[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

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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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