A GENERAL DATA ENTRY/REPORTING SYSTEM FOR ADOPTION/FOSTER CARE DATA

THE ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE ANALYSIS AND REPORTING SYSTEM (AFCARS) IS NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM WHICH IS CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT. A WIDE RANGE OF PROBLEMS WILL BE EXPERIENCED BY STATES IN COMPLYING WITH THE COMPLEX AFCARS REQUIREMENTS. TO ASSIST STATES IN MEETING THESE REQUIREMENTS, FLEXIBLE, CUSTOMIZED SOFTWARE MUST BE DEVELOPED TO ALLOW ENTRY OF NEW DATA, TRANSLATION OF EXISTING DATA TO NEW FORMATS, AND REPORTING OF DATA IN THE REQUIRED FORMATS. SINCE NO SINGLE SOFTWARE PACKAGE CAN MEET THE STATES' DIVERSE NEEDS, DEVELOPMENT TOOLS WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH WILL ENABLE PROGRAMMERS TO EFFICIENTLY CREATE CUSTOMIZED AFCARS APPLICATIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL STATES. THREE PRODUCTS ARE PROPOSED: (1) A SCREEN EDITOR WHICH WILL ENABLE PROGRAMMERS TO INTERACTIVELY DESIGN DATA ENTRY SCREENS AND EASILY PRODUCE PROGRAMS WHICH OPERATE THOSE SCREENS; (2) A FILE TRANSLATOR WHICH WILL ENABLE PROGRAMMERS TO CREATE, TEST, AND DEBUG PROGRAMS INTENDED TO PROCESS COMPLEX DATA FILES AND PRODUCE SPECIFIED OUTPUT FILES AND REPORTS; AND (3) AFCARS VERIFICATION TOOLS WHICH WILL ENABLE PROGRAMMERS TO VERIFY THE CORRECTNESS OF SOFTWARE INTENDED TO MEET THE AFCARS REGULATIONS. THE SCREEN EDITOR AND FILE TRANSLATOR HAVE CONSIDERABLE COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL SINCE THEY COULD BE USED FOR MANY PROGRAMMING APPLICATIONS.