DES MOINES — Governor Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to modernize how Comprehensive Child Welfare Information Systems (CCWIS) are planned, launched, and implemented. This partnership establishes Iowa’s VISION system as a national model for state-federal partnerships in CCWIS modernization and launches ACF’s Child Welfare Technology Incubator to support other states hoping to scale this type of innovation. The partnership further demonstrates ACF’s progress toward delivering on President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s Executive Order on Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, which promotes modernization of states’ child welfare information systems.
Historically, some child welfare technology projects have created large, inefficient systems with little realized value. Many systems have fallen short of meeting the needs of frontline staff and providing good data to support better outcomes for children and families. To overcome these challenges and advance technology infrastructure in child welfare, ACF and Iowa are working collaboratively to plan and implement the VISION system in record time. This partnership represents a fundamental shift from traditional federal oversight to a more active federal-state collaboration that unlocks innovation.
“Iowa is proud to partner with ACF to lead the transformation of child welfare technology in ways that will empower caseworkers, improve services, and most importantly, make a difference in the lives of children and families in need of support—not only in our state, but across the entire nation,” said Governor Reynolds. “Iowa’s Child Protective Services and Information Technology teams, together with Google Public Sector, are developing a system that will fundamentally change child welfare services for the better.”
“To make good decisions that center the best interests of children and families in child welfare, we need strong technology, data, and analytics infrastructure,” said ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams. “The Trump Administration is proud to partner with Governor Reynolds to modernize child welfare technology and ensure prudent use of taxpayer dollars while improving child welfare outcomes.”
Iowa’s unmatched state readiness planning has paved the path for rapid implementation of a new, modular Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) which is being developed in partnership with Google Public Sector. The new CCWIS system, VISION, is built on user-centered design principles and enables continuous improvement and adaptation to meet evolving needs. This innovation will free caseworkers from a slow, difficult-to-use, outdated mainframe, allowing them to focus on what matters most—protecting children and strengthening families. This marks the first step in a groundbreaking partnership between ACF and Iowa that will allow advanced technology solutions to be leveraged by states nationwide.
This Iowa partnership also directly supports ACF’s “A Home for Every Child” initiative to improve the ratio of foster homes to children in foster care. With Iowa’s new CCWIS system, improved data quality will drive better decision-making to both increase foster home recruitment and retention while supporting effective prevention.
“For too long child welfare technology projects have been an expensive bridge to nowhere,” said Cody Inman, delegated Commissioner for the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families. “We applaud Governor Reynolds’ leadership accelerating this CCWIS modernization effort and hope our partnership paves the way for other states to prepare, adopt, and implement new infrastructure.”
Building on Iowa’s success, ACF is launching the Child Welfare Technology Incubator to scale this approach nationwide. The Incubator will provide targeted technical assistance, scalable CCWIS blueprints for other states, and create a place for states to receive frequent feedback on proven planning and implementation tools. By partnering with states earlier to develop technology infrastructure, ACF hopes states will move faster, build smarter, and deliver better outcomes for children and families nationwide.