menu.

  • Select the Show only Error matches checkbox, if applicable.

  • Enter the FIPS.

3. Click Search.

• • The results are displayed in the NDNH Match Summary section.

  • Click the edit icon next to the record to display the NDNH W4 Details page.

  • • View the customer information.

    • Select the Impact Case code.

    • Click Submit.

  • Click the edit icon next to the record to display the NDNH Error Details page.

  • • Review the error code information.

    • Access the appropriate pages to dispose of the errors.

    • Follow steps 1-3 to return to the NDNH Error Details page.

    • Select Yes from the Reviewed dropdown menu.

    • Click Submit.

After clicking Submit, the match or error has been disposed. Alerts are disposed of once the worker finishes processing the matches.

The following guidelines should be used to enter and interpret the data on the NDNH pages:

On the NDNH Search page, matches are displayed in the order of unprocessed (not reviewed by you) to processed.

Impact Case codes are entered on the W4M Details page. The code entered is based on the type of application received. The following options are available:

If “PN” is entered in the Impact Case field for all the records on a case, eligibility should still be able to be run on the case. When the NDNH Search page is accessed, the search results should still display since the case needs to be worked on.

The Benefits before NDNH match are the current benefits amount received by the customer. For pending applications, this field is defaulted to NA.

The EDBC run after NDNH match defaults to NA until a valid code is entered. The system will display the benefits amount based on the first EDBC run after all matches are disposed.

The Change in benefits are calculated and equal Benefits before NDNH – EDBC run after NDNH match.

The remaining fields are read-only and display the data received from the NDNH sent file.

Updated 04/25/2016