Linking a child to a customer's record 102-05050120

Only link a child to a person (carer's) record if:

• both carers are a party in the making of a new Centrelink care decision either verbally or in writing (FA012), for example for the purposes of an Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care subsidy (CCS) or Income Support Payment (ISP) claim
• a care decision has been made by Child Support for mutual customers who have claimed for the child that has not loaded correctly, and needs to be manually completed
• the Service Officer is making a subsequent care decision, and:
• has the 'E004WA Mandatory value not entered on screen' error due to a care decision displaying (on FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen in Customer First or Shared Care Assessment (SCA) screen in Process Direct) for a non-linked carer.
  This can occur when Child Support have made a previous care decision and it has been received via the data exchange
• the customer has made a claim in relation to the child (includes an ISP claim that attracts the 'with child' rate)
• the claimant is a step parent and the P24845 - Step parent workaround needs to be applied

Staff must not link a child to the record, unless one of the above criteria is met.

The Resources page contains examples.

• If a record is to be created for a newborn child who has not yet been named, go to Step 2
• If the child has been adopted, go to Step 3
• If a new claim has been lodged in respect of the child, go to Step 4
• Linking a newborn or an older child coming into care, go to Step 5
• If a CCS only claim has been lodged, see, Step 1 in Table 4

• When creating a record for a newborn child who has not yet been named, within the claim or Add Newborn activity, record the first name as 'Newborn'. The claim can be finalised to pay FTB

Note: the birth of a child cannot be registered until a name has been chosen. Failure to apply to register the birth affects entitlement to Newborn Supplement (NBS) paid with FTB and Parental Leave Pay (PPL)

• Record this information on a Display on Access (DOA) DOC as a prompt to ask for the name at next contact
• When provided, update the child's name on the Child Change (CCH) screen in Customer First. The recorded name 'Newborn' will remain on the CCH screen as an Also Known As (AKA) name.
• Once the CCH is updated, close the DOA DOC. For details on updating the child's name, see Changing the Legal name of customers or their children.

If the customer notifies that the birth was registered

• after an FTB claim has been finalised:
• In Customer First, go to the CCH screen, code YES in the birth registration field
• Check the Payment Summary (PS) to make sure the NBS/NBU is being paid. If the results are correct
• Finalise the activity
• after a PPL claim has been finalised, see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

If a new claim has been lodged in respect of the child, go to Step 4.

If a child has been adopted:

• create a new child record in Customer First before linking the customer. This protects the privacy of the adoptive parent, the birth parent and the child. For coding and referral, see Claiming payments for children entrusted to care as part of the process of adoption or a surrogacy arrangement
• any other Customer Reference Number (CRN) issues regarding pre-adoptive care, child names, aliases and privacy issues should be referred to the Families level 2 helpdesk request form. The Resources page contains a link to the request form

If a new claim is lodged in respect of the child, go to Step 4.

For a new claim:

• in Customer First, link the child via the workflow in the new claim
• in Process Direct, child linking is actioned on the Link Summary (LS) table on the Transaction Summary (TS) screen

When manually processing Family Tax (FTB) claims for refugees in Customer First link the child manually:

• index the customer's claim first and start coding the claim. The Child Selection (CHS) screen will display as part of the screen flow during updates from the Customer Details Task Selector (CDTS) screen

Go to Step 5.

Before linking a newborn child, or an older child to a record, it must first be established whether the child has an existing record. See Searching for a customer on the system.

If an existing child record is located, before linking, check it is the correct child record. Make sure it is not an unrelated child CRN that has the same name and/or date of birth.

Checks include:

• completing a separate search to see if the child record located is already linked to another person
• checking the child relationship
• checking address details, etc.

Is the correct child record found?

Yes,

• Note the environment in which the child's record exists. Go to Step 6

No,

• If FA081/FA012 is available on Document Tools and determination of care can be established, if using:
• Process Direct, see Table 2
• Customer First, see Table 3
• If FA081/FA012 is not available, or care cannot be determined, procedure ends here

Are the customer and child records in the same environment?

• Yes, if using:
• Process Direct, see Table 2
• Customer First, see Table 3
• No, if using:
• Process Direct to action an existing new claim or non-new claim activity, go to Step 10
• Customer First, go to Step 7

If needed, transfer the child record using Inter-environment change of address (ICoA)

'S'elect the child from the CHS screen. Note: if only the child's CRN displays, the system is still transferring the record from interstate. Wait a short time until the child's name displays.

For New Claim/Add Child activities, note the Activity Management Reference (AMR) number for this activity. This is located at the top of the screen in the Act: field.

