Appendix C: Creating Electronic Files
This appendix provides comprehensive instructions for structuring, creating, and reading a CDD-801A electronic file for upload via the Child Development Management Information System (CDMIS).Contents
This web page contains the following sections and topics:
- Background Information
- Section A: Electronic File Technical Description
- Section B: Electronic File Format Specifications
- Section C: Structuring an Electronic File
- Section D: Reading an Electronic File
- Section E: Creating an Electronic File
Agencies may access a complete document of Appendix C: Creating Electronic Files (DOCX).
Background
Agencies maintaining a child care and development contract with the California Department of Education (CDE), Early Education Division (EED) may utilize the CDD-801A Electronic File Transfer function of the Child Development Management Information System (CDMIS) website to fulfill the CDD-801A Monthly Child Care Population Report (CDD-801A) requirement. The uploaded file contains all family, child, and provider information for a given report month and year (report period).
Submitting an Electronic File
Step-by-step instructions for submitting the CDD-801A via the Electronic File Transfer method is available on CDMIS User Manual: Chapter 3.
Sub-Agencies
Agencies can submit the CDD-801A in smaller, more manageable groups called sub-agencies. Large agencies or agencies with many sites, programs, or contract types may find it convenient to create sub-agencies for CDD-801A reporting purposes. Once sub-agencies are created, super users can designate for each sub-agency users who will submit the CDD-801A.
Agencies are responsible for ensuring that all associated sub-agencies submit complete, correct, and timely CDD-801As.
Section A: Electronic File Technical Description
This section provides technical descriptions of the various components of a CDD-801A electronic file (file).
File Name
Agency-Assigned: Agencies are permitted to name files uploaded to the CDMIS to fulfill the CDD-801A reporting requirements, at their own discretion; however, for convenience and record keeping purposes, the EED recommends that file names include the report period and the agency’s vendor number/submission code.
CDE-Assigned: Once uploaded to the CDMIS website, files are assigned a name by the CDE. This name includes the report; report period; agency vendor number/submission code; and date and time of file upload. The CDE-assigned file name is indicated on the CDD-801A Electronic File Transfer Status Reports screen and is accessible via the CDD-801A Management Reports function.
File Format
All files uploaded to the CDMIS must be specifically formatted to meet CDMIS website standards. Specifically, files must maintain the following characteristics:
- Files must be a tab-delimited ASCII text file
- Files must not be compressed (i.e., zipped)
Incorrectly formatted files will not be processed by the CDMIS.
Records (Rows)
The term “records” is used to refer to the rows of a file:
- Each record in files must end with the standard personal computer (PC) end-of-line characters Carriage Return (CR)/Line Feed (LF).
- Blank records are not allowed in files.
- Files must contain at least one record and no more than 100,000 records.
Fields (Columns)
The term “fields” is used to refer to the columns of a file:
- All 40 fields indicated in Section B: File Format Specifications must appear in files, even fields with null or blank values.
- All fields are delimited (separated) by tabs, except the last one, which is followed by a CR/LF.
- The use of two tabs next to each other indicates a blank field.
- Fields must not be padded with spaces.
- Fields must not contain control characters or format symbols.
- If a field is marked as required, null values (no data) are not allowed.
- Field lengths may be less than the specified length if the data size column includes "Max and Min sizes" but can never exceed the maximum. If the data size column includes a specific field size, the field must be exactly that length.
Data
Within each field, data elements must be specifically formatted. Each field contains different data format specifications.
General descriptions of the format of the different data elements are presented below:
- Character fields can contain both upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and dashes, unless otherwise noted.
- Number fields must contain only numbers.
- Date fields must contain dates in the format mm/dd/yyyy.
Detailed descriptions of the format of the different data elements of a file are presented in the following section, Section B: File Format Specifications.
Section B: Electronic File Format Specifications
This section provides detailed information of format specifications for each data field within a file.
- Electronic File Format Specifications: CDD-801A Electronic File Format Specifications
Detailed information of format specifications for each data field within a file.
Section C: Structuring an Electronic File
This section provides detailed instructions for structuring files.
