Child Welfare: HHS Begins to Assume Leadership to Implement National and
State Systems (Chapter Report, 06/08/94, GAO/AIMD-94-37).

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took more than 7
years--5 years past the legislative deadline--to issue final regulations
for the nationwide adoption and foster care data collection system, and
states will not be required to begin sending data for the system until
mid-1995. Without a nationwide system, federal and state policymakers
have not had the demographic and other information they need to
establish adoption and foster care policies. States developing child
welfare information systems have also not known what data they should
design their system to collect to meet reporting requirements for the
nationwide system. In addition, although states have been receiving
federal financial assistance to develop automated child welfare
information systems, they have not, until recently, received adequate
guidance from HHS on the capabilities the systems should have. HHS has
started to address many of these issues. It has issued final regulations
for the nationwide system, issued functional requirements for states'
child welfare information, worked with states to develop a draft system
model for other states to follow when developing their systems, and
hired a contractor to help states develop their systems.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-94-37
     TITLE:  Child Welfare: HHS Begins to Assume Leadership to Implement 
             National and State Systems
      DATE:  06/08/94
   SUBJECT:  Management information systems
             Requirements definition
             Systems architecture
             Data collection operations
             Federal/state relations
             Computerized information systems
             Reporting requirements
             Foster children
             Child adoption
             Welfare services
IDENTIFIER:  Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program
             AFDC
             HHS Child Support Enforcement Program
             APWA Voluntary Cooperative Information System
             HHS Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System
             Title IV-E Foster Care Program
             NCCAN National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
             California
             Connecticut
             Kentucky
             Texas
             Washington
             Anne Arundel County (MD)
             Lapeer County (MI)
             Montgomery County (MD)
             
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