Human Services

Mission

Data are central to the human services' mission. Likewise, effective information sharing is critical to the success of a coordinated human services system. The Human Services (HS) domain provides a mature and proven process for managing a robust vocabulary for reuse across a number of data-sharing contexts. A high priority of the domain is to create and encourage greater collaboration and service integration among programs and agencies. Service integration or interoperability of human service programs offers opportunities to improve client outcomes, lower costs, and enhance operational efficiencies.

Governance

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) stewards the domain. Participants representing federal, state, local, and tribal HS Communities of Interest provide the breadth and depth of knowledge and opportunities to develop seamless data exchanges. The participants meet online monthly in the HS domain workgroup to collaborate for the advancement of the domain. While the number of members is still growing, key participants include:

Representatives from the following federal agencies:

• Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
• ACF Children’s Bureau (CB)
• ACF Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)
• ACF Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)
• ACF Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Food and Nutritional Services/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program (FNS/SNAP)

Representatives from the following states:

• California (San Diego County)
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Virginia
• Washington

Representatives from the following organizations:

• American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
• National Center for State Courts (NCSC)

Explore HS model content

The HS domain complements the NIEM core with data common to HS, including case, placement, eligibility, provider, employment, and financial data by providing harmonized data elements into the NIEM HS domain data model. It has sought to leverage data from federal human service program offices such as Office of Child Support Enforcement, Children’s Bureau; state and local interagency cooperative projects; and organizations like National Center for State Courts and the American Public Human Services Association.

The HS domain is using NIEM-UML methodologies for development and maintenance of the HS domain data model and federally-developed IEPDs. Non-UML NIEM conformant IEPDs are also accepted from our stakeholders.

Download the current release, NIEM 4.0, which includes new content updates to the HS domain.

The HS domain in action

The HS domain is a component of a human services movement toward interoperability. In the HS domain, there are various contexts for sharing data such as:

• Reporting – sharing program performance measures and results.
• Data Query – requesting a specific set of information from another party.
• Case Information – exchanging information like location, participant, financial, order, or hearing. Status Verification – requesting status of an individual case, often pertaining to eligibility or enrollment status in a benefit program.
• Notifications – communicating information of specific interest to the community.
• Record Transfer – moving cases or records to another agency.
• Other Communities of Interest (COIs) – sharing data with stakeholders outside the HS community.

Using well-defined data in these contexts can help improve the quality and consistency of the exchange while helping to reduce development costs and time by not reinventing definitions every time a new exchange is developed.

Visit the HS Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) Repository to learn more about completed and in-process IEPDs.

Completed IEPDs

• Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) e-Notice
• Model Tribal System (MTS)
• National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD)
• National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE)
• North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST)
• Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS)

In-Process IEPDs

• Child Welfare Data Exchange between the Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) Online Monitoring System (OMS) and Title IV-E Agency Case Management Systems
• Child Support/Child Welfare Data Sharing

Learn more about the HS domain on the Success Stories page.

Get involved

While NIEM provides a strong platform to harmonize efforts, the domain’s success relies on community participation and leadership. We would like to collaborate with federal, state, local, and tribal representatives and implementers who are developing new HS data exchanges to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all stakeholders. By using NIEM and the HS domain model content, we can help ourselves and the community improve and expand data sharing, which we know will ultimately improve our service outcomes for the people we serve.

For questions or to request domain membership, email interoperability@acf.hhs.gov or visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/interoperability.