One-Child Family
Family Data
Below is fictional information about a family with only one child receiving subsidized child care services through an agency’s contract with the EED.
- In August 2013, Agency X (vendor number/submission code “Z987000") provided subsidized child care services through a contract with the EED to the Alice A. Adams family. Alice is the parent/Head of Household (HoH).
- Agency X assigned the Family Identification/Case Number (FICN) "A9910" to Alice.
- Alice’s home zip code is 95814-1292; she lives in Sacramento County (Federal Information Processing Standards [FIPS] code "06067").
- Alice did not receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (No = "N"), and her income was not greater than 85 percent of the State Median Income (SMI) level (No = "N").
- Her reason for receiving child care was "Employment" ("D").
- Alice has one child, Ann B., who was born 04/06/2010.
- There is no active Individualized Education Program (IEP) in the family file for Ann.
- Ann's primary language is English.
- Ann is not an English Learner.
- Ann began receiving services on 08/14/2013.
- Ann is not of Hispanic or Latino Origin and Alice has indicated that Ann’s Race is American Indian or Alaskan Native.
- Ann is certified to receive 3.5 hours of subsidized child care services through the agency’s contract with the EED, three days a week. Because she is certified to receive less than four hours of care on a given day, Ann is reported as receiving part-time care.
- Ann is certified for one type of child care: "License center-based care" (type of child care code "04").
- Ann's care was provided by Kiddie Care Center in Sacramento County. The zip code of the licensed center at which she subsidized child care services through the agency’s contract with the EED is 95814-1234.
- Kiddie Care Center participates in the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) program.
- Kiddie Care Center is accredited through a state operated accreditation program.
- Kiddie Care Center's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) is 23-4567890.
- Ann's care was funded exclusively by the CSPP; even though there is only one program code (i.e., CSPP), the two remaining blank fields must be included in the row.
Family Record
The sample record below displays how the family, child, and provider information detailed above, must be structured.
Two symbols are used in the examples below to represent required formatting:
- “>” is the symbol used for the tab separation that must appear between each field
- “@” is the symbol for CR/ LF which indicates the end of each record
The example record below is broken into four distinct rows, which represent the following: 1) agency and report period; 2) family; 3) child; and 4) provider.
Note: An actual file to be uploaded to the CDMIS would have all four sections together on the same row.
08/2013>Z987000>
A9910>>Adams>Alice>A>958141292>N>N>3>1500>D>06067>08/14/2013>
Adams>Ann>B>N>Y>N>N>N>N>F>04/06/2010>00>N>08/14/2013>Y>
234567890>06067>958141234>1>2>04>CSPP>>>08/14/2013@
Multi-Child Family
Family Data
Below is fictional information about a family with three children receiving subsidized child care services through an agency’s contracts with the EED.
Suzie Smith has three children: Milly, Barry, and Donny. Agency Z987 began claiming the days of enrollment of Susie’s children for fiscal reimbursement purposes under their contract with the EED on September 14, 2012.
The current report month is July 2013. All three children receive subsidized child care services through the agency’s contract with the EED from the same provider. The provider participates in the local QRIS and received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Barry and Donny are twins and started receiving subsidized child care services on September 14, 2012, in CSPP.
Milly began receiving services on July 5, 2013, when she was about four months old.
Milly received full-time care in July 2013 and has an active IEP in the family file. The other two children, Barry and Donny, only received two to three hours of care each day during this report period.
All three children speak English as their primary language and are not English Learners.
Family Record
The sample records below display how the family, children, and provider information detailed above, must be structured.
Two symbols are used in the examples below to represent required formatting:
- “>” is the symbol used for the tab separation that must appear between each field
- “@” is the symbol for CR/LF which indicates the end of each record
The example records below are broken into four distinct rows, which represent the following: 1) agency and report period; 2) family; 3) child; and 4) provider. Three records are included to represent the services provided to each child within the family. Because all children are from the same family, the family’s information (fields 1–15) are exactly the same in all three rows.
Note: An actual file to be uploaded to the CDMIS would have all four sections together on the same row.
