Resource Library

This technical bulletin provides title IV-E agencies with information on the standards an AFCARS data file must meet to comply with the provisions of the AFCARS regulations found at 45 CFR §1355.41— §1355.47. This technical bulletin was last revised on October 6, 2023. 

This technical bulletin addresses how to extract data for the Out-of-Home Care and Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Files defined in AFCARS Technical Bulletin #21. Additionally, this document includes guidance on extracting corrected files (previously referred to as subsequent files) after the required AFCARS reporting periods. This technical bulletin was last revised on October 2, 2023.

This technical bulletin provides agencies with information required to create the AFCARS data files.  It provides technical specifications on the structural layout of the XML data and shares the XML schema for the Out-of-Home Care File and the Adoption and Guardianship Assistance File.  It also covers information on encryption of the file records. This Technical Bulletin was last revised on October 10, 2023.

This webinar was the first session in the AFCARS Final Rule Training Series. This webinar provides an on the overview of Technical Bulletin 20, published October 29, 2020.  It includes a brief description and provides examples for the AFCARS 2020 out-of-home care and adoption and guardianship assistance data elements on the final rule.  It also provided guidance and direction to questions submitted on prior webinars.

This technical bulletin gives reporting instructions and provides examples for the AFCARS 2020 out-of-home care and adoption and guardianship assistance data elements. The regulation for each element is shown in a blue box. Following the regulation language, CB provides explanatory text, examples, differences between AFCARS 1993 and AFCARS 2020, and data reporting standards. This Technical Bulletin was last revised on January 14, 2022.

This webinar described the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) Technical Assistance Review Process. It began with an overview of the lessons learned from the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) review process. The presentation described the iterative review process and it explains the use of self-assessment tools. As of this presentation, some self-assessment tools were available for public comment and others were in development.

This webinar explained how states are using remote/distance training and learning for CCWIS rollout and implementation. This webinar session provided an overview of key strategies for effective and engaging distance learning models for training and onboarding of new staff. State panelists shared lessons learned with using virtual reality during the onboarding and training process as well as lessons learned from quickly pivoting from in-person training to virtual training due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This webinar, featuring Terry Watt (Director, Division of State Systems), Nicole Harter-Shafer (Federal Analyst, Division of State Systems), and Nick Gompper (contracted technology specialist), provided technical assistance about cloud service computing models.  The webinar distinguished between Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, Software-as-a-Service, and Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) solutions and the webinar included items to consider when evaluating solutions for a specific title IV-E agency need.  In addition, Terry Watt and Nicole Harter-Shafer provided technical assistance about selecting a solution, when to use a COTS waiver, and sole-source justification.  The webinar included several question and answer sessions throughout the presentation.

This webinar described Idaho's and Arizona's experiences implementing child welfare information systems using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) cloud computing. The state panelists shared their experiences and took questions from participants regarding their state solution architecture, cloud solution procurements, cloud vendor management, solution implementation, and user experience.

This state panel discussion, featuring Alabama, District of Columbia, and Wisconsin, discussed sharing child welfare and education data to improve practice and outcomes. Panelists shared the history of their exchanges along with future visions for their exchanges. In addition, panelists discussed the lessons learned from building relationships between child welfare agencies and education agencies and developing data exchanges between them. The panel included several question and answer sessions throughout the presentation.