CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:
The CWS-CARES Pop-Up Shop is opening in early September! This limited-time online store is open from Monday, September 8, 2025, to Friday, September 26, 2025.
The shop offers a unique selection of CWS-CARES branded merchandise, produced by Staples Promotional Products. The shop is open to everyone, including all California counties and tribes, associated organizations, public agencies, and individuals.
We have a sneak peek of the featured items and frequently asked questions (FAQs). The collection includes a sticker, lanyard, tote bag, webcam cover, a pen/highlighter combo, and Post-Its. With prices ranging from less than $1 to $3 per item, they are ideal for bulk purchases.
We will send another reminder in early September so you do not miss the shopping window. On the store's opening day on September 8, 2025, you will receive an email with a live link to the store. In the meantime, you can use the attachment to shop and plan your purchases.
Do you have any suggestions for us? Please use this form for your recommendations.
Action Required
No action required.
Announcement
Announcing the CWS-CARES Progress & Engagement Summary
CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, County, Tribe, Probation, State Leadership, and OCM Coordinators:
We are excited to announce the launch of the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary, a new communication tool designed to provide stakeholders with a clear, concise, and consistent overview of our collaborative efforts and achievements.
This work product was specifically formulated as a direct response to your valuable stakeholder feedback and recent survey results. We heard your need for a more transparent and consistent way to track our collective progress, and this summary aims to meet that need.
The purpose of this summary is to keep you informed about the key activities we have jointly undertaken, fostering transparency and mutual understanding. By regularly outlining progress in areas like county participation in prototype and build reviews, forms, reports, data conversion, external systems, interfaces, implementation, OCM, and training, we ensure everyone has the same understanding of what has been accomplished. This will be a monthly update, posted to the CWDS website and shared in various meetings that contain project updates.
The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary is specifically intended for external stakeholders, including child welfare leadership and CWS-CARES Points of Contact, who are seeking to understand our collective progress at a high level.
We believe this new summary will be an invaluable resource for all as we continue our work together.
We appreciate your continued commitment to staying informed.
Action Required
No action required. If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
We are excited to announce the launch of the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary, a new communication tool designed to provide stakeholders with a clear, concise, and consistent overview of our collaborative efforts and achievements.
This work product was specifically formulated as a direct response to your valuable stakeholder feedback and recent survey results. We heard your need for a more transparent and consistent way to track our collective progress, and this summary aims to meet that need.
The purpose of this summary is to keep you informed about the key activities we have jointly undertaken, fostering transparency and mutual understanding. By regularly outlining progress in areas like county participation in prototype and build reviews, forms, reports, data conversion, external systems, interfaces, implementation, OCM, and training, we ensure everyone has the same understanding of what has been accomplished. This will be a monthly update, posted to the CWDS website and shared in various meetings that contain project updates.
The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary is specifically intended for external stakeholders, including child welfare leadership and CWS-CARES Points of Contact, who are seeking to understand our collective progress at a high level.
We believe this new summary will be an invaluable resource for all as we continue our work together.
We appreciate your continued commitment to staying informed.
Action Required
No action required. If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
New CWDS Meeting and Event Calendar
We are pleased to announce that the new CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar will go live on Friday, March 28, 2025. This will be a near real-time calendar that includes the meeting/event name, date and time. The new calendar will not require users to log in.
New CWDS Public Calendar: Streamlined Access to All Meetings and Events
CWS-CARES, CARES RFA, CARES-Live and CWS/CMS recurring meetings and ad-hoc meetings are streamlined into one view. This includes Core Constituent meetings, Implementation meetings, workgroups, and committees that engage external participants such as counties, Probation, Tribes with Title IV-E agreements with CDSS, and State and Federal partners.
Starting Friday, March 28, 2025, the CWDS public website will feature a new page where anyone can access the calendar of CWDS events at any time. The current Events Calendar at will be removed and a message will be displayed redirecting to the new calendar.
Additionally, the existing CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar will display a message and link to the new calendar.
NOTE: If you have bookmarked or saved the current Events Calendar URL, please refresh it with the new CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar URL. Feel free to share this communication with others in your organization. If you have suggestions to improve this calendar, please send them to the Customer Relations Team.
Action Required
Once this new calendar goes live, please update your saved bookmarks by replacing them with the new URL for the CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar in your web browsers.
