[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 98 (Monday, May 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43856-43857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10928]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Office of Child Support Services, Administration for Children 
and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Support 
Services (OCSS), is providing notice of a re-established matching 
program between HHS/ACF/OCSS and state agencies administering the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The matching program 
compares state SNAP agency records with new hire, quarterly wage, and 
unemployment insurance information maintained in the National Directory 
of New Hires (NDNH) system of records maintained by OCSS. The outcomes 
of the comparisons help state agencies with establishing or verifying 
eligibility for applicants and recipients of SNAP benefits, reducing 
SNAP benefit errors, and maintaining program integrity.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days after publication. The re-
established matching program will commence no sooner than 30 days after 
publication of this notice, provided no comments are received that 
warrant a change to this notice. The matching program will be conducted 
for an initial term of 18 months (from approximately August 16, 2024, 
through February 15, 2026) and, within 3 months of expiration, may be 
renewed for 1 additional year if the parties make no change to the 
matching program and certify that the program has been conducted in 
compliance with the agreement.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit written comments on this 
notice to Venkata Kondapolu, Director, Division of Federal Systems, 
OCSS, ACF, by email at [email protected] or by mail at Mary E. 
Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW, Floor 5, Washington, DC 20201. 
Comments received will be available for public inspection at this 
address from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through 
Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions about the matching 
program may be submitted to Venkata Kondapolu, Director, Division of 
Federal Systems, OCSS, ACF, by email at [email protected], by 
mail at Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C St. SW, 5th Floor, Washington, 
DC 20201, or by telephone at 202-260-4712.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a), provides 
certain protections for individuals applying for and receiving federal 
benefits. The law governs the use of computer matching by federal 
agencies when records in a system of records contain information about 
individuals, are retrieved by name or other personal identifier, and 
are matched with records of other federal, state, or local government 
records. The Privacy Act requires agencies involved in a matching 
program to:
    1. Obtain approval of a Computer Matching Agreement, prepared in 
accordance with the Privacy Act, by the Data Integrity Board of each 
federal agency in a matching program, as required by 5 U.S.C. 
552a(u)(3)(A).
    2. Enter into a written Computer Matching Agreement, as required by 
5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(1).
    3. Provide a report of the matching program to Congress and the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and make it available to the 
public, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(A).
    4. Publish notice of the matching program in the Federal Register 
as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(12) after OMB and Congress complete 
their review of the report, as provided by OMB Circular A-108.
    5. Provide individual notice at the time of application and 
periodically thereafter that applicants and recipients' information 
provided may be subject to verification through matching programs, as 
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(1)(D).
    6. Independently verify match findings before suspending, 
terminating, reducing, or making a final denial of an individual's 
benefits or payments or taking other adverse action against the 
individual, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(p). This matching program 
complies with these requirements.

Tanguler Gray,
Commissioner, Office of Child Support Services.

Participating Agencies

    The agencies participating in the matching program are OCSS (source 
agency) and state agencies

[[Page 43857]]

administering SNAP (recipient non-federal agencies).

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program

    The authority for conducting the matching program is 42 U.S.C. 
653(j)(10). State SNAP agencies are required to participate in the 
matching program, as provided by 7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(24).

Purpose(s)

    The purpose of the matching program is to provide each 
participating state agency administering SNAP with new hire, quarterly 
wage, and unemployment insurance information from the OCSS NDNH system 
of records to assist them in establishing or verifying SNAP applicants' 
and recipients' eligibility for assistance, reducing payment errors, 
and maintaining program integrity, including determining whether 
duplicate participation exists or if the applicant or recipient resides 
in another state. The state SNAP agencies may also use the NDNH 
information for the secondary purpose of updating SNAP recipients' 
reported participation in work activities and updating the recipients' 
and their employers' contact information maintained by the state SNAP 
agencies.

Categories of Individuals

    The categories of individuals whose data is used in the matching 
program are adult members of households who have applied for or receive 
SNAP benefits.

Categories of Records

    The categories of records used in the matching program, which may 
include personal identifiers, are new hire, quarterly wage, and 
unemployment insurance information. The specific data elements that 
will be provided to OCSS in a state agency input file are:

 Submitting state code (two-digit Federal Information 
Processing Standard code)
 Date stamp (input file transmission date)
 Adult SNAP caseload month and year of adult SNAP applicants 
and recipients
 Adult SNAP applicant/recipient Social Security number
 Adult SNAP applicant/recipient's first, middle, and last name

    The SNAP-NDNH Record Specifications offer optional programming for 
the state to customize matching. For example, states may use the 
Passback field to identify specific records in a file, use the same 
State Data Indicator field whether or not to receive NDNH data that was 
provided by the state, and notify OCSS whether or not to verify the 
name and Social Security number combinations in the state agency's 
input file using Social Security Administration processes, as states 
may undergo verification prior to sending the file to OCSS. The NDNH 
data elements that OCSS will return to the state agency are as follows:

a. New Hire File

 New hire processed date
 Employee name and address
 Employee date and state of hire
 Federal and state employer identification numbers
 Department of Defense code
 Employer name and address
 Transmitter agency code
 Transmitter state code
 Transmitter state or agency name

b. Quarterly Wage File

 Quarterly wage processed date
 Employee name
 Federal and state employer identification numbers
 Department of Defense code
 Employer name and address
 Employee wage amount
 Quarterly wage reporting period
 Transmitter agency code
 Transmitter state code
 Transmitter state or agency name

c. Unemployment Insurance File

 Unemployment insurance processed date
 Claimant name and address
 Claimant benefit amount
 Unemployment insurance reporting period
 Transmitter state code
 Transmitter state or agency name

System(s) of Records

    The NDNH data used in this matching program will be disclosed from 
the following OCSS system of records, as authorized by routine use 15: 
OCSS National Directory of New Hires, System No. 09-80-0381; see System 
of Records Notice (SORN) published in full at 89 FR 25625 (April 11, 
2024).

[FR Doc. 2024-10928 Filed 5-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-42-P