On Thursday, April 7, 2016, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published an add-on in proposed regulations to last year’s (February 9, 2015) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)

The original notice, and still under evaluation, are regulations that would modify the requirements for title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to ACF on children in out-of-home care and who were adopted or in a legal guardianship with a title IV-E subsidized adoption or guardianship agreement.

This supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM), the Administration proposes to require that state title IV-E agencies collect and report additional data elements related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) in the AFCARS. ACF will consider the public comments on this SNPRM as well as comments already received on the February 9, 2015 NPRM and issue one final AFCARS rule.

The deadline for these additional comments is May 9, 2016.