Data

To: External Systems Data Conversion Counties: Binti Counties, Contra Costa and San Luis Obispo

Earlier this month, counties received access to the CWS-CARES data mapping validation environments to validate external system data mapping. To assist with validating the  mapping your county’s external system data, we are sharing key updates, reminders, and support resources. 

Mapping Validation: Placement and Family Finding Data Now Available 

1. All External System Data Conversion counties have Placement data to validate. 
2. Family Finding validation applies only to counties with Family Finding data to review. 

Reminder: Mapping Validation Deadlines 

Counties must finish their data mapping validation activities in their designated environments by the following dates. After this time, the data will no longer be available. 

1. Resource Family Application (RFA) Dates 

• Binti Data (CARES 105 – DC Val): July 31, 2026 
• Contra Costa & San Luis Obispo Data (CARES 100 - ProdSim): August 14, 2026 

2. Placement and Family Finding data: August 4, 2026 

Resources Available on the External Systems Portal: 

1. Coming Soon: External System Data Conversion Mapping Validation Tips 

• This upcoming guide will be posted shortly. It has step-by-step instructions and screenshots for finding Placement and Family Finding records in CWS-CARES validation environments, along with previously shared RFA guidance.  

2. CARES 105 Kickoff Session presentation and recording with guidance on locating and validating RFA in the CWS-CARES external system data mapping validation environment: External Systems Materials  
3. Data Mapping Validation Primer: Provides guidance for counties on confirming that external system data was converted into CWS-CARES.  

Support 

1. Production Simulation Office Hours now include a recurring agenda topic for data conversion mapping validation from external systems. Please use these sessions to ask questions and receive support. 
2. Invitations to the Data Conversion Validation Workgroup will be sent to County SPOCs, technical SMEs supporting data mapping validation, and past Data Mapping workgroup participants. Meeting details and access links will be included in the invitation. These drop-in sessions are dedicated specifically to walking through submitted ServiceNow tickets for external system data mapping validation.  

• Originally created for CWS/CMS data conversion, this forum is expanding to support county staff for external system data mapping validation. Starting Thursday, July 30, and continuing through mid-September, dedicated technical support will be available during these sessions. 
• Please note that county staff must submit a ServiceNow ticket prior to attending to receive assistance. 

After the validation windows close, the Project will send a wrap-up communication with next steps. 

Please contact the External Systems mailbox for questions.

Action Required:

Please contact the External Systems mailbox for questions. Review the guidance and complete your county's validation activities by the deadlines above. 

Security Protocols for Prod Sim Case Data

The Prod Sim environment contains converted CWS/CMS cases reflecting actual system data as of April 17th; because this includes real, sensitive PII, all case information must be strictly protected or redacted.

To protect CWS-CARES case data, please follow these important security guidelines when working with our support teams:

• Redact Ticket Info: Do not send PHI, PII, or confidential case details to the Service Desk via email or ticket. Sensitive and confidential data cannot be stored in the ticketing system.
• Secure Screen Shares: During support-requested screen shares, limit attendees to essential personnel only. Recording of sensitive information is strictly prohibited.
• Consult for Tier 3 Transfers: If Tier 3 support needs sensitive data, use secure transmission methods. Contact your county Privacy Officer or the CWDS ISO if you need assistance with secure routing.

We appreciate your dedication to protecting the safety and privacy of vulnerable children and families while we work together to support your needs.

CARES SPOCs, CARES Technical Contacts, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

To continually improve system performance and resolve known issues, we are establishing a weekly maintenance and update schedule for the CWS- CARES Production Simulation (Prod Sim) - CARES100 and Data Conversion Validation (DCVal) - CARES105 environments.

Please review the schedule and potential system impacts below:

Weekly Maintenance Schedule 

• Start Time: Every Friday starting at 5:00 PM 
• Code Deployment & Testing: Scheduled to be completed by Saturday at 8:00 AM 
• Data Fixes: If urgent data updates are required, they may be processed throughout the day on Saturday, depending on priority. 
• Please Note: This standard weekly maintenance window specifically applies to the CARES100 and CARES105 environments. If updates are required for any other CWS-CARES environments, we will communicate their specific schedules and system availability details when they are determined. 

What to Expect (System Impacts) 

While the CARES100 and CARES105 environments will remain accessible, you may experience minor performance impacts during this Friday night to Saturday maintenance window, including: 

• Slower system response times. 
• Intermittent issues with search functionality. 
• To keep users informed, a system banner will be displayed in the environments starting every Thursday to alert counties of the maintenance window. This banner will be removed once the maintenance is complete. 

We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we work to keep our systems running smoothly and efficiently.  

Action Required

Please share this communication with staff who utilize these environments so they are aware of the weekly maintenance schedule and potential system impacts. 

Security Protocols for Prod Sim Case Data

The Prod Sim environment contains converted CWS/CMS cases reflecting actual system data as of April 17, 2026. Because this includes real, sensitive (Personally Identifiable Information (PII), all case information must be strictly protected or redacted.

