Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative (Collaborative) website. Our policy is clear:

We collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.

This privacy notice applies to the https://capacity.childwelfare.gov and https://learn.childwelfare.gov/ domains. You can find links to our privacy notice in the footer of our website.

For more detailed information on our privacy policy, see the topics below:

 

Disclaimer of Endorsement and Prohibitions

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The information posted on this website includes hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers provide these links solely for our users' information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving the Collaborative’s website and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners or sponsors of the third-party website.

  • The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on a linked website.
  • The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products or services they offer.
  • The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.
  • The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers are not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.

Prohibitions

The Collaborative will not link to any website that exhibits hate, prejudice, or discrimination. Furthermore, we reserve the right to deny or remove any link that contains misleading information, unsubstantiated claims, or is determined to conflict with our mission or policies.

 

Personal Information Voluntarily Submitted to Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative

The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers do not collect personal information from users unless they choose to provide such information. The process for collecting said information and how it is used is described below.

How Personal Information May Be Collected and Shared

Submitting personal information is entirely voluntary. If you choose to provide personal information—for example by completing a form, leaving a comment, completing a survey, registering for an account —we may use that information to respond to your message and provide you the services you requested.

The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use third-party service providers and other vendors to support the operations, hosting, and functions of our website. If a change in provider or vendor occurs, some information may need to be transferred to the new provider or vendor to prevent service interruption. If there is a change in provider or vendor, we notify users via email or an announcement on our website.

Freedom of Information Act

You may request information from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Follow this link to find instructions on how to make a request and contact information: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/foia.

For more information, please see the ACF Privacy Policy.

 

Interaction With Children Online

We take all reasonable steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of any child from whom information is collected, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

We do not share, collect, or use information from minors unless we are obligated to do so as mandated reporters of abuse and neglect.

We provide some publication materials that are created and available for the benefit of all youth, including children age 13 or under. We do not elicit or request any information from children who choose to view these publications.

 

Visiting the Official Collaborative Website and/or Affiliate Webpages on Third-Party Websites

We maintain accounts on third-party websites, including social media sites, as tools to better interact with the public. The security and privacy policies of third-party websites apply to your activity on those sites. Users of third-party websites often share information with the general public, user community, and the third-party operating the website. You should review the privacy policies of all websites before using them and ensure that you understand how your information may be used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any third-party website to match your preferences.

The Collaborative Accounts

Third-party website privacy policies used by the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers include:

 

Information Collected and Used From Third-Party Websites

If you have an account/profile with a third-party website (e.g., Facebook, twitter), and choose to follow, like, friend, or comment on a third-party website managed by the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers, certain personal information associated with your account may be made available to us based on the privacy policies of the third-party website and your privacy settings within that website. We do not share personally identifiable information made available through these websites.

 

Information Automatically Collected and Stored

When you browse through our website, we use Google Cloud software (GA4 and BigQuery) and Siteimprove software to gather and temporarily store a variety of information about your visit. However, this information cannot be used to identify you as an individual. The basic information we collect during your visit includes:

We do not associate any of the data we collect with you as an individual. Instead, we aggregate this data from all visits to improve our website and provide a better user experience to our visitors. The aggregate data is available only to web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. It is retained only for as long as needed for proper analysis. The Google Analytics Privacy Policy is available at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/, the Google Cloud Privacy Notice is available at https://cloud.google.com/terms/cloud-privacy-notice and the Siteimprove Privacy Policy is available at https://siteimprove.com/en/privacy/

 

Demographic and Interest Data

On some portions of our website, we have enabled Google Analytics (GA4), and other third-party software (listed below), to provide aggregate demographic (age, gender, location) and interest data of our visitors identified as over 18 years old. This information cannot be used to identify you as an individual. While these tools are used by some websites to serve advertisements, The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers only use them to measure demographic data. The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers have no control over advertisements served on other websites.

Buffer: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use Buffer to manage their social media accounts and shorten URLs. Our staff only conducts analysis on the aggregated data from Buffer from the social media accounts linked. The Buffer privacy policy is available at https://buffer.com/privacy.

Tableau: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use Tableau, a software that produces interactive data visualization. Our staff only conduct analysis on the aggregated data from Tableau. The Tableau privacy policy is available at https://www.tableau.com/privacy.

