PURPOSE OF DOCUMENT

The Intergovernmental Referral Guide (IRG) is a centralized, automated repository of information that is provided by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) on its website to support interstate child support enforcement efforts by State, Tribes and Federal agencies. It contains State and Tribal Profiles, which provide information on each State and Tribe's laws, procedures, and processes affecting numerous facets of child support. Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agencies have long used a unique combination of State and county identifiers, Federal Interstate Processing Standards (FIPS) Codes, to meet a variety of business needs, e.g., document routing, office identification and reporting.With the expansion of the child support program to include Tribal IV-D cases and international IV-D cases, it was determined that these cases also need to be identified for reporting and case management purposes. The data standards endorsed by the Data Standards Oversight Board on October 20, 2006, recommend the following:

• Continue to use the current 5-digit FIPS code for States.
• Use a 5-character identifier for Tribal and international cases.
• Uniquely identify Tribal cases with "9" in the first position, "0" (zero) in the second position and follow with a 3-character Tribal code defined by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
• Uniquely identify international cases with "8" in the first position, "0" (zero) in the second position and follow with 3-character country code defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

The IRG Public User Guide provides the public with step-by-step guidance in the use of the IRG System and is organized as follows:

Part 1: "Introduction to the IRG", provides background and a brief description of the two components that comprise the IRG: the Profiles and Addresses and Location Codes.

Part 2: "State Profiles", describes how to view State CSE profile information.

Part 3: "Tribal Profiles", describes how to view Tribal CSE profile information.

Part 4: "Addresses and Location Codes", describes how to view location codes and contact information for State, county, Tribal, and international CSE agencies, as well as for central and regional OCSE offices.

Appendix A: "Acronyms List", contains frequently used acronyms and their definitions;

Appendix B: "Location Codes - States, Territories, Tribes, and Countries", contains a listing of official abbreviations and location codes for States, Territories, Tribes and those countries with reciprocal agreements with the U.S. to exchange child support information.