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Executive Summary

From September 12 - 16, 2005, staff of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Region I, and the Office of Information Services (OIS) conducted an assessment review of Maine’s Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data collection in the Maine Automated Child Welfare Information System (MACWIS). The AFCARS data used for the review was from the report period October 1, 2004 - March 31, 2005 (2005A).

Two major areas are evaluated as part of an AFCARS assessment review ( AAR): the AFCARS general requirements and data elements. The general requirements include the population that is to be reported to AFCARS and the technical requirements for constructing a data file. The data elements are assessed on the basis of whether the State is meeting the AFCARS definitions for the information required, if the correct data are being entered and extracted, and the quality of the data submitted. Each of the 103 foster care and adoption data elements is rated on the basis of its compliance with the requirements in the AFCARS regulation, policy guidance, and technical bulletins. Information that is collected from each of the components of the review is combined to rate each data element. A scale of one (does not meet AFCARS standards) to four (fully meets AFCARS standards) is used to assign a factor to each element. The general information requirements are also assessed and rated separately using the same scale. A summary of the significant findings is included in the report, and detailed findings can be found in the “Detailed Findings” matrices for the foster care and adoption data elements, and the general requirements (Tab A). The minimum tasks that are required to correct the State’s reporting of the AFCARS data are included in the AFCARS Improvement Plan (Tab B). The rating factors received by the State are:

In regard to the general requirements, the State’s reporting of the adoption population is correct, but there were two errors in the foster care reporting population. One relates to children returned home while in the agency’s responsibility for care and placement. The State correctly includes these children in the AFCARS reporting population, but the system does not account for specified or non-specified periods of time. The State must modify the collection and reporting of this information to ensure that if the child is returned home for a specified period of time, regardless of the length of time, these children continue to be included in AFCARS for the entire specified period of time. If there is not a specified period of time noted, and if the child is still at home and the agency has care and placement responsibility after six months, the child is to be reported in AFCARS as “discharged.”

The second issue with the State’s foster care population relates to the reporting of youth who have reached the age of majority. The State provides services to youth through a voluntary arrangement after the age of 18, regardless of eligibility for title IV-E funds. For youth 18 or older that are not receiving title IV-E funds, the State must report these individuals as discharged. The reason for discharge would be “emancipation,” unless there is another appropriate outcome reason.

In regard to the technical standards, the most significant issue relates to the State’s ability to create a “subsequent” data file. The State staff noted that if they do a resubmission of a prior report period, some of the data may be “overwritten.” This means that instead of reporting data reflecting the case during the prior report period, only data from the present timeframe would be submitted. While this is primarily a database design issue, it results in incorrect data being reported for prior report periods. The State’s statewide automated child welfare information system (SACWIS) should be designed as the State’s electronic case file and, as such, contain the full history of events that occur for each involvement with the child welfare system.

In general, the two most significant areas requiring technical corrections are in the areas of case plan goal (foster care element #43) and placement information (foster care elements #23, #24, and #41). The State acknowledged issues with the case plan module of its information system and with issues related to practice. The staff indicated that as part of the Child and Family Services Program (CFSR) Improvement Plan they have been working on improving the definitions for case plan goals. The Federal team provided suggestions, in addition to the required changes needed, for improving the design of the screens collecting this information.

In regard to the placement information, the State identified an error in the way the program code handles the counting of placements. The program code was also including all services provided by a provider. There are also some placements that are incorrectly mapped to AFCARS values.

The State needs to address its collection and reporting of whether a child is diagnosed with a disability. According to the frequency report, 76% of the records reflect that the child has not been seen by a medical professional. This contradicts the findings in the State’s CFSR, in which the “physical health of the child” was rated a strength. It appears, based on the case file review, that the children are being seen by a medical professional, but the data are not being entered in the information system.

Many of the other technical corrections needed for the foster care elements relate to correcting the mapping of a State value to the correct AFCARS value. In other instances, the State is including values that are no longer used and should be removed from the program code and the screen selection list.

Changes made to the system with regard to data entry will inevitably result in improved data accuracy and quality. The State’s semi-annual data submission may, as a result, fail to meet the missing data standard. In order to ensure that the data are complete, the agency must require workers to enter the data and assess its validity prior to submitting it to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). To do so, the State may utilize the management reports created by the agency, as well as the Data Quality Utility and the Frequency Utility issued by ACF. It is important that the AFCARS data accurately reflect the circumstances of children in foster care and under the agency’s responsibility.

Tab B contains the AFCARS Improvement Plan (AIP). The AIP contains the AFCARS data elements that do not meet the requirements in the Federal regulations. Each matrix contains a column that identifies the task(s), the date the task is to be completed, and one for comments.

Within 30 calendar days after the receipt of this report and the attached AFCARS Improvement Plan, the State staff must submit the Improvement Plan electronically to the ACF Regional Office, OIS, and the Children’s Bureau with estimated dues dates for completing the tasks in the Improvement Plan.

The State should contact the ACF Regional Office once it has completed its AIP. The ACF Regional Office will then provide the State with a set of test case scenarios. These scenarios test the system by requiring the State to enter the information and extract the data, which is then compared to known answers for each scenario. Dates for the submission of the test data file will be arranged with the ACF Regional Office and the Office of Information Systems.

In order to assess the quality of the data, a frequency report will be generated on the data submitted after the system changes have been implemented. Once ACF and the State agree that the quality of the data is acceptable, and that all tasks and revisions based on the test cases have been completed, the State must submit the completed AIP to the ACF Regional Office. The State will receive a letter summarizing the final results of the review.

The ACF Regional Office will work with the State to determine if technical assistance is needed, and available, to implement the AFCARS Improvement Plan. The State may obtain technical assistance from the Children’s Bureau’s resource centers. To request technical assistance from the resource centers, contact your ACF Regional Office.

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