• Search for the child on the Name Search (IN) screen
• 'S'elect the child from the Name List (IL) screen and go to the record of the customer who previously had care of the child. Go to the CHS screen, 's'elect the child and press [Enter] to go to the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen
• If the child is a customer message appears, enter child's CRN to go to child's record. Start activity and 's'elect (SELF) from CHS screen and record any child updates via the CHTS screen. Finalise this activity on the child's record before returning to the customer's record
• 'S'elect other screens from the CHTS screen if further updates are needed. For help, see:
• Change Child (CCH) screen
• Child Student/Income Circumstances (CHSI)
• FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen
• SSA Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) - includes foster child/ adopted child indicator
• Death of a family assistance or Paid Parental Leave scheme child
• Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
• On the Child in Customer Care (CHC) screen, code the child out of the current customer's record and finalise, before coding on to the gaining customer's record. See Change of care for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• The Ripple Manager Consequences (RMC) screen will display before the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Key 'MER' (Merge) where 'COM' (Completed Activity or Complete the activity) is displayed and key the AMR noted earlier for the customer who is gaining care of the child (for New Claim/Add Child activities)
• Press [Enter] and complete the activity for this customer on the AR screen
• Key 'CLR' in Nxt: to clear the customer's record. This allows the system to apply the changes to the gaining customer's record. This should not take long

• A message will appear on the original activity stating that the ripple data has merged into this activity
• 'S'elect the activity and make any further changes required
• Go to the Child Override/Claim (CHOC) screen. Make sure a line exists for each service reason the customer has claimed for the child and that the date of event is correct, for example start date of claim or date child entered care
• Complete the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Child eligibility details can be checked on the Assessment Explanation (AX) screen before finalising the activity

If a record requires an environment transfer, a warning shows on the Message Log on the Errors (SWE) screen within a new claim or non-new claim activity.

To transfer a customer record:

• Complete or cancel all activities and DOCs
• Go to the Inter-Environment Transfer (ICOA) screen
• View the list of all CRNs associated with the claim and the current environment of each record
• Select Request transfer next to the customer CRN that needs transferring to a different environment
• On the Change ICOA screen, select the Gaining environment
• Select the customer’s new office code and gaining region
• Confirm that the children transferring with the customer are marked as ‘Y’ in the Included in Transfer: field. Edit if required
• Make sure that the children not transferring with the customer are marked as ‘N’ in the Included in Transfer: field. Edit if required.
• Select Transfer

For more details, see Inter-environment change of address (ICoA) transfer of a customer record.

To transfer a child record only:

• In the customer’s record go to the Inter-Environment Transfer (ICOA) screen
• View the list of all CRNs associated with the claim and the current environment of each record
• Go to the Child’s record via the Relations menu
• Select Request transfer next to the child CRN that needs transferring to a different environment
• Select the Gaining environment
• Select Transfer

For more details, see Inter-environment change of address (ICOA) transfer of a child record.

If there is a delay in the transfer completing, the claim is placed on auto-hold. Do not finalise the claim until the environment transfer completes.

Before indexing a new customer record, it is important to conduct a thorough search of the system to make sure no previous record exists. The search should include all names the customer has been known by.

Note: do not attempt to create a child record in Process Direct outside of an:

• existing claim
• associated non-new claim transaction, or
• Add Newborn activity

If a child has been adopted, there is a surrogacy arrangement, or the claim is for CCS, the child record can be created in Customer First before linking to the customer, where directed by Operational Blueprint.

Does a new claim activity exist in respect of the child?

• Yes, linking must occur on the Transaction Summary (TS) screen before selecting Process. Go to Step 2
• No, if the customer is not currently in receipt of a Centrelink payment, or no existing activity exists, the Service Officer will need to create a started activity to allow a child to be added to the customer's record:
• Access the customer record via Customer Summary
• Key Start into the Super Key
• Select the Families - Care Assessments workflow from the Task Selector
• Enter the Receipt date and Channel
• Select Next
• Go to Step 2

Child with single name in cases where the child has only one name for example, Sampson, duplicate the name in both first name and surname fields on the CCH screen.

Note: a child can be linked to a person (the other carer's) record if the information is being recorded for the purposes of a FTB care determination. This will include information that is relevant for the assessment of a current FTB customer (or new claimant) concerning the percentage of care of the child/ren. See Resources page for examples.