 

Other Web Measurement and Customization Tools

The Center for States uses the specified software and features below. When accessing, storing, and sharing PII data we follow the Center for State's data policy. If you have any questions, please email: capacityinfo@icf.com:

Bit.ly: the Center for States uses Bit.ly to shorten long URLs for use in email and social media messages. Bit.ly does not provide any personally identifiable information about the visitors who click the shortened links. The Bit.ly privacy policy is available at https://bitly.com/pages/privacy.

Buffer: the Center for States uses Buffer to manage their social media accounts and shorten URLs. Our staff only conducts analysis on the aggregated data from Buffer from the social media accounts linked. The Buffer privacy policy is available at https://buffer.com/privacy.

Google Analytics: the Center for States may employ tools provided by Google Cloud and Google Analytics to support data collection via cookies and anonymous identifiers, Google Tag Manager, Google Data Studio, BigQuery, and/or Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting. Google’s privacy policy and terms are available at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

GovDelivery: the the Center for States uses GovDelivery (also called Granicus) to email newsletters and other messages to visitors who subscribe via Information Gateway websites. Access to the subscriber lists is limited to Center for States staff and the Children’s Bureau.  Your peer group membership information would be used to: provide you with communications relevant to your peer group(s); inform the Children’s Bureau about peer group membership trends; and work with jurisdictions to identify appropriate individuals for peer group participation. or these purposes, your membership information could be shared within the Children’s Bureau and may be used to support jurisdictional leadership decisions related to representation. By joining a peer group, you are agreeing to your information being used in these ways. GovDelivery/Granicus never allows access to the subscriber lists to anyone outside of the Collaborative for any purpose. GovDelivery/Granicus also provides aggregate data such as email open rates and total clicks on links, and subscriber information provided as part of the registration process. Only our staff and managers who email using GovDelivery and/or monitor the results of email initiatives have access to the subscriber lists. GovDelivery never allows access to subscriber lists to anyone outside of the Collaborative, Information Gateway, and the Children’s Bureau for any purpose. The GovDelivery/Granicus privacy policy is available at https://granicus.com/privacy-policy/.

Intrado/Notified: The Center for States hosts the Child Welfare Virtual Expo, an annual virtual conference, through the Intrado/Notified online platform. Intrado/Notified, formerly INXPO, is a cloud-based system that provides access to content (e.g. webcasts, videos, documents) both live and on-demand. It is a forum that facilitates real-time learning and resource sharing. Attendees can access the platform from their computer, tablet, or smartphone to attend virtual sessions to view videos, chat with attendees, and download handouts by providing their email address and name. Intrado/Notified collects registration information, activity in the platform, and feedback survey data. This may include individuals' names, positions, state locations, and email addresses to that only our staff has access to. Survey data collected is not sensitive in nature and consist of mainly satisfaction surveys used to enhance products. The Intrado/Notified privacy policy is available at https://www.intrado.com/en/legal-privacy.

Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Outlook: The Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Outlook as an online booking tool to schedule meetings with website users and connect them to our Meet the Experts meeting service. If you choose to provide your name, email address and any additional information to access the virtual meeting platform, the personal information is kept confidential. The Microsoft privacy policy is available at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us.

Microsoft Forms: The Center for States uses Microsoft Forms as an online tool to process requests to join Center for States Peer Groups. If you choose to provide your name, email address and any additional information to join a peer group, the personal information is shared with the Center for States Program Area Manager (PAM), Peer Group Lead Consultants, and Children’s Bureau Leads managing the peer group you request to join, as well as staff on the Center for States’ Peer Services Team that are processing the request. The Microsoft privacy policy is available at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us.

Microsoft Power BI: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use Power BI, a software that produces interactive data dashboards. Our staff only conduct analysis on the aggregated data. The Power BI privacy policy is available at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/admin/desktop-privacy. 

Mural: The Center for States uses Mural to post resources, questions, event topic ideas, collect feedback, and facilitate meetings. The Mural privacy policy is available at: https://www.mural.co/terms/privacy-statement.

Qualtrics: the Collaborative and/or its affiliates use the Qualtrics survey tool to collect feedback from website visitors. Our staff use survey results to measure visitor satisfaction with the Collaborative and/or its affiliate websites. This survey tool does not require users to submit personally identifiable information. The survey reports are available only to our staff. The Qualtrics privacy policy is available at https://www.qualtrics.com/privacy-statement/.

