Data Reporting -- Frequently Asked Questions

• The most common cause is that too many people are trying to connect to the same website at the same time. Try accessing the site at other times during the day, preferably early in the morning or late at night, to see if this makes a difference.
• Your browser may not be compatible with the California Department of Education (CDE) web page you are trying to view. Visit the CDE Minimum Web Browser Requirement web page and make sure your browser meets the minimum requirements.
• You may be having problems with your own dial-up connection. Try other websites to confirm the quality of your dial-up link.
• Your phone carrier may be causing the slow connection, since phone lines also effects dial-up connection.

• The server to which you are trying to link to is experiencing network problems.
• The server to which you are trying to link to does not exist. You may have misspelled or mistyped the server name.

• Most likely, nothing is wrong. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP)'s use what is called an "idle time out." That means that if you are idle or are not doing anything while you are online, then after 15 minutes, you will be automatically disconnected. As long as you are sending data back and forth through your modem, the idle time out is not in effect.
• Remember too, that if you go to a website, and click on several pages, they are cached (stored locally) on your hard drive. If you start to go back through them, no data is being exchanged and the idle time out will begin the counter again. Being online does not qualify as sending actual data through the modem. Writing an email also does not send data through the modem. You must click the "Save" button to send or receive (error messages) the data. Each time you send the data through the modem, the time is reset to zero minutes.

• A host error indicates that the website exists, but when your browser tried to contact the site, it could not be reached. When you see the host error, any of the following could be true:
  • The website is down or having trouble.
  • The website is too busy to accept any more connections.
  • The website is unreachable due to network problems between you and the website.
• If you can connect to websites other than the data collection website, the best advice is to try the data collection website later.

• Definitions and descriptions of each individual field in the CDD-801A and the CDD-801B reports are available on the CDE Child Care Report Data Definitions web page.
• A compiled list is also available in the Data Definitions (DOCX; Revised 02-Oct-2018) document.

The CDD-801A report is due on the 20^th of the report month following the month in which services are provided. On the 21^st of the month, the CDMIS Office sends late notices to all agencies who have not reported children or designated a "No Services" period. If there is no CDD-801A submission by the 1^st day of the following month, agencies will be placed on an apportionment withhold list until data is submitted.

The CDMIS was not impacted by these revisions. Please contact your Child Development Nutrition Fiscal Services (CDNFS) Apportionment analyst for information about revisions to fiscal reports.

Not necessarily. If all of the services data for your agency is included in the file upload, there is no need to continue copying data forward. Simply upload the file with your services data each month to fulfill your reporting requirements.

If you would like to add children from previous report months who are not included in your file upload, you may copy them forward to add them to your CDD-801A report for a given report period.

No. Social Security Numbers will be restricted from entry beginning the October 2018 report month.

Yes. The provider FEIN is a required field on the CDD-801A report.

If you have access to the agency's original family start date, you may enter it into the CDD-801A report. However, if a family has a lapse in service for more than 90 days and your agency does not have access to the original start date, you may update the family start date.

If a family is incorrectly reported in a given report month, you may select the checkbox near the family name on the CDD-801A Input/Edit screen. Select the button "Delete Checked Families" to remove them from the report month.

The reason code and family income reported should mirror those used for certification purposes on the ELCD-9600 form.

Agencies who are approved to participate in the pilot program should be able to report children who turn three years of age on or before December 2 of the fiscal year of service into a CSPP in the CDMIS.

If a family has a lapse in service of more than 90 days and your agency does not have access to their previous FICN, you may re-assign the FICN.

The family start date is the first date any child in the family began receiving services.

The child start date is the first date the child began receiving services by your agency.

The services date is the first date the child began receiving services in a particular program.

Example A: If a child began receiving services in a CSPP on 8/1/2017, and returned to the CSPP for a second school year beginning 8/1/2018, their services date would remain 8/1/2017 because they are still in the same CSPP.

Example B: If a child began receiving services in a CSPP on 8/1/2017 and was moved to a school-age General Child Care and Development (CCTR) program the next school year beginning 8/1/2018, their services date would change to 8/1/2018 because it is the child's first day in the new CCTR program.

Example C: If a child began receiving services in a CalWORKs Stage 2 (C2AP) on 8/1/2017 and was moved to CalWORKs Stage 3 (C3AP) the next school year beginning 8/1/2018, their services date would change to 8/1/2018 because it is the child's first date in the new C3AP program.

The CDD-801A and CDD-801B Management Reports are summary reports containing information regarding how many children have been reported for a given report month.

To determine if children have been reported in the CDD-801A report for a given month, agencies should select the function "CDD-801A Management Reports" and select the CDD-801A Program Code Report. Once the report month and year and sub-agency (if applicable) is selected, a table displays with the total number of children and families reported.

To determine if a CDD-801B report is outstanding, agencies should select the function "CDD-801B Management Reports" and select the CDD-801B Family Submission Summary Report by Agency. Once the time period is indicated, a table displays the total number of families sampled and the total number of families not completed.

When the CDD-801B sample is generated, an email is sent to the executive director and program director on file that contains sample information.

If you are not one of the individuals designated to receive CDD-801B report notifications, you may log into the CDMIS on the 10^th day of the month to check the status of a sample. To determine if a CDD-801B report is outstanding, agencies should select the function "CDD-801B Management Reports" and select the CDD-801B Family Submission Summary Report by Agency. Once the time period is indicated, a table displays the total number of families sampled and the total number of families not completed.

Yes. Failure to submit a required CDD-801B report by the final report deadline indicated in the sample report email will result in apportionment withholding until the data is received by the ELCD.

