Notice

ALL SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

The California Department of Technology (CDT) has reported a higher level Verizon network outage impacting network access to several counties. The CWDS office has received reports of routers being either down or having slower processing times.

There is currently no estimated time of resolution. Additional updates will be provided as new information is received.

Action Required

CWS/CMS

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.

CARES-Live

If users experience any issues with CARES-Live, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CARES-Live 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 CWDS Service Desk during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.

External Systems Data Conversion Counties: Binti Counties (CARES 105 Testers), San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa

As mentioned on July 28^th, the External System Data Conversion Mapping Validation Tips document is now available. This guide has step-by-step instructions and screenshots for finding Placement records in CWS-CARES validation environments, along with previously shared RFA guidance, resources and support.  

You can also access the document directly on the CWS-CARES External Systems Portal. 

Please be aware that Family Finding data is currently unavailable in the DCVal (CARES105) environment due to a mapping issue identified during data conversion. Consequently, the counties with Family Finding data - Inyo, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Nevada, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, and Solano - will not be able to view or validate it at this time. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue, and we will provide an update as soon as the data is available. 

Submitting Tickets 

It is critical that your testers continue submitting tickets through your county’s standard ticketing process. Ensuring each county submits tickets for their specific data mapping validation discrepancies allows us to track, prioritize, and resolve these issues efficiently.  

Thank you for your ongoing partnership and dedication to the validation process.  

Please contact the External Systems mailbox for general questions regarding this update. 

Action Required

Please share this information with your staff as appropriate and continue submitting tickets for any data mapping validation discrepancies through your county’s standard process.  

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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.

Child Welfare leadership, Probation leadership, CWS-CARES Points of Contact: SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, specific CWDA staff related to child welfare, Probation SPOCs, Cal Academies List, CPOC, FFPSA, CalSAWS

We are informing you of an ongoing Salesforce incident impacting several CWS-CARES environments, including: 

• CARES 100 – Prod Sim 
• CARES 102 – County Dev 
• CARES 104 – Training 
• CARES 105 – DC Val

Users navigating through the application, records, and screens may intermittently encounter one of the following error messages: “Sorry to interrupt” or “Looks like there’s a problem”. 

A system banner is displayed within the affected environments to notify active users of the situation. Any necessary system downtimes required to address and resolve this issue will be communicated via the system banners.

Our technical teams are actively investigating the root cause with Salesforce, and we will share further updates as new information becomes available. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Action Required

Please share this communication with staff who utilize these environments, so they are aware.  

Please contact Customer Relations for questions.

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

Dear County Partners, 

As our project team continues converting CWS/CMS county forms from Word into AEM templates, we are writing to share a critical timeline for your review and validation activities. 

Vendor support for form development and modifications under the current engagement with IBM will conclude on August 7, 2026. Beyond this date, the project team will not have vendor resources available to make edits, corrections, or adjustments to your forms. 

31 counties have not begun their forms validation. To date, 911 forms have been converted and delivered by IBM. Currently, 14 forms are accepted, 10 have reported issues, and 887 forms remain pending county upload, configuration, and validation. 

To ensure all requested updates can be completed before contract closeout, all form validations must be completed no later than August 7, 2026. Any forms that remain unvalidated after this date will be deemed accepted as-is due to the end date of vendor support. We will be unable to make further adjustments once this window closes. 

Action Required

For Staff with access, please check the  CWS CARES UAT Tracking.xlsx sheet in the CARES Forms Teams Channel. New converted forms are uploaded daily as development finishes so we ask that you review this sheet on an ongoing, daily basis.  

Please test and validate these forms by August 7, 2026 to confirm they meet the operational needs. Any necessary changes or fixes must be identified right away to allow adequate time for IBM to process them before August 7.  

We understand your teams are balancing multiple competing priorities. If you need access to the CARES Forms Teams Channel, the CWS CARES UAT Tracking.xlsx sheet, assistance prioritizing your pending forms, navigating the tracker, or organizing your review process, please reach out to us immediately at the County Forms Conversion mailbox. 

Thank you for your ongoing partnership and dedication to ensuring these forms are ready and effective for your county. 

All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:

Multiple counties have reported receiving “high level error” messages when trying to connect to the CWS/CMS application. It is not a universal issue; some Server Based Computing (SBC) users have been successful with logging in to CWS/CMS.

The CWDS Infrastructure team and IBM are working with the California Department of Technology (CDT) and Citrix to determine the cause and to develop a fix for this issue. So far, the issue does not appear to be directly related to the CWS/CMS Release 9.8 code; however, all parties continue to investigate all possible causes, including those related to this past Saturday’s CWS/CMS release.

