CWDS Glossary

A Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS; pronounced "see-whis") is a case management information system that states and tribes may develop to support their child welfare program needs. If a state or tribe elects to build a CCWIS compliant system, the federal government will provide additional funds to help pay for it as long as the system is designed to support social workers automation needs to organize and record quality case information about the children and families receiving child welfare services. The CCWIS regulation is effective August 1, 2016, and supersedes SACWIS requirements. It governs the way in which state and tribal title IV-E agencies will claim federal funding for child welfare information systems that support the administration of title IV-E and IV-B programs.

High-level conceptual models created as part of the initial requirements envisioning efforts and used to explore the high-level static business structures and concepts.

An innovative foster care case management approach that is employed by caseworkers and other child welfare staff members, where they pursue the primary goal of family reunification, while at the same time, developing an alternative permanency plan for the child. This alternate plan will often include adoption as the major alternative to family reunification. If the family reunification efforts fail, then the alternate plan will already be in place and well on its way to completion. Concurrent planning is intended to reduce the total period of time a child will remain in foster care before being permanently placed with a family (CDSS Manual of Policies and Procedures).

A means of setting up an application to serve a particular business need that does not require custom coding. Uses the platform’s inherent features.

Refers to any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service, and anything that needs to follow a formal change control process. Information about each Configuration Item is recorded in a configuration record within a configuration management system and is maintained throughout its lifecycle.

An ITIL term for a database used by an organization to store information about hardware and software assets

​In the context of project management, the detailed recording and updating of information that describes an enterprise's hardware and software. Such information typically includes the versions and updates that have been applied to installed software packages and the locations and network addresses of hardware devices.

In the context of software development using open source tools, a process of automating the replication of a server image from a script, using tools such as Chef, Puppet, Salt, or Ansible.

C-IV consists of 39 counties that represent over 27 percent of the State's* welfare caseload. C-IV is also the name of the system used by the C-IV consortium.

Documentation to memorialize service and communication with a client and anyone affiliated with a client. Contacts may include in-person, written, or telephone or electronic communications by a social worker or other persons authorized pursuant to regulations or designated to provide services to a child, youth, parent(s), guardian(s), out-of-home care providers or other persons involved in child welfare services.