07/2013>Z987000>
SS1832>>Smith>Suzie>>958141234>Y>N>4>3000>D>06067>09/14/2012>
Smith>Milly>>N>Y>N>Y>N>N>F>03/10/2013>Y>00>N>07/05/2013>N>
987987987>06067>958284321>1>1>04>CCTR>>>07/05/2013@
07/2013>Z987000>
SS1832>>Smith>Suzie>>958141234>Y>N>4>3000>D>06067>09/14/2012>
Smith >Barry>>N>Y>N>Y>N>N>M>06/14/2009>N>00>N>09/14/2012>Y>
987987987>06067>958284321>1>1>04>CSPP>>>09/14/2012@
07/2013>Z987000>
SS1832>>Smith>Suzie>>958141234>Y>N>4>3000>D>06067>09/14/2012>
Smith >Donny>>N>Y>N>Y>N>N>M>06/14/2009>N>00>N>09/14/2012>Y>
987987987>06067>958284321>1>1>04>CSPP>>>09/14/2012@
Section D: Reading an Electronic File
This section provides detailed instructions for reading files.
Each row in a file contains three levels of information:
- Family information
- Child information
- Provider information
Rows must be grouped in a very specific way:
- All children in one family must be grouped together
- All providers/types of care for one child must be grouped together
Multiple rows must be submitted for a family when one or more of the following occur:
- A family has more than one child receiving subsidized child care services through an agency’s contract with the EED
- A child is certified to receive subsidized child care services through an agency’s contract with the EED from more than one provider
- A child is certified to receive subsidized child care services through an agency’s contract with the EED in more than one setting
If there are multiple rows for one family, all information for the family (fields 1–15) must be exactly the same in all those rows.
If there are multiple rows for one child (i.e., a child that had more than one provider during the report period), all information for the child (fields 16–31) must be exactly the same in all those rows.
If there is only one program code in the row, it must appear in field 38; fields 39 and 40 must be included, even if they are null or blank.
Examples
The below table details the number of rows a file should maintain in different hypothetical family situations. Explanations are provided for each situation.
| If a family has the following: | Then the file contains the following: | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
1 child who received 1 type of child care |
1 row |
This is the basic format for reporting a family with one child and one provider. |
3 children who each received child care from the same provider |
3 rows (one for each child) |
All children are from the same family, so the family information is exactly the same in all three rows. All children received subsidized child care services from the same provider, so the provider information is exactly the same in all three rows. |
1 child who received 2 types of child care from different providers |
2 rows (one for each provider) |
Only one child received subsidized child care services, so the family and child information are exactly the same in both rows. |
1 child who received child care from 2 providers and 1 child who received child care from 1 provider |
3 rows (two rows for the first child, 1 row for the second child) |
For the first child, the family and child information is exactly the same in both rows. |
1 child who received 2 types of child care from 1 provider (for example, "License-exempt in child's home by a relative" and "License-exempt outside child's home by a relative") |
2 rows (one row for each type of child care) |
Only one child received subsidized child care services, so the family and child information is exactly the same in both rows. The provider FEIN/SSN is the same in both rows. Even though the child received subsidized child care services from the same provider, the type of child care (setting) is different. An example is when the child's grandmother provides the child care in both the child's home on some days and in her own home on some days. |
1 child who received child care from the same provider, in the same type of child care, but under 2 contract codes |
1 row |
The row has three fields for contract codes. In this example, the first two fields would contain the contract codes and the third field would be blank. |
Example Text File
- Example Text File: CDD-801A Report Text File Template (TXT)
Example CDD-801A tab-delimited text file with fictional agency, family, child, and provider data.
Section E: Creating an Electronic File
Data properly formatted in tab-delimited text files can be uploaded to the CDMIS via the CDD-801A Electronic File Transfer function to meet CDD-801A reporting requirements. This section provides an overview of the different methods that can be used to create these files.
- Creating Electronic Files: Creating Electronic Files
Detailed information of the different methods for creating electronic files.
Return to CDMIS User Manual: Chapter 3