New CWDS Public Calendar: Streamlined Access to All Meetings and Events
CWS-CARES, CARES RFA, CARES-Live and CWS/CMS recurring meetings and ad-hoc meetings are streamlined into one view. This includes Core Constituent meetings, Implementation meetings, workgroups, and committees that engage external participants such as counties, Probation, Tribes with Title IV-E agreements with CDSS, and State and Federal partners.
Starting Friday, March 28, 2025, the CWDS public website will feature a new page where anyone can access the calendar of CWDS events at any time. The current Events Calendar at will be removed and a message will be displayed redirecting to the new calendar.
Additionally, the existing CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar will display a message and link to the new calendar.
NOTE: If you have bookmarked or saved the current Events Calendar URL, please refresh it with the new CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar URL. Feel free to share this communication with others in your organization. If you have suggestions to improve this calendar, please send them to the Customer Relations Team.
Action Required
Once this new calendar goes live, please update your saved bookmarks by replacing them with the new URL for the CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar in your web browsers.
CWS-CARES Users Website Update | Effective April 8, 2025
All SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, and OCM Coordinators:
We are pleased to announce that the existing CWS-CARES Stakeholder Resources page has been updated to reflect publicly available resources regarding CWS-CARES.
The intent of these changes to the CWDS website is to build awareness on CWS-CARES project updates and promote user engagement. These changes will be implemented on April 8, 2025.
Action Required
Please reach out to Customer Relations if you have any questions.
We are pleased to announce that the existing CWS-CARES Stakeholder Resources page has been updated to reflect publicly available resources regarding CWS-CARES.
The intent of these changes to the CWDS website is to build awareness on CWS-CARES project updates and promote user engagement. These changes will be implemented on April 8, 2025.
- The CWS-CARES Users page is currently located under the ‘Stakeholder Resources’ dropdown (note: URL for this page has not changed):
- The updated page will be organized by the type of role played by the site visitor and will include descriptions to help users more quickly navigate to what they need:
- Previously, this page was sorted by the type of system discussed. The page will now solely reflect CWS-CARES resources. All other resources will be moved to one of the following locations:
- “Follow our Progress” (part of the horizontal navigation bar at the top of the page)
- “RFA and CARES-Live Users” (part of the “Stakeholder Resources” drop down menu)
- “Technical Support” (part of the “Stakeholder Resources” drop down menu)
- In addition to these changes, the resources found on the former page titled “Project Reporting” will be moved to the following locations:
- Legislative Updates – Monthly: now visible under “Follow Our Progress”
- CWDS Planning Roadmap & Timeline: now visible under “Follow Our Progress”
- CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefings: now on CARES User Resources | Child Welfare Digital Services
- And finally, any links that were previously found on this page will still be found at the bottom of the resources page. These links will also be available on either the Technical Support page or the CARES-Live and RFA Users pages once live, but they will be removed by May 31, 2025.
Action Required
Please reach out to Customer Relations if you have any questions.
CWS-CARES: New Core Constituent Orientation Guide
Core Constituent Points of Contact:
Core Constituents,
You shared in quarterly Core Constituent surveys that new meeting and demonstration participants would benefit from onboarding resources to better understand CWS-CARES and how to engage effectively. In response, we are introducing the Core Constituent Orientation Guide, a one-page resource designed to support your onboarding and participation.
What’s in the Guide?
We would like to hear from you! If you have suggestions to improve the guide, please send them to the Customer Relations Team.
Thank you for your continued participation and valuable contributions to CWS-CARES.
Action Requested
Send your suggestions to improve the Core Constituent Orientation Guide to the Customer Relations team.
Core Constituents,
You shared in quarterly Core Constituent surveys that new meeting and demonstration participants would benefit from onboarding resources to better understand CWS-CARES and how to engage effectively. In response, we are introducing the Core Constituent Orientation Guide, a one-page resource designed to support your onboarding and participation.
What’s in the Guide?
- Essential resources to get started
- Key activities for Core Constituents
- How to provide feedback
- Contact information for questions
We would like to hear from you! If you have suggestions to improve the guide, please send them to the Customer Relations Team.
Thank you for your continued participation and valuable contributions to CWS-CARES.
