About AFCARS

AFCARS collects case level information on all children in foster care for whom State child welfare agencies have responsibility for placement, care or supervision and on children who are adopted under the auspices of the State's public child welfare agency. AFCARS also includes information on foster and adoptive parents.

ACF uses AFCARS data for a number of reasons, including:

• Adoption Incentives Program
• Child Welfare Outcomes Report
• Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR)
• Title IV-E Eligibility Reviews
• Allotment of funds in the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP)
• Trend analyses and short and long-term planning
• Targeting areas for greater or potential technical assistance efforts, for discretionary service grants, research and evaluation, and regulatory change
• Responding to request for data from Federal, State and private agencies

States are required to submit AFCARS data semi-annually to ACF. The AFCARS report periods are October 1 through March 31 and April 1 through September 30. Data for each report period are due no later then May 15 and November 14, respectively.

The difference between SACWIS and AFCARS:

The SACWIS functions as a "case management" system that serves as the electronic case file for children and families served by the States' child welfare programs. One of the reports that is produced from SACWIS is the AFCARS data sent to ACF. In order to qualify for SACWIS funding, States' systems must, among other things, meet the AFCARS requirements in 45 CFR 1355.40. States that develop a SACWIS with Federal funding must not collect the AFCARS data from a separate information system once the SACWIS is operational.