Announcement
CWS-CARES Scheduled Maintenance – January 18, 2023, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity that will interrupt connectivity to the CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process for pilot counties Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, Riverside, and Santa Clara. The maintenance activity is planned to begin at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2023, and conclude at 7:00 PM. During this scheduled outage, users in pilot counties will not be able to access the CARES RFA application.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS-CARES, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CWS-CARES County Administrators may contact the CARES Service Desk through the CWDS ServiceNow Customer Support Management (CSM) Portal. Alternate methods are phoning 1-855-292-3444 or via email at Servicedesk@cwds.ca.gov during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity that will interrupt connectivity to the CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process for pilot counties Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, Riverside, and Santa Clara. The maintenance activity is planned to begin at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2023, and conclude at 7:00 PM. During this scheduled outage, users in pilot counties will not be able to access the CARES RFA application.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS-CARES, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CWS-CARES County Administrators may contact the CARES Service Desk through the CWDS ServiceNow Customer Support Management (CSM) Portal. Alternate methods are phoning 1-855-292-3444 or via email at Servicedesk@cwds.ca.gov during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
California Department of Technology Service Desk Bulletin – SBCS Services Servers Migration - January 6, 2023| 8:00 PM - January 7, 2023| 2:00 PM
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled migration of Server Based Computing Services (SBCS) servers. The migration window will begin on Friday, January 6, 2023, at 8:00 PM, and conclude on Saturday, January 7, 2023, at 2:00 PM. Users attempting to connect to the CWS/CMS application via SBCS during the migration window will receive an error message. Users already logged in when the migration begins are not expected to be impacted.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled migration of Server Based Computing Services (SBCS) servers. The migration window will begin on Friday, January 6, 2023, at 8:00 PM, and conclude on Saturday, January 7, 2023, at 2:00 PM. Users attempting to connect to the CWS/CMS application via SBCS during the migration window will receive an error message. Users already logged in when the migration begins are not expected to be impacted.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
Reschedule of CWS/CMS Release 9.0 Go-Live - UPDATE
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and Training Contacts:
November 30, 2022, UPDATE: To allow sufficient time to review and address all issues found during the R9.0 Testing Phase and ensure the final code is ready for the release, the Testing Phase of R9.0 will be extended a few more weeks. This extension will have the effect of pushing out some of the milestone dates for R9.0, R9.0 Pilot, and R9.2. The updated schedule will now be as follows:
As noted in the table above, the Go-Live date for R9.0 has been pushed out to Tuesday, January 31, 2023. This release remains optional until R9.1 is implemented on March 11, 2023. The R9.1 Go-Live date remains unchanged. The Pilot Phase for R9.0 is being pushed out and shortened. The new date range for the Pilot will now be January 3, 2023, through January 24, 2023. This will help to avoid some of the potential schedule conflicts with the December holidays.
The tentative Go-Live date for R9.2 is being pushed out one month to May 2023, instead of the previously planned April 2023 date. This postponement was selected to allow Counties more time in between mandatory releases. The tentative R9.3 Go-Live date of July 2023 remains unchanged.
Action Required
Contact the CWDS Customer Relations team if you have any questions regarding the CWS/CMS release schedules.
November 30, 2022, UPDATE: To allow sufficient time to review and address all issues found during the R9.0 Testing Phase and ensure the final code is ready for the release, the Testing Phase of R9.0 will be extended a few more weeks. This extension will have the effect of pushing out some of the milestone dates for R9.0, R9.0 Pilot, and R9.2. The updated schedule will now be as follows:
| Release | Previous Scheduled Date | New Scheduled Date |
| R9.0 | 1/18/2023
|
January 31, 2023
|
| R9.1 | March 11, 2023 (Tentative) Mandatory Release. All counties must also take R9.0 code with this release. |
March 11, 2023
|
| R9.2 | April 2023 (Tentative) | May 2023 (Tentative) |
As noted in the table above, the Go-Live date for R9.0 has been pushed out to Tuesday, January 31, 2023. This release remains optional until R9.1 is implemented on March 11, 2023. The R9.1 Go-Live date remains unchanged. The Pilot Phase for R9.0 is being pushed out and shortened. The new date range for the Pilot will now be January 3, 2023, through January 24, 2023. This will help to avoid some of the potential schedule conflicts with the December holidays.
The tentative Go-Live date for R9.2 is being pushed out one month to May 2023, instead of the previously planned April 2023 date. This postponement was selected to allow Counties more time in between mandatory releases. The tentative R9.3 Go-Live date of July 2023 remains unchanged.
Action Required
Contact the CWDS Customer Relations team if you have any questions regarding the CWS/CMS release schedules.
Solicitation for County Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for CWS/CMS R9.3
All SPOCs and Training Contacts:
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the Release 9.3 Business Needs Analysis (BNAs) meetings and Joint Application Design (JAD) to give feedback on issues. SMEs will participate in Release 9.3 activities, tentatively scheduled to GO LIVE in July 2023.
R9.3 BNAs will be held on December 5, 2022. SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once all responses are received.
R9.3 JAD has not yet been scheduled, but SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once a date is selected.
