# Where Child Welfare Agencies Are Investing in Technology in 2026

If your agency is running a legacy system, you already know the cost. Caseworkers spend their hours on documentation instead of families. Experienced workers leave, and the agency loses the institutional knowledge those workers carried about every case on the desk.

California’s legislative workload study of more than 5,700 case-carrying workers found that [a third of their time](https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/res/cws/sb2030final/pdf/section5.pdf) goes to non-case work. Some states report frontline turnover above 40%. Caseloads in parts of the country run more than double what professional standards recommend.

When an experienced worker walks away, children and families lose someone who knows their history, and the agency pays to recruit and train a replacement who starts from zero.

Congress, the executive branch, and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) are now funding the transition. [Public Law 118-258](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9076/text/pl), the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act, reauthorized Title IV-B programs through FY2029 and added $75 million in mandatory funding starting FY2026. The law explicitly directs those resources toward reducing administrative burden, modernizing technology, and retaining caseworkers. The [Executive Order on children and families](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/19/2025-20406/fostering-the-future-for-american-children-and-families) (November 2025) named artificial intelligence (AI) in a child welfare context for the first time. And ACF launched a [Technology Incubator](https://acf.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/state-tribal-info-systems/child-welfare-technology-incubator) positioning modular child welfare systems as the national model for Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) modernization.

The investment is accelerating. Here is where agencies are directing it, what the workforce data supports, and where AI fits.

## What Federal Policy Means for Child Welfare Technology Investment

Four federal actions in the past year have lowered different barriers to state-level technology investment.

### The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (January 2025)

Public Law 118-258 is a comprehensive Title IV-B reauthorization, and the first to explicitly name technology as a way to reduce administrative burden on caseworkers. Section 106 directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to modernize reporting and cut duplicative paperwork requirements. Section 112 expands Monthly Caseworker Visit grants and names “implementing technology solutions to streamline caseworker duties and modernize systems” as an eligible use of funds.

### The Executive Order (November 2025)

Executive Order 14359 directed HHS to “promote modernization of State child-welfare information systems” and expand states’ use of AI-powered tools for caregiver recruitment, matching, and retention.

### The Child Welfare Technology Incubator (February 2026)

The Technology Incubator, launched by ACF in February 2026, is designating early-adopter states as national models for CCWIS modernization. ACF leadership called legacy technology projects [“an expensive bridge to nowhere”](https://acf.gov/media/press/2026/acf-iowa-governor-reynolds-partnership-modernize-child-welfare) and positioned the Incubator as a shift from federal oversight to direct federal-state collaboration.

### The CFSR Public Dashboard

The Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) [dashboard](https://acf.gov/media/press/2026/acf-launches-new-public-dashboard-state-child-welfare-performance) published state-by-state performance data for the first time.

### Expanded AFCARS Requirements

New federal rules will expand the [Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/05/2024-28072/adoption-and-foster-care-analysis-and-reporting-system) (AFCARS) to include Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) data elements.

## Why the Workforce Crisis Makes Technology Urgent

The clearest budget argument for technology investment is retention.

California’s legislative workload study analyzed [1.14 million hours](https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/res/cws/sb2030final/pdf/section5.pdf) of work across 5,707 case-carrying workers and found that 33% of worker time goes to non-case work. Over the course of a year, that adds up to visits that never happen, placement decisions made on partial information, and family engagement that gets squeezed out of the calendar.

Pennsylvania’s [workforce cost model](https://paproviders.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/OCYF-CCYA-Recruitment-and-Retention-Study-2024_FINAL.pdf) estimates the price of 30% turnover at roughly $1.029 million per mid-size agency, per year.

States are already writing this logic into their modernization plans. North Dakota’s [September 2025 CCWIS request for proposals (RFP)](https://www.hhs.nd.gov/events/solicitation-notice-comprehensive-child-welfare-information-system-ccwis) for its new OCEANS system calls for a cloud-based, modular build with workflows that match how caseworkers actually work.

## How State Child Welfare Agencies Are Approaching Modernization

As of October 21, 2024, 45 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had [declared as CCWIS](https://acf.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/ccwis-status), with most in planning or early development.

Agencies are not waiting for a perfect plan. Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri have each moved from legacy systems to modern child welfare platforms, choosing modular approaches that let them prove out one phase before committing to the next.

## How Agencies Are Using AI in Human Services

Government agencies are deploying AI in human services with a consistent pattern. The tools handle documentation and workflow support. Child welfare decisions stay with people.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) [surveyed state CIOs](https://www.govtech.com/analytics/nascio-survey-cios-look-ahead-with-accessibility-ai) and found that 82% report employees using generative AI in daily work and 90% are running pilot projects.

## Why Agencies Require Human Oversight for AI

Human oversight is the baseline requirement for AI in government work. Decisions affecting residents’ rights or critical services carry legal and ethical risk that software cannot assume alone.

Agencies evaluating AI tools should ask one question. Can the vendor explain exactly what the tool does and what the human’s role is? A tool that drafts case notes from a recorded home visit, transcribes them into structured fields, and waits for worker review is understandable and auditable.

## What This Means for Your Agency

Federal funding, workforce research, and peer-agency spending all converge. The question for most agencies is not whether to modernize but where to start.

Every dollar your agency spends maintaining a system that caseworkers have to route around is a dollar that could reduce documentation time, improve timeliness of placements and services, or keep an experienced worker on the team through another licensing cycle.

## Frequently Asked Questions About Child Welfare Technology Investment

### What is CCWIS and why does it matter for technology investment?

CCWIS, the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System, is the federal framework that sets data quality, modularity, and interoperability standards for state child welfare systems.

### What federal funding is available for child welfare technology?

Three streams matter most right now. Title IV-E federal matching covers 50% of CCWIS development and operations costs. FY 2026 appropriations through ACF support technology and workforce investment.

### How are state agencies using AI in human services today?

State agencies deploy AI for documentation, translation, workflow support, and communications drafting. Most deployments keep decisions with humans. The AI produces a draft or surfaces relevant information.