CWDS Glossary

The written or recorded account of interactions, observations, interviews, or other information gathered by workers or provided by others via a self-service function.

A voluntary data collection system that gathers information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico about reports of child abuse and neglect.

Evident Change (formerly the National Council on Crime & Delinquency and Children's Research Center) is a nonprofit that uses data and research to improve our social systems. Evident Change created the Safe Measures service to help professionals working in our social systems use their data to target the greatest needs and achieve the greatest impact. Numerous agencies have improved their performance through use of Safe Measures' key performance indicators, process and outcome measures, data quality reports, and task lists/to-do reminders. See Evident Change

​A web-based electronic case-processing system that supports the administration of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) by exchanging data and documents electronically across state jurisdictions.  NEICE is expected to significantly shorten the time it takes participating states to place children across state lines and to save mailing and copying costs by automating current processes.

A framework, developed by the Administration for Children and Families, to facilitate information sharing, improve service delivery, prevent fraud, and provide better outcomes for children and families. NHSIA offers a foundation for common interoperability, standards, and reuse. NHSIA is one of the national architectural frameworks adopted by the State* for the CWS-CARES project.

A community-driven, government-wide, standards-based approach to exchanging information.

Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST is one of the nation's oldest physical science laboratories. Congress established the agency to remove a major challenge to U.S. industrial competitiveness at the time—a second-rate measurement infrastructure that lagged behind the capabilities of the United Kingdom, Germany, and other economic rivals. Today, NIST measurements support the smallest of technologies to the largest and most complex of human-made creations—from nanoscale devices so tiny that tens of thousands can fit on the end of a single human hair up to earthquake-resistant skyscrapers and global communication networks.

A data collection system that includes data elements and data collection requirements necessary to meet the mandate of Public Law 106-169 established the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP). This system includes outcome measures used to assess States' performance in operating their independent living programs for youth in foster care. This reporting must be supported by CWS-CARES.

Refers to the time delay introduced by automated data processing or network transmission between the occurrence of an event and the use of the processed data, such as for reporting, display, or feedback and control purposes.

Business Definition: This is a term in software quality assurance, used to describe a test scenario where the tester inputs data values that should be invalid, i.e., using 11 characters in a field where only 10 characters is allowed, to see if the application responds the way it should when experiencing invalid data inputs. Negative testing is also referred to as failure testing or error path testing. Technical Definition: A method of testing an application or system that ensures that the plot of an application is according to the requirements and can handle the unwanted input and user behavior. Invalid data is inserted to compare the output against the given input. Negative testing is also known as failure testing or error path testing.