# Child welfare foster care software that keeps every permanency clock visible

> Child welfare foster care is the out of home care system a title IV-E agency runs when a child cannot safely remain at home, covering placement, supervision, court reporting and permanency. Agencies report AFCARS data for two periods a year and must submit each file within 45 days of the period closing, under 45 CFR 1355.40. A petition to terminate parental rights is due once a child has been in care 15 of the most recent 22 months. Neurobird captures placements, visits and clocks as they happen, so the deadline and the federal file come out of the same record.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/fostercare/
- Product: Neurobird Child Welfare Foster Care Compliance Platform
- Niche: child welfare foster care
- Buyer: child welfare agencies and foster care programs
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-21

## What Neurobird Child Welfare Foster Care does

- Capture placement moves as dated events with reason and level of care, at the moment they happen
- Track the statutory clocks per child: the 60 day reasonable efforts determination, the 12 month permanency hearing, the 15 of 22 month petition
- Log caseworker visits and contacts against the child rather than against a monthly summary
- Produce the AFCARS out of home care file from the live record instead of rebuilding it twice a year

## How it works

1. **Log the move, not the memory** Every placement change is a dated event with reason, setting and level of care, entered on the day it happens.
2. **Run the clocks per child** Removal date drives the 60 day determination, the 12 month permanency hearing and the 15 of 22 month petition. The dates are calculated, not remembered.
3. **Export the file, do not rebuild it** The out of home care data elements are already populated, so the May 15 and November 14 submissions become a check rather than a project.

## From the source material

> A shortage or lack of foster family homes shall not be an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child cannot be met in a foster family home.

Source: GovInfo, 42 U.S.C. title IV part E, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title42/html/USCODE-2022-title42-chap7-subchapIV-partE.htm

## Industry context

- **45 days** Title IV-E agencies must submit the out of home care and adoption assistance data files within 45 days of the end of each report period, meaning by May 15 and by November 14 each year. (source: eCFR, 45 CFR 1355.40, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355/section-1355.40)
- **15 of 22** A petition to terminate parental rights is required once a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, filed by the end of the fifteenth month, under 45 CFR 1356.21. (source: eCFR, 45 CFR 1356, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1356)
- **60 days** The judicial determination on whether reasonable efforts were made to prevent removal must be made no later than 60 days from the date the child is removed, or the placement is not title IV-E eligible for that episode. (source: eCFR, 45 CFR 1356.21, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1356)
- **475(5)(C)** Permanency hearing requirements sit in section 475(5)(C) of the Social Security Act, the statute behind the 12 month hearing schedule agencies are measured against. (source: GovInfo, 42 U.S.C. chapter 7 subchapter IV part E, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title42/html/USCODE-2022-title42-chap7-subchapIV-partE.htm)
- **1355** The same 45 CFR 1355 rules that set AFCARS also govern the child and family services reviews, so a weak data element shows up later as a weak safety or permanency finding. (source: eCFR, 45 CFR 1355, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355)

## Pricing

- Single program: $185 per worker, per month
- Agency: $420 per worker, per month
- Statewide: $780 per worker, per month

## Questions

### What is foster care case management?

Foster care case management is the work of placing a child in out of home care, supervising that placement and moving the case toward permanency under title IV-E rules. It covers matching, visits, court reporting and federal data submission, and one caseworker usually carries all of it for a full caseload at once.

### What is AFCARS and when is it due?

AFCARS is the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Title IV-E agencies report two periods per federal fiscal year, October 1 to March 31 and April 1 to September 30, and must submit the out of home care and adoption assistance files within 45 days of each period ending, so by May 15 and November 14 under 45 CFR 1355.40.

### What is the 15 of 22 month rule?

Under 45 CFR 1356.21 the agency must file, or seek to join, a petition to terminate parental rights once a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, with the petition filed by the end of the fifteenth month. The rule came in with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and there are stated exceptions, but the clock itself runs from removal.

### Does this replace our state CCWIS?

No. It sits in front of it. Workers capture placements, visits and clock events here, and the structured record feeds the state system and the federal file rather than being retyped out of narrative notes.

### Can it handle ICPC and cross county placements?

Yes. An interstate or cross county placement is tracked as its own workflow with its own packet, dates and approvals, because the delay is almost always in the packet rather than in the match.

## Sources

- [eCFR, 45 CFR 1355.40 AFCARS reporting](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355/section-1355.40)
- [eCFR, 45 CFR 1356 title IV-E requirements](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1356)
- [GovInfo, 42 U.S.C. title IV part E](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title42/html/USCODE-2022-title42-chap7-subchapIV-partE.htm)
- [eCFR, 45 CFR 1355 child and family services reviews](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/