Additional updates will be provided as new information is available.

Action Required

If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS or SBC, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.

Binti County SPOCs and Implementation Coordinators:

As part of the ongoing Binti to CWS‑CARES data conversion effort, county‑specific data cleanup reports have been distributed. All counties received their initial set of reports June 29, 2026, with earlier delivery occurring for some counties.

These reports identify Binti records for county review before data is converted into CWS-CARES. Counties should review their report, confirm whether the records are accurate, and complete updates where cleanup is needed. Some records may be accurate as-is and may not require updates.

This workbook is the first set of data cleanup workbooks counties will receive. Additional workbooks may be distributed as further data cleanup needs are identified during ongoing analysis. Counties will be notified if subsequent workbooks become available.

To ensure updates are reflected in CWS-CARES, counties are encouraged to complete cleanup activities by the end of September 2026, prioritizing records that may impact business functions. Some cleanup activities may still be completed in CWS-CARES after Go-Live.

Report Delivery

Following feedback from counties, reports were delivered through Keeper, which provides a simple and secure way to share files without requiring a password or account setup.

If your county submitted the Binti Conversion Report Delivery – County Contacts & Delivery Preference survey, the report was sent to the designated contact identified in the survey. That contact received an email from Naomi Robledo with a secure link to download the report. The link is valid for 30 days and can be accessed from a single device.

If your county did not submit a survey response, the report was sent to your county’s CWS‑CARES Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and Implementation Coordinator.

If your secure link expires or you experience any issues accessing your report, please contact the External Systems Data Conversion Mailbox.

Binti Data Conversion Reports Overview

Each county received an Excel workbook for this initial round of data cleanup activities. Additional workbooks may be provided later if further data cleanup needs are identified. Each workbook contains multiple tabs, with each tab representing a category of records identified during the Binti data analysis. Tabs vary by county based on applicable records. For detailed instructions, please refer to the Instructions tab included in your county workbook.

Below is a high-level overview of each tab:

• users_with_binti_email (Portal users with placeholder emails)
  • This tab contains portal user records with placeholder emails (@binti.com emails). Placeholder emails cannot be used to create a CWS-CARES account or send an invitation. Counties may review these records to determine whether each user is needed for CWS-CARES access.
• multiple_or_no_profiles (County workers with duplicate or unmatched CWS/CMS profiles)
  • This tab contains worker records that exist in Binti but could not be matched or have multiple matches in CWS/CMS. Counties may review these records to determine whether access is still needed and whether any identity or duplicate issues apply.
• Binti_homes_same_license (Homes sharing the same license number in Binti)
  • This tab contains home records sharing the same license number. Counties may review these records to determine whether they represent duplicates or valid business scenarios.
• CMS_multiple_license_match (Homes with multiple license matches in CWS/CMS)
  • This tab contains home records with multiple license matches in CWS/CMS. Counties may review these records to determine whether any duplicates or multi-match issues need to be addressed.
• CMS_multiple_ address_match (Homes with multiple address matches in CWS/CMS)
  • This tab contains home records with multiple address matches in CWS/CMS. Counties may review these records to determine whether any data issue apply.
• invalid_address_match (Homes with missing or invalid address information)
  • This tab contains home records with missing or invalid address information. Counties may review these records to determine whether updates are needed to support a valid CWS/CMS match.

Action Required

Review your county’s Binti Data Conversion Report(s) when received and complete any needed cleanup, prioritizing records that may impact business functions. To ensure updates are included in CWS-CARES, counties are encouraged to complete data cleanup by the end of September 2026.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact the CWDS CARES External Systems Data Conversion Mailbox.

Please Note

When working with the CARES support teams we ask that you take the following precautions to protect CARES case data: 

• Do not share sensitive data (PHI / PII)  or other case details with the Service Desk, either directly or via email.  Sensitive and confidential data cannot be stored in the ticketing system. The Service Desk can only receive fully redacted information.
• If performing a screen share at the request of the support team, ensure minimum necessary practices are followed, including that only those that need to see the information are present. Screenshots or recordings of the meetings where sensitive/confidential information is present is not permitted.
• If sensitive information is required by third tier support (e.g., case numbers), ensure that it is shared via secured methods – please contact your county Privacy officer or the CWDS ISO for guidance as needed.

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

As previously noted on the login page banner earlier this week, the CWS-CARES Production Simulation (Prod Sim) environment (CARES100) will be temporarily unavailable due to scheduled system maintenance. Here are the outage details:

Start Time: Thursday, July 2 at 5:00 PM

End Time: Monday, July 6 at 8:00 AM

During this time, users will not be able to log in or access the environment. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we complete these necessary system updates.

