Digital Policies

Current as of:

Accessibility

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to providing access to our digital content for individuals with disabilities. To meet this commitment, this site is built to comply with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act . Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from us, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us. Section 508 also requires us to ensure that federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us.

If you use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, a screen reader, TTY, etc.) and the format of any material on our websites interferes with your ability to access the information, please contact the Section 508 Coordinator.   Please indicate web address of the requested material, the nature of your accessibility problem, and the preferred format in which to receive the information.

Comment Policy

We encourage you to share thoughts as they relate to the topic being discussed on any of our social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

The views expressed in visitor comments reflect those of the comment’s author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Administration for Children and Families or the federal government.

We reserve the discretion to delete or not allow comments that contain:

  • Vulgar or abusive language;
  • Personal or obscene attacks of any kind;
  • Offensive terms targeting individuals or groups;
  • Threats or defamatory statements;
  • Links to any site;
  • Suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity;
  • Multiple successive off-topic posts by a single user or repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users, or spam;
  • Unsolicited proposals or other business ideas or inquiries; or
  • Promotion or endorsement of commercial services, products, or entities. (Note that non-commercial links that are relevant to the topic or another comment are acceptable.)

To protect your privacy, please do not include information that identifies you (an email address or phone number) in the text of your comment.

We recognize that the web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources (i.e. - your tax dollars), moderating and posting comments should only be expected to occur during regular business hours.

Reporters are asked to send questions to the ACF media office through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted nor answered.

This comment policy is valid for all discussions on any ACF managed platform. Thank you for taking the time to review our comment policy. We encourage your participation and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.

Copyright, Restrictions and Permissions Notice

Public Domain

Materials created by the federal government are generally part of the public domain and may be used, reproduced and distributed without permission. Therefore, content on this website which is in the public domain may be used without the prior permission of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). However, such materials may not be used in a manner that implies any affiliation or endorsement by the ACF of your company, website or publication. You may properly credit public domain materials obtained from an ACF website to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)  and/or www.acf.hhs.gov. 

Copyright and Permissions

WARNING: Not all materials on this website were created by the federal government. Some content - including both images and text - may be the copyrighted property of others and used by ACF under a license. Such content generally is accompanied by a copyright notice. It is your responsibility to obtain any necessary permission from the owner/s of such material prior to making use of it. You may contact ACF for details on specific content, but we cannot guarantee the copyright status of such items. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use as defined in the copyright laws requires the written permission of copyright owners. Please consult the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress - https://www.copyright.gov  - to search for copyrighted materials.

Images, videos, and other graphics on our website which are in the public domain may be used without permission. If you use images from our website, we ask that you credit "Administration for Children and Families" as the source. Please note that some images on our site may have been sourced from other organizations. Permission to use these images should be obtained directly from those organizations.

ACF websites have links to many other websites. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the copyright and licensing restrictions of that site.

Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement

This material may include useful hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and persons. We provide these links and pointers solely for our users' information and convenience. These links are indicated by our standard exit icon (site exit disclaimer). These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of ACF, the United States Government, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying ACF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

  • When you select a link to an outside website, you are leaving the ACF domain and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of that website.
  • ACF does not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on an externally linked website.
  • ACF does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
  • ACF cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request authorization from the sponsor of the linked website. Those who provide comments are responsible for the copyright of the text they provide.
  • ACF is not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
  • ACF does not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

For more information on ACF disclaimers, visit the ACF website disclaimers page.

Privacy

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) collects no personally identifiable information (PII) about you unless you choose to provide that information to us. Non-PII information related to your visit to our websites may be automatically collected and temporarily stored to help us make our sites more useful to visitors. ACF does not share information you provide.

To learn more about ACF privacy practices, please visit our Privacy Policy.

Third-Party Websites

ACF also uses third-party websites to share information and encourage collaboration with the public. Third-party websites are not government owned or operated. They are controlled and operated by a third-party not affiliated with ACF. The ACF Privacy Policy does not apply to the third-party.

Any information, which may include personally identifiable information, you make available to ACF, including via a third-party website, is voluntary. When you make information available to ACF you may also be making this information available to a third-party not affiliated with ACF. We encourage you to contribute to discussions and provide your opinions to ACF via a third-party website. When you do this you need to take steps to protect your privacy. Do not disclose any private information about yourself or others (e.g., Social Security Number or health information) on a third-party website. Visit acf.hhs.gov for information on how to send official correspondence to ACF.

ACF uses information you make available on a third-party website to improve our programs and serve the public, such as improving our education and outreach materials and activities. ACF does not share information you provide and does not collect your personally identifiable information from a third-party website.