To protect CWS-CARES case data, please follow these important security guidelines when working with our support teams:

• Redact Ticket Info: Do not send Protected Health Information (PHI), PII, or confidential case details to the Service Desk via email or ticket. Sensitive and confidential data cannot be stored in the ticketing system.
• Secure Screen Shares: During support-requested screen shares, limit attendees to essential personnel only. Recording of sensitive information is strictly prohibited.
• Consult for Tier 3 Transfers: If Tier 3 support needs sensitive data, use secure transmission methods. Contact your county Privacy Officer or the CWDS ISO if you need assistance with secure routing.

We appreciate your dedication to protecting the safety and privacy of vulnerable children and families while we work together to support your needs.

All SPOCs and Data Quality Analysts:

The latest versions of Data Quality Fuzzy Reports for Clients and Placement Homes are now available. The Client and Placement Home Fuzzy Reports assist with manual data cleanup in CWS/CMS by providing a greater number of potential duplication matches, using “fuzzy” matching criteria, than would be possible on the more restricted results on the Semi-annual merge reports. Additional information on CWS/CMS data cleansing activities and benefits, including Fuzzy Reports, is found on the Data Quality Portal.

No signup is required. All counties have already received the two reports on SAFE.

Action Required

If a county wants to collect the two Data Quality Fuzzy Reports (for Client or Placement Home) and perform manual merges in CWS/CMS, please collect them from SAFE as you have done previously. 

• End Assignments for Closed Finalized Adoption Cases (SCR 8750)
• Education Enrollment Cleanup (SCR 8844)
• Distribute Quarterly SCP/Attorney/Service Provider/Placement Home reports
• Staff Person Email Cleansing (SCR 8964)
• Deduplication Cleansing of Hearing (SCR 8970)
• Run Unknown Client Name Standardization (SCR 8842)
• Validate & Cleanse Client Demographic Data (SCR 8850)
• SSN Cleansing (SCR 8776)
• Reporter Badge Number Cleansing (SCR 8935)
• Other Adults Cleansing (SCR 8955)
• Multi Notebook Email Cleansing (SCR 8936)
• Service Provider NPI data Cleansing (SCR 8954)
• Other Child Data Cleansing (SCR 8961)
• Illogical Client Relationship Cleansing (SCR 8971)
• Add missing name for Placement Home (SCR 8982)
• Add Missing Name for Non-Foster Care Facilities for CARES (SCR 8983)
• Transfer Enrollments between DOE Schools (SCR 8843)
• Cleanup Outdated Home Studies (SCR 8989)
• Distribute Semi Annual Placement Home/Service Provider pre-merge reports
• Update Education Provider School Number
• Standardize Addresses

• Distribute Bi-monthly Client Pre-merge reports
• Distribute Semi Annual SCP/Attorney pre-merge reports
• Retrieve Semi Annual SCP/Attorney reports from the counties
• Run Bi-monthly Client
• Run Semi Annual SCP/Attorney
• Semi Annual Placement Home/Service Provider
• Distribute Quarterly SCP/Attorney/Service Provider/Placement Home reports
• SCP Deduplication (SCR8912)
• Run Service Provider Merge (SCR 8794)
• Run Education Provider De-Duplication - Batch Merge (SCR 8653)
• Run Service Provider Address Merge
• Run Bi-monthly Client Merge

• FFACRFH and FFACH Homes (SCR 8856)

All SPOCs and Data Quality Analysts:

The latest versions of Data Quality Fuzzy Reports for Clients and Placement Homes are now available. The Client and Placement Home Fuzzy Reports assist with data cleanup by providing a greater number of potential duplication matches, using “fuzzy” matching criteria, than would be possible on the more restricted results on the Semi-annual merge reports. Additional information on CWS/CMS data cleansing activities and benefits, including Fuzzy Reports, is found on the Data Quality Portal.

No sign-up is required. All counties have already received the two reports on SAFE.

Action Required

If a county wants to collect the two Data Quality Fuzzy Reports (for Client or Placement Home), please collect them from SAFE as you have done previously. 

• CWS-CARES Data Dictionary V0.05 will be available on the Microsoft Teams Channel: CWS-CARES Data Dictionary under Files on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
• The Intro tab of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary highlights all updates in the new version, making it easy to see what is new or changed.

• Wednesday, September 10, 2025
• Thursday, September 11, 2025

• CWS-CARES Data Dictionary V0.04 will be available on the Microsoft Teams Channel:
  CWS-CARES Data Dictionary under Files on Monday, June 30, 2025.
• The Intro tab of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary highlights all updates in the new version, making it easy to see what is new or changed.

1. An Introduction to SqlDBM session, including a Q&A, will be held on July 22, 2025. This one‑hour session will guide users through the tool, supporting documentation, and address questions. We’ll send out invitations with the exact time and duration soon. The session will be recorded.
   • Staff are highly encouraged to attend. Please share the session invitation with your county staff who may benefit from attending, including technical staff, data analysts, report/form writers and developers, and data extract partners.
2. Additional office hours will be scheduled for the first week of August 2025. Invitations will be sent out later.
3. More details about read‑only access to SqlDBM roll out to the Counties and data partners will be shared during the July 22, 2025 session.

• Page 1 of the dashboard shows the current data quality metrics of outstanding items.
• Page 2 shows a history of updates performed for data quality.