The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Public Law (Pub. L.) 110–351 (hereafter ‘‘Fostering Connections’’) was enacted on October 7, 2008. Prior to the law’s enactment, the title IV–E program provided States and territories (hereafter, ‘‘States’’) with Federal funds to support eligible children in foster care, eligible children with special needs in adoptions, and the administrative expenses of States to operate the title IV–E program. As amended, the law permits Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations or consortia (hereafter, ‘‘Indian Tribes’’) to apply to the Secretary of HHS to operate a title IV– E program beginning October 1, 2009. On January 6, 2012 Interim Final Rules (IFR) were published implementing changes to 45 CFR 1355 and 1356. Included in these changes was the regulation for AFCARS.
The changes to the Technical Bulletins reflect the changes made by the IFR. At the same time of making these changes, the Technical Bulletins were reviewed and updated by eliminating outdated material and incorporating current knowledge based on AFCARS Reviews, Technical Assistance, etc. In general, most of the content of the Technical Bulletins remains the same; however, you are encouraged to read through each TB for the most up-to-date guidance on these AFCARS topics.
All TBs were renumbered. Some were combined into one TB, and some were removed. The table below provides a cross-reference between the old and new TBs. All Technical Bulletins are available on the ACF website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/systems/afcars/techbulletin.
| Technical Bulletin Name |
Old # |
New # |
| Data Elements |
6&7 |
|
| Disability Information |
14 |
|
| Frequency Report Utility |
12 |
|
| Data Compliance |
8 |
|
| Data Quality |
9a |
|
| Data Quality Utility, Technical Documentation |
9b |
|
| Data Extraction |
13 |
|
| Encryption Guidelines & Algorithms |
4 |
|
| Encrypt/Decrypt Utility |
5 |
|
| File Format |
2 |
|
| Optional Explanatory Footnotes |
3 |
|
| Electronic Data Transfer and Report Receipt |
1&10 |
The old TB#11 on acceptance test guidance has been deleted. The NRC-CWDT is planning to produce technical assistance products to address this topic. In the meantime, please send questions to nrccwdt@cwla.org
