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Technical Bulletin #12AFCARS State Frequency Report Utility This technical bulletin provides guidance for installing and executing the AFCARS Frequency Report Utility, Version 1.0. It also provides information on how to properly use the utility and interpret the data reports generated by the utility. This document is organized into the following sections: 1. Introduction 1.1 Overview 2. Using the Frequency Reports 2.1 General Considerations 3. Installing the Frequency Utility 3.1 The AFCARS Frequency Utility Files Appendix A Foster Care Frequency Report 1. Introduction1.1 Overview of the Technical Bulletin This technical bulletin describes the State Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Frequency Report Utility provided by the Children's Bureau. It provides examples of how to read the frequency report and how to use it to monitor the accuracy of the State's data. Additionally, instructions are provided on how to install and execute the utility. The Frequency Report Utility was created as part of the ongoing technical assistance provided to States by the Children's Bureau for AFCARS. The Frequency Report Utility produces reports for both the AFCARS adoption and foster care data. The report will be most useful to child welfare program staff to assess the overall view of the data collected on children in foster care and those who were adopted. This utility will yield the most information when run on a "raw" AFCARS data file that has not yet undergone data quality control checks. From the "raw" AFCARS data file, the Frequency Report Utility produces a report which lists the "frequency" or number of children's records for each type of response reported for each AFCARS element. The Frequency Report Utility reports all of the actual responses, whether or not these responses are "valid" AFCARS values. The report also includes what percentage each frequency is of all the actual responses, including the invalid or missing responses. Finally, this utility reports the "mean" and the "median" for some data elements. The appendices include examples of an adoption and a foster care frequency report. The Children's Bureau has also made available to States the Data Compliance Utility (DCU) and the Data Quality Utility (DQU)). We recommend that States use these utilities to review the AFCARS data on an ongoing basis and prior to submitting the data file to the Federal AFCAR system. When a State uses all three utilities to analyze and correct any problems in the AFCARS data, the State may have more confidence that the AFCARS data accurately reflect the child welfare program operations in that State and meets the AFCARS data standards. If there are questions on how to execute this program, contact the Office of Information Services at (202) 401-1462. If there are questions on how to interpret the report, contact the Children's Bureau at (202) 205-7240. 1.2. AFCARS Background AFCARS is designed to collect uniform, reliable information on children who are under the responsibility of the State title IV-B/IV-E agency for placement, care or supervision. The collection of adoption and foster care data is mandated by section 479 of the Social Security Act. The requirements for AFCARS are codified in Federal regulation at 45 CFR 1355.40. As of October 1, 1994, States are required to collect and submit the AFCARS data semi-annually, in May and November.1 AFCARS was established to provide data that would assist in policy development and program management at both the State and Federal levels. The data can assist policymakers in assessing the reasons why children are in foster care and developing strategies to prevent their unnecessary placement into foster care. Specifically, the data include information about foster care placements, adoptive parents, and length of time in foster care, and make it possible to identify trends in particular geographic areas. Also, the data enable the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to administer the Federal title IV-E foster care and adoption assistance programs more effectively. ACF uses these data for a number of purposes, including:
Additionally, the AFCARS data are used specifically in the:
2. Using the Frequency Reports2.1. General Considerations The frequency report is useful because it provides the person reviewing the AFCARS data with a quick overview of the number and type of responses being generated. By reviewing the "frequency" response to a particular data element, a person can assess whether the information is an under or over-reported count, if there are too many missing responses, or if there are problems with data entry. In order to investigate specific problems in the data, a more detailed report needs to be generated, such as the detailed report of the DQU. Exhibit 1 is an example of how the report is structured. Each report contains a heading identifying it as either a foster care or adoption file and the appropriate AFCARS report period. The element number and name are listed above four columns of information. The first column identifies the AFCARS value, the second column lists the number of records or "frequency" for that value, the third column lists the percentage, and the fourth indicates the cumulative percentage. Each row consists of the appropriate AFCARS value, or dates. After the AFCARS values are the totals for not reported (missing data), records that have data reported, the total number of records submitted, invalid data (if applicable), and the means and medians (not all elements have the means and median calculated). EXHIBIT 1 Foster Care Element #07: Child's Sex
The following should be considered when reviewing the frequency reports: The total number of records equals the number of children served during the report period. It is necessary to know the AFCARS requirements for each data element before reviewing the frequency reports. For instance, some elements will have valid "missing" data. This is because information on some elements is not required until after a specified time has passed, or is not required if the child was in care for 30 days or less. Exhibit 2 is an example of the way in which missing or "Not Reported" data can still be valid. In this case, the unreported data represent children who do not have a TPR date. EXHIBIT 2 Foster Care Element #47: Mother's Parental Rights Termination Date
EXHIBIT 3 Foster Care Element #66: Amount of Monthly Subsidy
EXHIBIT 4 Foster Care Element #55: Hispanic Origin (2nd Foster Caretaker)
2.2 Interpreting the Frequency Reports2.2.A General Analysis Review each individual data element to assess whether the number being reported for each value seems accurate and note the distribution of the responses. You should check for:
It is also useful to note whether there is a high frequency of responses for a certain value. For example, if there are several records with the response of "not yet determined" for case plan goal, it may indicate that caseworkers are not updating the information or that there is a problem in the State's programming logic. EXHIBIT 5 Foster Care Element #43: Most Recent Case Plan Goal
The Frequency Report can also be used to determine data entry or procedural errors. For example, a number of foster care records may indicate that the date of the latest periodic review is 1979, but after further investigation the reviews were found to be conducted in 1997. This may be a result of data entry errors when the numbers were transposed from "97" to "79". 2.2.B Questions to Consider Questions similar to those listed below can be used as an aid for assessing the accuracy of the Frequency Report data.
2.3. GroupingsAnother way of analyzing the information provided in the frequency report is to assess relationships between elements. Certain elements should have frequency responses that are similar. For instance:
Other examples of elements that should be compared for having similar responses are:
3. Installing the Frequency Utility3.1 The AFCARS Frequency Utility Files The frequency utility files may be downloaded from the Children's Bureau's web page at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#afcars. The files can be accessed through the "AFCARS Resources" page. The filenames are:
NOTE: The source code (in C+) is available upon request. 3.2 Installing the Software Copy the files "xfreq_n.exe," "county_names" and "elements_race" to a directory in a PC. The "county_names," "elements_race" and an AFCARS data file must be located in the same directory as the executable file, "xfreq_n.exe," in order for the frequency utility to work properly. The utility program may be executed by using one of the two methods described below: Windows Explorer
Windows Run Function
Once the executable file has been initiated, the program will request that the user enter three file names:
The name of the output frequency report files for foster care and adoption cannot exceed 20 characters. Spaces cannot be used in the file names of the input and output files. The executable file will read the input AFCARS data file and generate the Foster Care and Adoption frequency report file. It is important that the input AFCARS data file is created using the format as stated in AFCARS Technical Bulletin #2: File Format, revised March 2000. The frequency report file may be viewed using a text editor or a word processing tool, such as WordPerfect or Microsoft WORD. A non-scaleable font, Courier 12 CPI, is recommended to print the reports, so that the columns are correctly aligned, making it easier to read. 1 AFCARS report periods are based on the Federal fiscal year. Report periods are October 1 - March 31 (data are due by May 15) and April 1 - September 30 (data are due by November 14).back 2 You may check the "county_name" file to make sure it has the current FIPS county codes for your State.back
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