CWDS Glossary

Refers to both Tribal governmental agencies as well as various social service provider agencies working with Indians. Indian Tribes are quasi-sovereign nations operating a broad spectrum of governmental programs, with tribal operations often organized into programmatic areas designated as agencies, similar to state governments. Tribal Agencies for IV-E purposes are agencies operated by a federally recognized tribe or consortiums of federally recognized tribes. Tribes in California enjoy an opportunity to pursue a direct federal allocation or to contract with the state to operate tribal IV-E agencies to fund tribal court placements. Two such agreements are in place and others are in negotiations. In the social service context, Tribal Agencies include programs operated by a federally recognized tribe, a consortium (group) of recognized tribes, or other provider organizations providing social services to American Indian/Alaska Native communities.

A permanency option for Indian children who are dependents of the California State Court. As described in Welfare and Institutions Code 366.24, Tribal Customary Adoption allows an Indian child who is a dependent of the California State Court to be adopted through the customs, laws and traditions of the child’s tribe without the termination of the parental rights of the child’s parents.

Placements for Indian children approved by a federally recognized tribe in compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and applicable federal and state regulations.

Recognized - any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska Native village as defined in section 1602(c) of Title 43. The Secretary of Interior regularly publishes in the Federal Register a list of recognized tribes that are acknowledged to have the immunities and privileges available to federally recognized Indian tribes by virtue of their government-to-government relationship with the United States as well as the responsibilities, powers, limitations and obligations of such tribes. (25 Code of Federal Regulation, 83.5). References to tribal agencies, tribal services, and tribal programs refer to those operated by or upon designation of federally recognized tribes.
Unrecognized - any Indian or Alaska Native group or aggregation indigenous to the continental United States that the Secretary of the Interior does not acknowledge to be an Indian tribe possessing a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The Secretary of the Interior provides a process for such groups to petition for recognition. (25 Code of Federal Regulations PART 83).
Historic – Those people whose pre-Columbian ancestors were indigenous to the lands within the United States. These peoples were composed of numerous distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups, commonly referred to as historic or aboriginal tribes. Federally recognized tribes represent historic tribes, or groups traceable to such tribes, which survive intact today as sovereign nations.

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act provides federal funds to support child welfare services. In California, Title IV-E agreements between California and eligible tribes allow for the transfer of federal and state funds to support tribal child welfare programs. When referring to Tribes with California Title IV-E Agreements, always use the full term first, followed by "herein referred to as Tribes." After the initial reference, they can be referred to as "Tribes” only if there are no other references to non IV-E Tribes. 

A general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering, which is designed to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system.

An electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or main power fails.

A software testing method by which individual units of source code, sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures, are tested to determine whether they are fit for use. 

Information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured data (or information) is typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. Term utilized to refer to electronic document attachments. Examples of unstructured data include documents, photographs, audio files, video files, email messages, and multimedia files. See Binary Large Object.

The time the transaction processing platform is available for productive work, excluding scheduled downtime for maintenance services.