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Child Welfare/ Data Resources

Technical Bulletins

The technical bulletins (TBs) have been prepared and issued by the Children's Bureau to supplement the official guidance and assist States in developing, implementing and maintaining their AFCAR system. The TBs have been revised since first being issued. Previously, there were fourteen technical bulletins, which have now been consolidated and reduced to ten. The content of the technical bulletins remains the same, and technical bulletins that addressed the same subject were combined into one technical bulletin. The changes reflect technical corrections or modifications to make the information more clear. A new technical bulletin has been added that addresses the process for receiving the AFCARS reports from the Federal system. Each TB contains a footnote reflecting dates of previous issuance and number.

The TBs are available in HTML, Microsoft WORD, and Portable Document Format (PDF).

Some of these documents need to be viewed in Adobe's Acrobat Reader. Download Acrobat Reader here.

TB #1 - Electronic Data Transmission - This TB describes the characteristics of Electronic Data Transmission methods used by the Administration for Children and Families.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #2 - AFCARS Data File Format - This newly revised TB provides guidance on formatting files for ACF transmission and includes information on the change in State File Name.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #3 - Guidance on Footnotes - This TB provides guidance on how to format footnotes to AFCARS submission and the type of information to be footnoted.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #4 - Encryption Guidelines and Algorithms for State Use - This TB provides guidance on encrypting case file identifiers.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #5 - Record Identifier Encryption/Decryption Utility - This TB provides guidance on installing and executing the ACF AFCARS encryption/decryption utility.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #6 - AFCARS Foster Care Data Element Standards - This TB provides a table of the foster care elements and the compliance standard for each element.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #7 - AFCARS Adoption Data Element Standards - This TB provides a table of the adoption elements and the compliance standard for each element.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #8 - AFCARS State Data Compliance Utility, version 3.0 - This TB provides guidance for installing and executing the Data Compliance Utility and how to interpret the reports generated from the utility.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #9A - AFCARS State Data Quality Utility - This TB provides guidance for installing and executing the Data Quality Utility and how to interpret the reports generated from the utility.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #9B - Data Quality Technical Documentation - This TB provides additional documentation for the AFCARS Data Quality Utility and is a companion to AFCARS Technical Bulletin #9A. This documentation is intended to give a more technical description of how the Data Quality Utility works.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #10 - State Receipt of AFCARS Summary and Detail Adoption and Foster Care Report Files - This TB provides information on the report files transmitted to a State by the Federal AFCAR system.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

TB #11 - AFCARS Acceptance Test Guidance - This TB provides guidance to States developing a Statewide Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) to check for conformance to AFCARS.
Available in HTML, Word and PDF formats.

 

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Updated on January 17, 2003