HHS Expands Foster Care Data Tracking Requirements
Published Date: 6/30/2026
Notice
Summary
The government is updating the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) to include 62 new data points, mainly about protections for Native children. This change affects state child welfare agencies, making their reporting a bit more detailed and time-consuming. Comments on this update are open until July 30, 2026, helping shape how the system supports kids in foster care and adoption.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
States face bigger AFCARS reporting load
The AFCARS rule added 62 data elements (per the December 2024 final rule) and raised the estimated time per state recordkeeping response from 8,538 to 9,036 hours. The notice reports 53 state respondents, 2 responses each, producing 957,813 annual hours of state recordkeeping burden.
Tribal reporting time per response unchanged
Tribal title IV-E agencies must continue AFCARS recordkeeping at the previously estimated 8,538 hours per response. The notice lists 17 tribal respondents, 2 responses each, yielding 290,292 annual tribal recordkeeping hours.
Total AFCARS annual burden: 1,250,485 hours
The notice estimates total annual AFCARS burden at 1,250,485 hours across respondents: 957,813 hours (state recordkeeping), 290,292 hours (tribe recordkeeping), and 2,380 hours (reporting at 17 hours per response for 70 respondents).
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