Tableau: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use Tableau, a software that produces interactive data visualization. Our staff only conduct analysis on the aggregated data from Tableau. The Tableau privacy policy is available at https://www.tableau.com/privacy.

ServiceNow Community: The Center for States and/or its affiliates uses ServiceNow Community SaaS platform for its Peer Communities subscription-based communications. Only Service Now, Center for States and/or its affiliates and the Children’s Bureau authorized members have access to the subscriber lists. Your peer group membership information would be used to: provide you with communications relevant to your peer group(s); inform the Children’s Bureau about peer group membership trends; and work with jurisdictions to identify appropriate individuals for peer group participation. For these purposes, your membership information could be shared within the Children’s Bureau and may be used to support jurisdictional leadership decisions related to representation. By joining a peer group, you are agreeing to your information being used in these ways. ServiceNow never allows access to subscriber lists to anyone outside of the Center for States and/or its affiliates and the Children’s Bureau for any purpose. ServiceNow also tracks and analyzes usage of Peer Communities for improving the SaaS platform and experience. All analyses and reports are in aggregated form and will not be accessible to anyone outside of the Center for States and/or its affiliates and the Children’s Bureau. The ServiceNow privacy statement is available at https://www.servicenow.com/privacy-statement.html.

Siteimprove: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use the cloud-based software Siteimprove to increase content quality, work towards accessibility compliance, and measure website performance. Our staff use the data to measure visitors’ engagement with Information Gateway and/or its affiliate websites. This software does not require users to submit personally identifiable information. The data is available only to our staff. The Siteimprove privacy policy is available at https://siteimprove.com/en/privacy/.

SoundCloud: the Collaborative and/or any of the affiliated Centers use SoundCloud to host their podcasts. Only our staff has access to the aggregated data from SoundCloud. The SoundCloud privacy policy is available at https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy.

Zoom: The Center uses Zoom for Government as a virtual event platform for client deliverables, virtual events as well as the Center’s annual CWVE conference. The Zoom for Government platform operates in a dedicated, secure infrastructure designed to meet the requirements of FedRAMP Moderate baseline and DOD Impact Level 2. The Center only utilizes personally identifiable information for event registration and follow-up purposes. The Zoom for Government privacy policy is available at https://zoomgov.com/privacy.

 

Cookies

Websites can automatically place small text files, known as cookies, on visitors’ computers. So long as they do not expire or are deleted, cookies identify the unique browser used by visitors. On each subsequent visit to the website, the visitor’s browser will retrieve the cookie, allowing us to aggregate the number of return visitors. the Collaborative use cookies to test and optimize our website design and content. We use two types of cookies on our websites.

We use session cookies to gather data for technical purposes, such as improving website navigation and generating statistics about how the website is used. Session cookies are temporary text files that expire when you leave our website. When cookies expire, they are automatically deleted from your computer. We do not use session cookies to collect personal information, and we do not share data collected from session cookies.

We use multisession cookies, or persistent cookies, to customize our website for frequent visitors and to test variations of website design and content. Multisession cookies are cookies that are stored over more than a single session on your computer. We do not use multisession cookies to collect personal information, and we do not share data collected from multisession cookies. Our multisession cookies are set to expire no more than 2 years after your last visit to our website. After 2 years, they are automatically deleted from your computer. the Collaborative is unable to identify an individual by using such technologies.

You can take actions to block cookies by opting out. Blocking session cookies from your computer will not affect your access to the content and tools on our website. Blocking multisession or persistent cookies may affect the personalization of the information on those sites.

 

Website Security

The Collaborative is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by Federal laws. You can be arrested and prosecuted for violating these laws.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we use software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. In the event of law enforcement investigations and as part of any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual.

  • The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, Verizon.com, if you are using a Verizon online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University's domain)
  • The date and time of your visit to our website
  • The pages and documents you viewed on our website
  • The URL of the website you visited prior to ours
  • The type and version of your web browser and operating system
  • Your location at the time of your visit, down to the city-level

Revised and last update: September 2023.

Connect With Us

Learn how we can help your agency build the capacity to thrive.

Email: capacityinfo@icfi.com 
Phone: 1.844.222.0272

Visit the Center for States' Contact Us webpage for more information.