Action Requested
Send your suggestions to improve the Core Constituent Orientation Guide to the Customer Relations team.
CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar - March 2025 to May 2025
Child Welfare Directors, Child Welfare Director-Alternates, Tribal Leadership, Probation Leadership, Core Constituents, CARES SPOCs, and Implementation Coordinators:
Child Welfare Leadership and CWS-CARES Meeting Participants,
As part of our ongoing effort to provide you greater insight into upcoming meetings for the CWS-CARES project, please see the updated CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar for March – May 2025. This calendar includes all meetings hosted by the CWS-CARES project, including Core Constituent demonstrations, implementation meetings, and key workgroups.
This calendar includes the following sessions:
Please share this information with those at your organization you feel should be informed. Note: This calendar is point-in-time and subject to change. The CWS-CARES project plans to deliver a sustainable, more real-time calendar solution that will be accessible to all meeting participants and leadership in late March 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov.
Child Welfare Leadership and CWS-CARES Meeting Participants,
As part of our ongoing effort to provide you greater insight into upcoming meetings for the CWS-CARES project, please see the updated CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar for March – May 2025. This calendar includes all meetings hosted by the CWS-CARES project, including Core Constituent demonstrations, implementation meetings, and key workgroups.
This calendar includes the following sessions:
- Prototype Demonstrations: Core Constituents review prototypes, or pre-build designs of CWS-CARES, to represent system functionality, to provide early feedback on user experience, navigation, and screen actions before the designs go into development.
- Build Review Demonstrations: Core Constituents see some of the feedback they provided in the Prototype Demonstrations reflected in CWS-CARES and provide further feedback on the developed product.
- Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST) 2: Participants will test end-to-end real-world scenarios in CWS-CARES.
- NEW Process Information Sessions: Designed for OCM Coordinators, these sessions outline new processes in CWS-CARES and their impact on staff workflows, helping counties, probation departments, CDSS, and Tribes with Title IV-E Agreements update policies and procedures.
Please share this information with those at your organization you feel should be informed. Note: This calendar is point-in-time and subject to change. The CWS-CARES project plans to deliver a sustainable, more real-time calendar solution that will be accessible to all meeting participants and leadership in late March 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov.
Introducing CWS-CARES Video #3: CWS-CARES 101
All SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES Implementation Organizational Change Management (OCM) Team is proud to present the third of several videos in the CWS-CARES Video Series. The videos will be under five minutes, will showcase the CWS-CARES product, and will prepare you for the coming changes.
The next video, CWS-CARES 101, was developed with all end-users in mind. It expands on the benefits of CWS-CARES from the previous two videos in the series. The link to this video, as with the other OCM videos, is saved on the CWDS website, in the OCM section of the Implementation portal.
Video Link: CWS-CARES 101
Action Required
We request that SPOCs share the CWS-CARES 101 video with all staff impacted by CWS-CARES. We also encourage you to show the video to your teams in upcoming meetings or when someone contacts you to ask about CWS-CARES. We hope you can use this video as a tool to help jump-start conversations with your teams about the future.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the CWS-CARES Implementation OCM Team.
The CWS-CARES Implementation Organizational Change Management (OCM) Team is proud to present the third of several videos in the CWS-CARES Video Series. The videos will be under five minutes, will showcase the CWS-CARES product, and will prepare you for the coming changes.
The next video, CWS-CARES 101, was developed with all end-users in mind. It expands on the benefits of CWS-CARES from the previous two videos in the series. The link to this video, as with the other OCM videos, is saved on the CWDS website, in the OCM section of the Implementation portal.
Video Link: CWS-CARES 101
Action Required
We request that SPOCs share the CWS-CARES 101 video with all staff impacted by CWS-CARES. We also encourage you to show the video to your teams in upcoming meetings or when someone contacts you to ask about CWS-CARES. We hope you can use this video as a tool to help jump-start conversations with your teams about the future.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the CWS-CARES Implementation OCM Team.
CWS-CARES Update to County Contacts Page
All CWS-CARES SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
As we continue to prepare for CWS-CARES v1, the CWDS project would like to remind and encourage you to fill in any missing fields on the County Contact Page of the Child Welfare Digital Services website. This includes making sure to complete the Information Security Officer, Privacy Officer, Probation IT Emergency Contact, Probation Privacy Officer, and Probation Information Security Officer fields on the CARES and CARES Probation Contact tabs (see screenshots 3 and 4). Having these contacts on record is important for the project.
