Why CRAIG?
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The Problem with Proprietary CCWIS
Most states and tribes that have built a CCWIS have paid a large vendor to build them a custom system. The result is predictable: every jurisdiction pays to solve the same problems, the vendor owns the software, and the agency is locked in for decades. When the contract ends or the vendor raises prices, the agency has no alternative — the code belongs to the vendor, not the public.
Meanwhile, the federal CCWIS rule explicitly requires that CCWIS components be designed for reuse and shareability across states and tribes. The rule envisions a world where jurisdictions collaborate and share systems — not one where every state pays separately for the same functionality. CRAIG exists to make that vision a reality.
The Open Source Advantage
Because CRAIG is open source and licensed under the AGPL-3.0:
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No vendor lock-in — any qualified integrator can deploy, configure, operate, and support CRAIG; no single company controls the roadmap or the pricing
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No per-seat or per-case licensing fees — the software itself is free; costs are limited to infrastructure and services
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Shared maintenance — improvements made by one jurisdiction benefit all jurisdictions; bugs fixed once are fixed everywhere
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Full auditability — source code is publicly available for security review, compliance verification, and legislative oversight
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Data ownership — jurisdictions own their data and their configuration; there is nothing proprietary to hand back to a vendor at the end of a contract
Federal Cost Sharing (FFP)
CCWIS development and operations qualify for 50% federal financial participation (FFP) under 45 CFR § 1355.57. Because CRAIG is designed for reuse, the total cost basis for any single jurisdiction is substantially lower than a bespoke system — meaning the jurisdiction’s 50% share is a fraction of what a proprietary procurement would cost.
The more jurisdictions that adopt and contribute to CRAIG, the lower the cost for everyone.
Working with an Integrator
CRAIG is free and open source software, but most agencies will work with a systems integrator to deploy and configure it. That is by design — and it is explicitly compatible with the AGPL-3.0 license.
An integrator may:
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Charge for deployment, configuration, integration, training, and ongoing support services
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Build jurisdiction-specific policy configurations, forms, workflows, and interface adapters on top of CRAIG
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Provide hosting and managed operations
An integrator may not:
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Take CRAIG’s source code, modify it, and sell or deploy it as a proprietary product
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Withhold source code for any modifications they make to CRAIG itself
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Create a proprietary fork that prevents the jurisdiction from switching integrators
This is the same model used by the open source infrastructure industry — companies like Red Hat make their living supporting open source software they did not write exclusively, and their customers are never locked in to a single vendor. Any jurisdiction using CRAIG can switch integrators at any time without losing their system, their data, or their configuration.
Who CRAIG Is Designed For
CRAIG is designed to support the full range of agencies and jurisdictions with a federal CCWIS requirement:
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State child welfare agencies (Title IV-E agencies)
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Tribal child welfare programs operating under Title IV-E tribal plans
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County-administered child welfare systems
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Private agencies contracted to perform child welfare functions on behalf of a state or tribe
Because CRAIG is jurisdiction-neutral and open source, it can be configured to reflect each jurisdiction’s specific policies, programs, and workflows without building a separate system from scratch.