11.5.1  Incarceration

11.5.1.1  Prisoner Match Data Exchange

W-2Wisconsin Works participants whose incarceration renders them temporarily unable to participate in work activities or retain care and control of their children will remain eligible for W-2 payments for up to 30 days, provided they remain otherwise financially and nonfinancially eligible. Incarcerated W-2 participants who are unable to participate in work activities or retain care and control of their child(ren) for more than 30 consecutive calendar days are not eligible for W-2 payments. The 30-day timeframe allows for short-term incarceration without having to disenroll and then re-enroll the participant that would disrupt the activities, payments and child care.

For more information on Incarceration and Huber Program Participation, see Process Help 3 Ongoing Case Maintenance.

For more information on Department of Corrections Record Query, see Process Help 44 Data Exchange.

For more information on collecting absent parent information, see Process Help 65 Absent Parent.

11.5.1.1 Prisoner Match Data Exchange

The daily Prisoner Match Data DXData Exchange provides information from SSASocial Security Administration for all individuals included in the W-2 Group An adult custodial parent, all dependent children with respect to whom the individual is a legal custodial parent and all minor children with respect to whom the adult individual’s dependent child is a custodial parent. W-2 Group includes any non-marital co-parent or any spouse of the individual who resides in the same household as the individual and any minor children with respect to whom the spouse or non-marital co-parent is a custodial parent. W-2 Group does not include any person who is receiving cash benefits under a county relief block grant program. This is also referred to as the W-2 Assistance Group (W-2 AG) who are between 18 and 65 years old, as long as there is a valid SSN (Verification code V, C or W) on the CWWCARES Worker Web Household Members page during intake, review, person adds, and program adds. CWW sends the request for prisoner match data via the SOLQ-IState Online Query Internet Process DX from the CWW General Case Information page. (See 4.1.5.3)

Three days after CWW runs the data exchange, CWW will set discrepancies and alerts for individuals who have been incarcerated for more than 30 days, and have no release date. The results of the data exchange match information appear on CWW Prisoner Response Details page.

When a discrepancy is set, the FEPFinancial and Employment Planner must verify match results through a secondary source and update the case, if necessary.

This secondary verification can be through online resources, phone calls or faxes to the facility or by contacting the individual.

Online Verification Resources

VINELink
For data exchange results inside or outside the State of Wisconsin, agencies can verify incarceration matches through VINELink, the online version of VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), located at: www.vinelink.com/vinelink. VINELink’s home page has information on how to use the query.

FEPs may have to do more than one query if the first online check does not return results. If VINELink does not verify incarceration information, FEPs should access other resources such as direct contact with the facility or contact with the individual.

State Of Wisconsin Offender Locator
For matches within the State of Wisconsin, FEPs can verify the information through the Offender Locator website at: http://offender.doc.state.wi.us/lop/home.do. This website provides records of incarcerated offenders through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC).

FEPs can also access this site through VINELink. The database only includes adults who are incarcerated in the Wisconsin prison system. It is a good practice to include aliases in your search.

Federal Prisoner Information
For federal prisoner matches, FEPs can verify the accuracy at: https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.

If the online queries do not result in verification of incarceration information for individuals in county jails, workers should continue to use resources at the local agency level such as faxes, phone calls and contact with the individual to verify the incarceration information.

History: Release 20-06; Release 20-01; Release 13-03.