The SPOCs can add this information via the Child Welfare Digital Services Admin Portal, which will immediately populate to the Website. Please reference your County Contacts Guide.
Action Required:
Please add or update if needed your CWS-CARES and CWS-CARES Probation County Contact information on the Child Welfare Digital Services Website.
As we continue to prepare for CWS-CARES v1, the CWDS project would like to remind and encourage you to fill in any missing fields on the County Contact Page of the Child Welfare Digital Services website. This includes making sure to complete the Information Security Officer, Privacy Officer, Probation IT Emergency Contact, Probation Privacy Officer, and Probation Information Security Officer fields on the CARES and CARES Probation Contact tabs (see screenshots 3 and 4). Having these contacts on record is important for the project.
The SPOCs can add this information via the Child Welfare Digital Services Admin Portal, which will immediately populate to the Website. Please reference your County Contacts Guide.
- County Contacts Guide Location (Requires Child Welfare Digital Services Logon): On the CWDS website > Stakeholder Resources tab > CWS/CMS Users > County Logon column > CWS/CMS Guides> Website and Web Application Guides > County Contact Page Guide
- County Contacts Website View Location (Requires Child Welfare Digital Services Logon): On the CWDS website > the County Info tab > County Contacts > select the County from the list (see screenshot 1) > CARES and CARES Probation tabs > Scroll down to the middle of the page to find the fields. (See screenshot 2)
Action Required:
Please add or update if needed your CWS-CARES and CWS-CARES Probation County Contact information on the Child Welfare Digital Services Website.
CWDS Website Update – CWS-CARES Public Library
All SPOCs:
We are pleased to announce a new resource available on the CWDS public website called the CWS-CARES Public Library. This new resource is designed to provide you with quick and easy access to articles about CWS‑CARES Product Features, Service Areas, Milestones, Teams & Roles, Data & Interfaces, and other important topics.
The intent of these changes to the CWDS website is to build awareness on CWS-CARES project updates and promote user engagement. These changes will be implemented on February 25, 2025.
Action Required
No action is required.
We are pleased to announce a new resource available on the CWDS public website called the CWS-CARES Public Library. This new resource is designed to provide you with quick and easy access to articles about CWS‑CARES Product Features, Service Areas, Milestones, Teams & Roles, Data & Interfaces, and other important topics.
- The CWS-CARES Public Library will be located under ‘Stakeholder Resources’ dropdown - navigate to ‘CWS-CARES Users.’
- On the ‘CWS-CARES Users page’ you will find the link to the CARES Public Library.
- On the CWS-CARES Public Library page, you can search by keyword or browse articles by category. No login is needed to access the articles.
- Click on any article title to view the full text on its own page.
- You can also share individual articles. From an article page, copy the web address in web browser to link directly to that article.
The intent of these changes to the CWDS website is to build awareness on CWS-CARES project updates and promote user engagement. These changes will be implemented on February 25, 2025.
Action Required
No action is required.
CWS/CMS Release 9.6 Go-Live Rescheduled
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CTW Registered Testers:
To accommodate the CARES Pilot Support activities, the CWDS Executive Leadership Team has decided to postpone the CWS/CMS Release 9.6 by three months, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 17, 2025. We apologize for any inconvenience this postponement may cause.
The new CWS/CMS Release 9.6 Go-Live date is still to be determined. An update will be sent out as soon as the new release date has been finalized.
Action Required
Please look for the CTW related meeting cancellations. No other actions regarding CWS/CMS Release 9.6 are needed at this time. Release activities are on hold until the release Go-Live date has been finalized.
To accommodate the CARES Pilot Support activities, the CWDS Executive Leadership Team has decided to postpone the CWS/CMS Release 9.6 by three months, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 17, 2025. We apologize for any inconvenience this postponement may cause.
The new CWS/CMS Release 9.6 Go-Live date is still to be determined. An update will be sent out as soon as the new release date has been finalized.
Action Required
Please look for the CTW related meeting cancellations. No other actions regarding CWS/CMS Release 9.6 are needed at this time. Release activities are on hold until the release Go-Live date has been finalized.
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.