No. The CDD-801A report is reserved for attendance reporting only. If a family was enrolled but did not attend in a given report month, they should not be included on the CDD-801A report.

Yes. If you have access to the FICN for the family you may retain the FICN. However, if a family returns after a break in services of more than 90 days and you do not have access to their original FICN, you may assign a new one.

The provider zip code should indicate the zip code in which the child received services.

If a child has a break in services is for less than 90 days and the child returns to the same program, the services date should remain the same. If the child changes programs, the date should be updated to reflect the start date in the new program.

If a child has a break in services for more than 90 days and the original services date is unavailable, you may assign a new services date.

The provider zip code should indicate the location where the child received services.

• Encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called a cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a "key." Encryption prevents eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery.
• Data encryption "scrambles" the information sent over the Internet so that only the computer it is intended for can read it. The hacker can still intercept your data file, but, because of the encryption, the information it contains cannot be read or used by him/her.
• 128-bit encryption provides a significantly greater amount of cryptographic protection than 40-bit encryption. Roughly speaking, 128-bit encryption is 309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 times stronger than 40-bit encryption. 40-bit encryption is not considered "strong" security in the cryptographic community.
• Accordingly, 128-bit data encryption has become the standard for securing sensitive information on the Internet.
• Online banking and many other forms of Internet traffic rely upon secure communications. Since the Internet is a public network, sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and banking information, must be protected from prying eyes. One way to protect data is to encrypt it.
• Without data encryption, secure communication over the Internet is impossible. When information is sent over the Internet, it travels on public lines, which are potentially accessible to anyone. This means that private and sensitive information can be intercepted and used by any hacker who knows how to do so.

• For security purposes, the CDE requires that users have one of the highest levels of browser encryption currently available when accessing or sending sensitive information.
• This strong encryption enables you to make secure transactions.
• If the browser supports the higher the level of encryption, it is more difficult for an outside party to break the communication code.

• Do protect your user name and password. It is your access key to your Internet account.
• Do clear the cache of your browser after visiting secure sites. Browsers generally cache, or locally store, images of pages you have downloaded to enhance performance. By clearing your cache after visiting secure sites, you ensure no one else can view any confidential information you may have transmitted.
• Do use quality anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and update them regularly.

• Do not reveal your user name and password to anyone.
• Do not use passwords that incorporate your name, telephone number, address, or birthday, or those of any close friend or relative.
• Do not leave your computer unattended while logged on to the data collection website (if you do, your session will time out after 30 minutes).
• Do not send privileged information via email (e.g., Social Security Numbers, user names, passwords, etc.).

• The CDE uses the most recent security technology to give you the highest level of data protection available. Our security encryption "scrambles" the information that you type so that it can only be read and used by you and the CDE, and not any unauthorized eyes while in transit on the Internet. To take full advantage of this security you need a browser capable of 128-bit encryption. Before you can access and use the data collection website, you must upgrade your browser.

• The CDE will automatically lock you out of the data collection website if there has not been any activity for 30 minutes.
• The CDE has implemented firewalls. Firewalls are "electronic boundaries" that prevent unauthorized users from accessing certain files.
• The CDE regularly monitors our internal systems. We keep up-to-date with current security and encryption technology as it becomes available.

• Your user name will be stored as a session variable on your computer when you first enter your user name, and it will remain there while you are browsing through the Internet.
• If you close the instance of your browser or if you do not use the browser for more than one hour, your user name will be erased from the memory.

• A secure web page has the "https" prefix to identify it as a secure web address; many people are aware that the “s” has a special meaning when it comes to security. The "s" means that when accessing that particular website, all web traffic between your web browser and the website uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a special protocol. If anyone manages to intercept the message, all they will see is gibberish.
• In addition, a lock icon will be displayed in the bottom status bar of your browser. This indicates that the data being transferred between your computer and the website is encrypted.

• A firewall protects one or more computers with Internet connections from access by external computers connected to the Internet. In other words, it controls access between the CDE's computers and outside Internet users.
• A firewall is a network configuration, usually created by hardware and software that forms a boundary between networked computers within the firewall from those outside the firewall. The computers within the firewall are a secure subnet with internal access capabilities and shared resources not available to the computers on the outside. Often, a single machine atop the firewall is allowed access to both internal and external computers. Since the computer atop the firewall is directly interacting with the Internet, strict security measures against unwanted access from external computers are required.
• A firewall is commonly used to protect information such as a network's email and data files within a physical building or organization site.
• A firewall reduces the risk of intrusion by unauthorized people from the Internet, however, the same security measures may limit or require special software for those inside the firewall who wish to access information on the outside.

• Yes, but more than one user will not be able to add/edit information for the same family at the same time.
• Users must use their own user name and password to access the system.
• If additional staff need access to the system, the Super User should request additional user names and passwords for those staff by using the "Add/Edit Users" function available on the CDMIS Main Menu.

• A "Super User" is generally the agency's program director.
  • Each agency should always have at least one active Super User.
  • The Super User is responsible for ensuring the CDD-801A and CDD-801B reports are completed for their agency.
  • The Super User is responsible for other agency staff who have access to the data collection website, and can request additional Users or Super Users by using the "Add/Edit Users" function available on the CDMIS Main Menu.
  • The Super User can see all User and Super User names and passwords for their agency.
• The "User" is the person designated to enter the data by the "Super User".
  • A User can only see their own user name and password and cannot request additional users.

• You cannot bypass this screen. For security reasons, this is required before entering the system and viewing your families.
• When you first log into the system, you will be immediately prompted to change your password.
• Every 90 days you will be prompted to change your password.
• It is important that you remember your new password.