Access Link Summary (LS) screen:

• Before linking, make sure that the child does not have an existing record
• Select Add and on the Create Link Summary screen update:
• Link Type: CHI
• From SVC Reason: PAR
• To: CHI
• Start Date: DOB of child
• Select Destination CRN field
• Enter child's name, gender and date of birth and select Go
• If existing record is found,
• select child from the Search Results list
• go to Step 3
• If the correct customer record is not in the search results, see Adding a customer to the system. This explains how to do a thorough search, and create a new record in Process Direct if needed
• When satisfied that no record exists, select Create CRN
• Enter child's name, date of birth and gender
• Select Yes if Proof of Birth provided
• Select Create to create the child record
• If E047JW/HTTP response error appears, do not select Create again. Wait a moment and complete the search again
• If a person (PER) record has been created incorrectly for a child, contact the Data Quality Unit - Multiples helpdesk

For family payments see the relevant new claim processing procedure:

• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and /or Paid Parental Leave payments
• Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

Otherwise, go to Step 3.

Customer and child records in same environment:

• Select child from the Relations menu and select Next to the Child Task Selector (CHTS)
• On CHTS - the following screens are pre-selected:

• Child in Customer Care (CHC). For a change of care where both the losing and gaining customer records are in the same environment, the child can be coded off and on without going to the losing customer's record.
• Child Override/Claim (CHOC) screen. Make sure a line exists for each service reason the customer has claimed for the child and that the date of event is correct, for example, start date of claim or date child entered care
• Child in Primary Care (CIPC) screen - only recorded for a Paid Parental Leave child
• Access the Child Immigration Enquiry (CHIMME) screen, update all known details and request an Immigration Datalink
• If the datalink is successful, any information will be automatically recorded
• If the datalink is not successful, a message will display at the top of the screen. Child resident information is not mandatory so no further action is required
• Select other screens to view or update details for child. For help, see:
• Change Child (CCH)
• Child Student/Income Circumstances (CHSI)
• Care Alignment Details (CADDS)
• Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) - includes foster child/ adopted child indicator
• Death of a family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme child
• Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
• Child Relationships page (CHRE)
• Go back to the parent record via the Relations menu
• On the SWE screen resolve any warnings or errors that are present , then select Assess
• Check the outcome on the Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Check child eligibility details on the Assessment Explanation (AX) screen before finalising the activity
• Record details on the automated Note template

Before indexing a new customer record, it is important to conduct a thorough search of the system to make sure no previous record exists. The search should include all names the customer has been known by.

• If an online claim exists in respect of the child, linking will occur through the Manage Dependent Children guided procedure
• If a new claim or add child has been lodged in respect of the child, navigate to the Link Child (LCH) screen within the started NCL/ACH activity and then go to Step 2
• If the customer is not currently in receipt of a Centrelink payment, the Service Officer will need to create a started activity to allow a child to be added to the customer's record

Go to the Activity Registration (AYR) screen.

• Code 'AYR' in the Nxt: field to create a started REA activity:
• Code ServRsn: field (for example PPL, FTB)
• Code 'REA' in the Activity Type: field
• Code the Source: and DOR: fields (if proof of birth has been provided, use the date the proof of birth was received)
• Press [Enter]. 'S'elect the started REA activity on the AL screen. 'S'elect the activity

Go to Step 2.

Child with single name in cases where the child has only one name for example, Sampson, duplicate the name in both first name and surname fields on the CCH screen.

Note: a child can be linked to a person (the other carer's) record if the information is being recorded for the purposes of a FTB care determination. This will include information that is relevant for the assessment of a current FTB customer (or new claimant) concerning the percentage of care of the child/ren. See Resources page for examples.

• Access Link Child (LCH) screen:
• before linking, make sure that the child does not have an existing record
• on the Link Child (LCH) screen, enter child details
• enter child's name, gender and date of birth and press [Enter]
• if record is found, select child from National Index Name List (IL) screen. Place a 'Y' in the Confirm Selection field and press [Enter]. Go to Step 3
• where no record exists the following message will display 'No National Index records found meeting the search criteria'
• key 'ACHI' in Nxt: field and press [Enter]
• enter child's name, gender and date of birth
• key 'Y' in Proof of Birth: field if an acceptable proof of birth has been provided
• key 'N' in Proof of Birth: field if an acceptable proof of birth has not been provided:
• key 'Y' in the Add Child?: field
• if adding another child type 'Y' in the Add Another Child?: field
• press [Enter]. Add further children if required
• If a person (PER) record has been created incorrectly for a child, contact the Data Quality Unit - Multiples helpdesk

For family payments see the relevant new claim processing procedure:

• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and /or Paid Parental Leave payments
• Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

Otherwise, go to Step 3.

