Chapter VII: AFCARS Improvement Phase Guide to an AFCARS Assessment Review

Chapter VII: AFCARS Improvement Phase

A. Introduction

If there are areas that must be corrected in order for the State to meet the requirements established in the AFCARS Federal regulation at 45 CFR 1355.40, the appendices to 45 CFR 1355, AFCARS policy, and Technical Bulletins, the State enters the AFCARS Improvement Phase. This phase begins once the State receives the final report and improvement plan and ends when the State has made all system changes and the quality of the data have improved and remain consistent. The elements/general requirements that receive a rating factor of "3" or lower make up the action items in the plan.

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B. AFCARS Improvement Plan (AIP)

As applicable, there is an improvement plan for the general requirements and for the data elements. Each requirement will be grouped by the rating factor it received.

The AIP included with the report does not include due dates. After the site visit the State should evaluate each item (general requirement and/or data element) that needs correcting and determine the length of time it will take to complete the item. Within 30 days of receipt of the final report, State staff must submit the AIP electronically to the ACF Regional Office with dates for completing each task. Upon receipt of the State's initial AFCARS Improvement Plan, the ACF Regional Office and the Children's Bureau will review the due dates to ensure the AIP is implemented in a timely manner. A factor to take into consideration when developing a schedule for completing the task items would be when the State is scheduled to have its CFSR. By making necessary corrections as soon as possible, the data used for the CFSR will be more accurate and better reflect the State's child welfare practice. An electronic copy of the final matrices, with agreed upon due dates, is e-mailed to the State by ACF.

Additionally, the State's plan for implementing the changes to the system and for caseworker training must be included in the State's title IV-B Annual Progress and Services Report as part of the information required in 45 CFR 1357.15(t) and 45 CFR 1357.16(a)(5) to be submitted by June 30th of each year. Changes being made to the system should also be included in the State's Advance Planning Document (APD) Update to the Children's Bureau Division of State Systems.

The State should make the changes necessary to meet the applicable requirements and standards in as timely a manner as possible. Inasmuch as the AFCARS data are used for several significant activities at the Federal and State level, the State's implementation of the task items will be a contributing factor to improving the quality of its data.

Procedure

At the end of the on-site review, the State drafts estimated due dates for each action item.
Upon receipt of the final report, request electronic copies of the AFCARS Improvement Matrices from the ACF Regional Office.
Within 30 days of receipt of the report, the State submits to ACF the State's due dates for each action item.
The first quarterly report is due three months after submitting the initial improvement plan.

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C. Progress Reports

The State must provide quarterly updates of its progress to the ACF Regional Office. The first quarterly submission is due three months after the State submits its initial improvement plan with the planned completion dates for each task item. Each subsequent progress report is due quarterly thereafter.

The quarterly submissions of the electronic AIP are used by the State and ACF for tracking changes, progress notes, and ACF approval of completed items. The State should e-mail the ACF Regional Office this document with completion dates and any notes on what the State has accomplished. As changes are made to either the program code or screens, documentation noting the updates (e.g., screen shots or revised program code) must be included with the electronic AIP.

In addition to analyzing the program code and the screen prints, ACF will periodically generate frequency reports on data files. This provides ACF with an additional tool to assess the quality of the State's AFCARS data.

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D. Close-Out Of AFCARS Improvement Plans

The AIP will be considered complete once all agreed upon tasks/revisions have been completed, and an analysis of the State's AFCARS reports demonstrate that the improvements result in complete and accurate data. Upon completion of the AIP, the State must submit the updated AIP to the ACF Regional Office. The ACF Regional Office will then provide the State with a set of test cases. These test cases are used to analyze whether all changes in the technical documentation are accurate.

ACF will also run a frequency report on the most recent data submitted by the State and assess it for improvement in the quality of the data. ACF may also utilize other means, such as reports generated by the Children's Bureau's Data Team to determine accuracy of the State's data.

Once ACF and the State are satisfied with the improvement in the quality and accuracy of the data, the Children's Bureau will send a close-out letter to the State. The letter will include a summary of the final findings and actions taken by the State, as well as the completed AIP.

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E. Technical Assistance

The ACF Regional Office will work with the States to identify technical assistance needed to implement the AIP. The State may also access technical assistance from the Children's Bureau's National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (NRC-CWDT). The Resource Center can be contacted at (877) 672-4829, or at its web page: http://www.nrccwdt.org. For on-site technical assistance from the NRC-CWDT, contact your ACF Regional Office.

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Attachments:

ACYF-CB-IM-02-05

State Guide to an AFCARS Assessment Review HTML or PDF(332 KB)