System Change Requests (SCRs) include:
The five (5) SCRs listed below are newly proposed for Release 9.3
Those who volunteer are welcome to register for one or more SCRs.
Participants will work with other County and State SMEs as well as vendor support staff.
We seek a diverse group of participants from large, medium, and small counties. The CWDS Office will work with SMEs to determine the details of participation.
If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact OSI CWDS Application Support via email @ CWS_AppSupport@osi.ca.gov.
Action Required
Staff should submit a Release 9.3 SME Online Registration Form for each potential SME.
Forms should be submitted no later than November 30, 2022.
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the Release 9.3 Business Needs Analysis (BNAs) meetings and Joint Application Design (JAD) to give feedback on issues. SMEs will participate in Release 9.3 activities, tentatively scheduled to GO LIVE in July 2023.
R9.3 BNAs will be held on December 5, 2022. SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once all responses are received.
R9.3 JAD has not yet been scheduled, but SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once a date is selected.
System Change Requests (SCRs) include:
The five (5) SCRs listed below are newly proposed for Release 9.3
- SCR 8955 – Other Adults in Home Batch Update (Data Quality) (Prioritized #3) - Application Support Contact: James Sidebotham
- SCR 8954 – Service Provider NPI Data Batch Update (Data Quality) (Prioritized #6) - Application Support Contact: James Sidebotham
- SCR 8843 – Transfer Enrollments between DOE Schools (Data Quality) (Prioritized #8) - Application Support Contact: Pravitha Kodiyanthara
- SCR 8935 – Reporter Badge Number Cleansing (Data Quality) (Prioritized #9) - Application Support Contact: James Sidebotham
- SCR 8943 – Expand Merge History Log (Data Quality) (Prioritized #10) - Application Support Contact: Kim Carpenter
- SCR 8939 – Support of O365 with the CWS/CMS Application (Prioritized #1) - Application Support Contact: Gina Blakemore
- SCR 8906 – Reformat Other Adults Page Naming Data Entry Structure and add Search Function (Data Quality) (Prioritized #2) - Application Support Contact: Nora O’Hara
- SCR 8776 – SSN Violations - Cleansing (Data Quality) (Prioritized #4) - Application Support Contact: James Sidebotham
- SCR 8908 – Update Service Provider: Add NPI No and Middle Initial to ID Page and Search Dialog (Data Quality) (Prioritized #5) - Application Support Contact: Gina Blakemore
- SCR 8844 – Automatically Cleanup Open Education Enrollments (Data Quality) (Prioritized #7) - Application Support Contact: James Sidebotham
Those who volunteer are welcome to register for one or more SCRs.
Participants will work with other County and State SMEs as well as vendor support staff.
We seek a diverse group of participants from large, medium, and small counties. The CWDS Office will work with SMEs to determine the details of participation.
If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact OSI CWDS Application Support via email @ CWS_AppSupport@osi.ca.gov.
Action Required
Staff should submit a Release 9.3 SME Online Registration Form for each potential SME.
Forms should be submitted no later than November 30, 2022.
CWS-CARES (CARES) Version 1 (V1) Rollout Strategy Decision
All Child Welfare Directors and Tribal Leaders:
CC: All CARES SPOCs and CWS SPOCs:
The CARES project has been performing analysis over the past several months with support from Organizations’ (Orgs’) representatives to determine how CARES Version 1 (V1) will be rolled out to all Orgs as the CWS/CMS replacement. We would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all Org representatives that participated and contributed input to help inform this important decision.
On September 19, 2022, the CARES Board of Directors elected to proceed with a CARES V1 statewide rollout approach that implements all Orgs at the same time for CARES V1. In alignment with the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), Tribal Consultation and the CARES project team recommendation, this approach will also include a robust production pilot prior to statewide implementation.
The rollout approach is intended to add the following benefits:
The project will continue to share details on a regular basis through a variety of communication forums and methods regarding the above questions, as well as many other details regarding this decision. Future project communications will be forthcoming.
Action Required
No action needed.
CC: All CARES SPOCs and CWS SPOCs:
The CARES project has been performing analysis over the past several months with support from Organizations’ (Orgs’) representatives to determine how CARES Version 1 (V1) will be rolled out to all Orgs as the CWS/CMS replacement. We would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all Org representatives that participated and contributed input to help inform this important decision.
On September 19, 2022, the CARES Board of Directors elected to proceed with a CARES V1 statewide rollout approach that implements all Orgs at the same time for CARES V1. In alignment with the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), Tribal Consultation and the CARES project team recommendation, this approach will also include a robust production pilot prior to statewide implementation.
The rollout approach is intended to add the following benefits:
- Reduces the risk to child safety by establishing a single statewide system at go live, in which all CARES users will be entering Child Welfare data into a single system.
- Allows the CARES project team to exercise the CARES system, implementation, and operational support processes in a live production environment prior to implementing statewide, without impacting all users.
- What are the objectives of the pilot?
- How will the pilot be structured?
- What is the duration of the pilot?
- How many counties will participate in the pilot?
The project will continue to share details on a regular basis through a variety of communication forums and methods regarding the above questions, as well as many other details regarding this decision. Future project communications will be forthcoming.
Action Required
No action needed.