[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 141 (Friday, July 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43188-43190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18038]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Request for Public Comment Concerning the Redesign of Statewide
Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) Requirements
AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for
Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families,
Children's Bureau.
ACTION: Request for Public Comment Concerning the Redesign of Statewide
[[Page 43189]]
Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) Requirements.
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SUMMARY: Sections 474(a)(3)(C) and (D) of the Social Security Act (the
Act) provide States with the opportunity to access additional funding
through title IV-E to plan, design, develop, implement, and operate a
Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS). The
regulations at 45 CFR 1355.50-1355.57 were established in response to
this legislation and were issued on December 22, 1993.
Several major legislative initiatives, including the Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub. L.
110-351), hereafter referred to as Fostering Connections, have been
enacted since SACWIS regulations were finalized, and have had a
significant impact on child welfare practice and the Information
Technology (IT) systems used to support these programs. Given the
breadth of these changes, we believe it is time to review and consider
whether we should amend the current regulations at 45 CFR 1355.50-
1355.57 to ensure that they comport with requirements in titles IV-B
and IV-E of the Act, support title IV-E agencies seeking to use new
technological tools to meet legislative requirements, and support
programmatic initiatives, while providing additional flexibility to
title IV-E agencies as permitted under law.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before October 21, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit written comments by any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]. Please include ``Comments
on SACWIS Federal Register Notice'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail or Courier Delivery: Terry Watt, Director, Division
of State Systems, Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth
and Families, Administration for Children and Families, 1250 Maryland
Avenue, SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20024.
Instructions: Please be aware that mail sent to us may take an
additional 3-4 days to process due to changes in mail handling
resulting from the anthrax crisis of October 2001. If you choose to use
an express, overnight, or other special delivery method, please ensure
first that they are able to deliver to the above address during the
normal workweek. We urge you to submit comments electronically to
ensure they are received in a timely manner. All comments received will
be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov including any
personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Watt, Director, Division of
State Systems, Children's Bureau, 1250 Maryland Ave, SW., 8th Floor,
Washington, DC 20024; (202) 690-8177.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SACWIS Background
Sections 474(a)(3)(C) and (D) of the Act provide Federal funding
for the planning, development and operation of a SACWIS. This funding
was prompted by a critical need to provide: (1) More efficient,
economical, and effective administration of the programs under titles
IV-B and IV-E; and (2) support for automated systems in a comprehensive
fashion to improve practices and ultimately result in better service
delivery to children and families served by title IV-E agencies.
Current SACWIS regulations mandate that:
Title IV-E agencies must build or have a comprehensive IT
case management system with centralized, uniform functionality in order
to qualify for a favorable cost allocation methodology and additional
Federal Financial Participation (FFP).
The system must collect and maintain the information
needed for the Adoption and Foster Care Annual Reporting System
(AFCARS) report.
To the extent practicable, the system must provide for an
interface with the title IV-E agency's child abuse and neglect data
system and the systems used to support the title IV-A, IV-D, and XIX
programs.
An Interim Final Rule concerning the requirements for States
seeking to pursue enhanced funding for the development and operation of
SACWIS systems was published in the Federal Register on December 22,
1993 (58 FR 67939). The Final Rule was published on May 19, 1995 and
codified in Federal regulations at 45 CFR 1355.50-1355.57.
Limitations of Current SACWIS Regulations
Federal child welfare laws have changed considerably since the
SACWIS regulations were issued fifteen years ago due to the enactment
of several major child welfare legislative initiatives. For example,
the Fostering Connections legislation made a number of changes to the
title IV-E program including an option for Tribes to directly operate
their own title IV-E programs. The resulting changes in statutes and
policy have significantly influenced child welfare practices and the
supporting automated systems. Title IV-E agency practice models have
also changed, with some agencies using a mix of public and private
agencies to provide services to children and families.
In addition to the legislative changes previously noted,
information technology (IT) has grown more flexible. IT strategies,
such as data standardization, Enterprise Architecture and Service
Oriented Architecture have the potential to help title IV-E agencies
integrate data and functions from disparate systems to meet program
goals. However, current SACWIS regulations, as written, may limit IT
options for meeting program needs of State and Tribal title IV-E
agencies.
Opportunity to Comment
The Children's Bureau is committed to providing title IV-E agencies
with additional flexibility to implement technological options they
need to build economical, efficient, and effective information systems
that support child welfare policy and practice. We are beginning the
process of reviewing SACWIS regulations to consider providing title IV-
E agencies with increased flexibility to design information systems to
support child welfare policy and practice. Therefore we are soliciting
comments from interested parties. Please comment on any aspects of
SACWIS that you wish. We are particularly interested in obtaining input
on:
1. What requirements in current SACWIS regulations inhibit or
support the development of efficient, effective, and economical case
management systems?
2. How can States and Tribes maintain the consistency of data that
is defined, collected, and maintained in multiple systems to ensure a
common understanding of the families' history and circumstances across
the different systems, including the system(s) used to submit Federal
reports?
3. What data do States and Tribes consider critical to their
business practice model? Are there data needs for managing the title
IV-E program that are not easily met by SACWIS systems and how are
those data needs currently being addressed?
4. How can the systems used by States or Tribes be designed to
support the seamless management of data across multiple systems over
time? (e.g., when systems are replaced; when provider contracts expire
or are terminated; or when families move from one provider to a
different provider using a different system.)
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5. How can the SACWIS regulations be modified to encourage
flexibility and support different practice models while ensuring
standardized data is available as needed?
ACF will consider the comments after the comment period closes to
further assess SACWIS regulations.
Dated: July 15, 2010.
Bryan Samuels,
Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
[FR Doc. 2010-18038 Filed 7-22-10; 8:45 am]
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