To: CARES SPOCs and Implementation Coordinators
CC: County, Tribe, Probation, and State Leadership, OCM Coordinators
We are pleased to share the CARES Explorer - December 2024 issue, the newsletter for staying up to date on the CWS-CARES project.
This is sent directly to our key stakeholders for project communications: County, Tribe, Probation, and State leadership, CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs), and Organization Implementation Coordinators.
This issue contains information on:
Stakeholders: Discover how the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration (OTSI) is working on the project and understand OTSI’s role as the CWS-CARES project sponsor. Read about how the project partners with organizations to ensure information is shared effectively and the three key communication roles that foster statewide adoption and utilization of CWS-CARES. We also highlight Humboldt County’s creative ways to build awareness and enthusiasm for CWS-CARES.
CWS-CARES: This issue highlights the Reports area, the future of SafeMeasures® and Structured Decision Making® (SDM) assessments with the implementation of CWS-CARES, Resource Family Approval (RFA), holistic design updates, and the CARES Prototype demonstrations and feedback.
Hidden Gems: Learn more about the power of plain language, the results from our Organizational Change Management (OCM Survey), EUST2, and the Stakeholder Briefing series.
We recommend that you share this newsletter at your discretion with staff that are impacted by the changes coming with CWS-CARES.
The CARES Explorer – December 2024 issue is now available here: 20241218_CARES_Explorer_Issue 4
You may also obtain all CARES Explorer issues on the CWDS website: CARES Compass/Explorer | Child Welfare Digital Services
If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
Action Required:
We request that all CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CARES Explorer Newsletter to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES at their discretion.
Bulletin
CWS/CMS: CDT Service Desk Bulletin - SAFE Cloud Service Scheduled Maintenance
ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
CWS/CMS: Education Provider Information from the California Department of Education (CDE)
What is Impacted: CWS/CMS Application
On Friday, December 6, 2024, from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM, the CDE Interface will run to update Education Provider information for public schools, private schools, and school districts in the CWS/CMS application. This update applies to CDE school information only. School information manually created by a CWS/CMS user will not be affected. During this time, users may be unable to perform Education Provider searches in the CWS/CMS application.
Due to differences in data and formatting between CDE and the CWS/CMS application, some otherwise valid Education Providers may be end-dated. If this occurs, please refer to the Work Around section below. A list of all end-dated Education Providers will be sent to the SPOCs via email as soon as they become available.
Additional Notes:
Code Table Refresh is not required.
Work Around
If an existing CDE Education Provider has been end-dated because of this process, users will need to conduct a search for the current Education Provider and create a new Education Notebook for the client.
Contact
CWDS Customer Relations
CDT Service Desk Bulletin – SAFE Cloud Service Scheduled Maintenance
ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, November 24, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, November 24, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
Release 9.5 and Interim Release 9.5.0 Informational (30-day) Bulletin
The mandatory VB6 version of Release 9.5 will be implemented on Saturday, December 14, 2024.
Coexistent county CWSCMS.MSI file availability:
The CWSCMS.MSI file will be available by Friday, December 6, 2024, for technical staff to begin testing the installation of the release. The code will be located on the CWSDFSr share in the following location:
Dedicated County CWSCMS.MSI file delivery:
By Friday, December 6, 2024, dedicated county users should start seeing the CWSCMS.MSI file copied to their workstations during Windows logon. Technical staff can verify that they have received the file by checking for its presence in the C:\CACW\R95. folder. This file must exist on the workstation for the installation of Release R9.5 to take place on or after December 14, 2024.
Release 9.5 documents are located on the CWDS website. More documents will be added as the release go-live date approaches.
Coexistent county CWSCMS.MSI file availability:
The CWSCMS.MSI file will be available by Friday, December 6, 2024, for technical staff to begin testing the installation of the release. The code will be located on the CWSDFSr share in the following location:
- \CODEDIST\Staging\R95
Dedicated County CWSCMS.MSI file delivery:
By Friday, December 6, 2024, dedicated county users should start seeing the CWSCMS.MSI file copied to their workstations during Windows logon. Technical staff can verify that they have received the file by checking for its presence in the C:\CACW\R95. folder. This file must exist on the workstation for the installation of Release R9.5 to take place on or after December 14, 2024.
