TFACTS Overview
The genesis of focused Federal support for statewide automated child welfare information systems (SACWIS) sprang from Title XIII, Section 13713., ENHANCED MATCH FOR AUTOMATED DATA SYSTEMS, of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993 (Public Law 103-66), enacted on August 19, 1993. That legislation provided states with the opportunity to obtain 75 percent enhanced funding through the Title IV-E program of the Social Security Act to plan, design, develop, and implement a SACWIS. This legislation made the enhanced funding available for Federal fiscal years 1993-1996. Title V, Section 502 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA - Public Law 104-193), enacted on August 22, 1996 of 1996, extended the SACWIS enhanced funding through Federal fiscal year 1997. Additionally, the legislation provided an enhanced SACWIS cost allocation to states so that Title IV-E would absorb all SACWIS costs for foster and adopted children, without regard to their Title IV-E eligibility.
Subsequent to the passage of OBRA 1993, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) promulgated the Departmental regulations at 45 CFR 1355.50 - 1355.57, issued on December 22. 1993. These regulations implemented sections 474(a)(3)(C) and (D) of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act which were added as a result of P.L. 103-66.
A SACWIS is expected to be a comprehensive automated case management tool that supports social workers' foster care and adoptions assistance case management practice. Additionally, states were encouraged to add complementary functionality to their SACWIS, such as functionality that supports child protective and family preservation services, thereby providing a unified automated tool to support most, if not all, of child welfare services. In addition, states have the option of incorporating other programs into a SACWIS, such as TANF emergency assistance, juvenile justice and child care. By law, a SACWIS is required to support the reporting of data to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). Furthermore, SACWIS are expected to have bi-directional interfaces with a State's Title IV-A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and Title IV-D (Child Support) systems.
Tennessee's SACWIS, or TFACTS, will replace the following legacy applications currently being used by DCS:
- TNKIDS (Tennessee Kids Information Delivery System)
- TNKIDS Financials
- Contracts System
- Medical Claims
- Student Accounting System
- ChipFins (Children's Plan Financial System)
- Serious Incident Reporting
- Critical Incident Reporting
- Random Moment Sample
- Putative Father Registry
- Relative Caregiver System
- CANS (Child & Adolescent Needs & Strengths)
TFACTS will interface with:
- TCSES - Tennessee Child Support Enforcement System (Title IV-D)
- TennCare (Title XIX)
- Social Security Administration
- State Accounting and Reporting System (Edison)
- DCS Central Intake I-3 Phone System
- AdoptUsKids
- TN's GIS (Geographic Information System)
TFACTS will continue to support Tennessee's compliance with the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reporting.
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