Customer and child records in same environment:

• 'S'elect child from the CHS screen and press [Enter] to go to the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen
• If the child is a customer message appears when making child updates, enter child's CRN to go to child's record. Start activity and 'S'elect (SELF) from CHS screen and record any updates via the CHTS screen. Finalise this activity on the child's record before returning to the customer's record
• On the CHTS screen - the following screens will be pre-selected:

• Child in Customer Care (CHC). For a change of care where both the losing and gaining customer records are in the same environment, the child can be coded off and on without going to the losing customer's record
• Child Override/Claim (CHOC) screen. Make sure a line exists for each service reason the customer has claimed for the child and that the date of event is correct, for example, start date of claim or date child entered care
• Child in Primary Care screen - only recorded for a Paid Parental Leave child
• Access the Child Immigration Enquiry (CHIMME) screen, update all known details and request an Immigration Datalink
• If the datalink is successful, any information will be automatically recorded
• If the datalink is not successful, a message will display at the top of the screen. Child resident information is not mandatory so no further action is required
• 'S'elect other screens to view or update details for child. For help, see:
• Change Child (CCH) screen
• Child Student/Income Circumstances (CHSI)
• FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen
• SSA Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Care Alignment Details (!CADDS) page
• Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) screen - includes foster child/ adopted child indicator
• Death of a family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme child
• Establish a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) link for a child between Centrelink and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
• Child Relationships page (!CHRE)

Finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Child eligibility details can be checked on the Assessment Explanation (AX) screen before finalising the activity.

Record details on a DOC.

The following procedure supports linking of a child for CCS only claims. If the customer has submitted:

• combined claims (CCS and FTB/PPL), the child linking processes must be completed as part of the Families claim process, see Step 4 in the Linking a child to a customer’s record
• a CCS only claim, and the child has an existing record, the child can be linked to the customer record within the CCS claim as part of claims processing in Process Direct. See Processing Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims
• a CCS online claim and the child does not have an existing record, go to Step 2

Before adding a new child to the record, thoroughly check to make sure proof of birth is acceptable. See Processing proof of a child's birth.

In Customer First, go to the Activity Registration (AYR) screen.

• Code AYR in the Nxt: field to create a started REA activity:
• Code ServRsn: field FTB
• Code REA in the Activity Type: field
• Code the Source: and DOR: fields
• Press [Enter]. 'S'elect the started REA activity on the AL screen. 'S'elect the activity
• Go to Step 3

Child with single name in cases where the child has only one name, (for example, Sampson), will duplicate the name in both first name and surname fields on the CCH screen, (for example, Sampson, Sampson).

• Access Link Child (LCH) screen:
• on the LCH screen, enter child details
• enter child's name, gender and date of birth and press [Enter]. Where no record exists the following message will display, 'No National Index records found meeting the search criteria'
• key ACHI in Nxt: field and press [Enter]
• enter child's name, gender and date of birth
• key Y in Proof of Birth: field if an acceptable proof of birth has been provided
• key N in Proof of Birth: field if an acceptable proof of birth has not been provided:
• key Y in the Add Child?: field
• if adding another child type Y in the Add Another Child?: field
• press [Enter]. Add further children if required
• If a person (PER) record has been created incorrectly for a child, contact the Data Quality Unit - Multiples helpdesk

Note: where the FA081 is used to verify the child's date of birth, the unique serial number must be coded.

Once all children have been added, go to Step 4

• 'S'elect child from the CHS screen and press [Enter] to go to the Child Task Selector (CHTS) screen
• On the CHTS screen - the following screens will be pre-selected:
• Child in Customer Care (CHC)
• Code child’s date of birth or date child entered the customers care in Event Date: field
• In the Care Status: field, code ‘ICC’ (in customer care)
• Access the Child Immigration Enquiry (CHIMME) screen, update all known details and request an Immigration Datalink
• If the datalink is successful, any information will be automatically recorded
• If the datalink is not successful a message will display at the top of the screen. Child resident information is not mandatory so no further action is required
• 'S'elect other screens to view or update details for child. For help, see:
• Change Child (CCH) screen - if a FA081 has been used to verify child's date of birth, the unique serial number must be coded
• FTB Shared Care (FSC) screen - if there is no shared care, record 100%
• SSA Shared Care (SSC) screen
• Update the Care Alignment Details (!CADDS) page
• Child Miscellaneous Circumstances (CHM) screen - includes foster child/ adopted child indicator
• Child Relationships (!CHRE) page

Finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

Record details on a DOC.

Once child linking activity has been completed, complete remaining procedure of Processing Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims in Process Direct.