Release 9.5 documents are located on the CWDS website. More documents will be added as the release go-live date approaches.
CWS/CMS in Read-Only during Daylight Saving Time Change - Nov. 3, 2024 | 1 AM - 2 AM
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWS/CMS application will be in read-only mode for one hour during the time change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on Sunday, November 3, 2024. To prevent duplicate time stamps, users will not be able to save to the database starting at 1:00 AM, after the clocks have been moved back from 2:00 AM. The application will return to the normal read/write mode at 2:00 AM Standard Time.
This will not affect CWS-CARES or CARES-Live.
Action Required
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) if the CWS/CMS application has not returned to read/write mode after 2:00 AM Standard Time.
The CWS/CMS application will be in read-only mode for one hour during the time change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on Sunday, November 3, 2024. To prevent duplicate time stamps, users will not be able to save to the database starting at 1:00 AM, after the clocks have been moved back from 2:00 AM. The application will return to the normal read/write mode at 2:00 AM Standard Time.
This will not affect CWS-CARES or CARES-Live.
Action Required
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) if the CWS/CMS application has not returned to read/write mode after 2:00 AM Standard Time.
CDT Service Desk Bulletin – SBCS Infrastructure Servers Security Patching
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, October 26, 2024, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
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 maintenance on Saturday, October 26, 2024, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
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.
CWS/CMS: CDT Service Desk Bulletin - SAFE Cloud Service Scheduled Maintenance
ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, October 20, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, October 20, 2024, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
CWS/CMS: CDT Service Desk Bulletin – Citrix Workspace Upgrade Recommended
All Co-Existent County CWS SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators; All Probation SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
Citrix has identified vulnerabilities in older versions of the Citrix Workspace App for Windows. Citrix strongly recommends that customers upgrade the workspace to the supported versions listed in the bulletin below, which contain fixes to abate the discovered vulnerabilities.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has performed the recommended upgrade to the Citrix environments that they manage. This communication is being shared to inform counties that manage their own Citrix environments that they should make the same upgrades to mitigate exposure to this potential threat. This includes all Child Welfare Services (CWS) Co-Existent Counties and for all (both Co-Existent and Dedicated) Probation Counties using Citrix.
Action Required
Counties who manage their own Citrix environments are strongly recommended to confirm that their Citrix Workspace App for Windows is at or above the version identified as including fixes for the identified vulnerabilities.
If users experience any issues with Citrix Server Base Computing (SBC), please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
Citrix has identified vulnerabilities in older versions of the Citrix Workspace App for Windows. Citrix strongly recommends that customers upgrade the workspace to the supported versions listed in the bulletin below, which contain fixes to abate the discovered vulnerabilities.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has performed the recommended upgrade to the Citrix environments that they manage. This communication is being shared to inform counties that manage their own Citrix environments that they should make the same upgrades to mitigate exposure to this potential threat. This includes all Child Welfare Services (CWS) Co-Existent Counties and for all (both Co-Existent and Dedicated) Probation Counties using Citrix.
Action Required
Counties who manage their own Citrix environments are strongly recommended to confirm that their Citrix Workspace App for Windows is at or above the version identified as including fixes for the identified vulnerabilities.
If users experience any issues with Citrix Server Base Computing (SBC), please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
Release 9.5 CTW Final Status Incident Report (VB6) Posted
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and Training Contacts:
The Release 9.5 (R9.5) CTW Final Status Incident Report (VB6) has been posted to the CWDS website. You can locate the document here: Release 9.5 | Child Welfare Digital Services (ca.gov).
For questions regarding this document please contact Customer Relations..
Action Required
None at this time.
The Release 9.5 (R9.5) CTW Final Status Incident Report (VB6) has been posted to the CWDS website. You can locate the document here: Release 9.5 | Child Welfare Digital Services (ca.gov).
For questions regarding this document please contact Customer Relations..
Action Required
None at this time.
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.