Action Required

No action is required.

SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:

Multiple counties have reported that their scheduled Business Intelligence (BI) reports did not run and then received the following error message when they attempted to open a report in BI:

Updates will be provided as new information is received or status when the status has changed.

Action Required

Review scheduled BO reports today and tomorrow morning. Rerun the report jobs, as necessary, when allowed.

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

Please note that while a Weekly Digest was not originally scheduled for this week in observance of Memorial Day, we received last-minute communications that warranted distribution. We appreciate your continued attention and flexibility. 

In this Weekly Digest:

• CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum
• Now Available: CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 Results Summary
• Coming Soon Enhanced CWDS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Registration Now Open for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8
• CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 8, 2026

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CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum

Following the May 22, 2026 update on the CWS-CARES Training Strategy, Customer Relations distributed a communication on June 3, 2026 sharing the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Role Based Training Curriculum and next steps. The communication includes:

• The Instructor-Led Training (ILT) curriculum for county, state, and specialized program staff
• A Self-Paced Learning Release Plan for Salesforce Enablement training in the Production Simulation environment
• An update on Biweekly Implementation Meetings

Action Required: To prepare for Train-the-Trainer (TTT) beginning June 15, ensure trainers and Super Users understand the schedule and remind staff to complete foundational Salesforce Enablement training prior to attending TTT sessions.

For full details, refer to the email sent by Customer Relations on Tuesday, June 3, 2026 at 5:17 PM with the subject: CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum – June 3, 2026.

Please contact OTSICWDSTraining@otsi.ca.gov with any questions regarding the curriculum or scheduling, or Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov with any general questions.

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Now Available: CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 Results Summary

The results of the third annual CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey are now available. Conducted March 9 to April 3, 2026, this confidential survey assessed how well CWS-CARES communications are informing and supporting key stakeholders and identified opportunities for improvement.

The results summary includes:

• Survey demographics and response rates across 58 counties
• Weighted average scores for communication helpfulness across key CWS-CARES channels, including the Weekly Digest, CWS-CARES Explorer, and Progress & Engagement Summary
• Current sentiment responses across six categories, including clear and useful communications, confidence on project timeline, and concerns and feedback acknowledged
• Average sentiment trends across all three surveys from 2024 to 2026
• Contributing factors to sentiment trends and recommended action plans for improvement

To view the full results, please see the attached file titled "CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 - Results Summary - April 2006.”

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Coming Soon Enhanced CWDS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The CWS-CARES Project is preparing to update the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the CWDS website to make it easier for organizations to find the information they need in one centralized location.

We heard that CWS-CARES information can be difficult to track when questions and responses are shared across multiple meetings, forums, and communications channels. To help address this, the updated FAQ webpage will include hundreds of new questions and answers, improved categories aligned with CWS-CARES Project areas, and meeting tags to help you identify where topics were discussed.

We will share an update in a future CWS-CARES Weekly Digest when these enhancements are available on the CWDS website.

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Registration Now Open for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8

We encourage you to attend the next CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing on Wednesday, June 24, 2026! Register now at: CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 | Registration. Note: A separate calendar invitation will not be sent by the CWS-CARES Project. Please manually add the .ics attachment in the registration confirmation email to your calendar.

All stakeholders impacted by the changes to CWS-CARES are welcome to attend, ask questions, and hear updates from Project leadership. The full agenda for the June 2026 Stakeholder Briefing is available to view on the CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 | Registration page. Updates will include:

• Project Status Update
• Preparing for Production Simulation
• Production Simulation Demo
• Training
• Organizational Change Management (OCM)

Thank you for participating in our Stakeholder Briefing webinar series!  We hope to see you on June 24, 2026 to continue the conversation on the upcoming transition to CWS-CARES.

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CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 8, 2026

This week, the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight features the CWS-CARES Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) of the Week.

June 8, 2026 FAQ of the Week: 

Q: Will converted documents from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES be in the same format they were originally saved in, or will they be converted to a standard format?

A: Yes, documents converted from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES will retain their original file formats. The conversion process preserves the document format as stored in CWS/CMS rather than converting documents into a standardized format.

To view all of the CWS-CARES FAQs, please visit the CWDS website: CWS-CARES FAQs | CWDS Website.

Have a question? Send it to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov and we will be happy to help.

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Share Your Feedback and Subscribe 

Thank you for following our progress! Share your feedback on this CWS-CARES Weekly Digest here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Feedback Form. Subscribe to future issues here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Subscription Form.

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Action Required:  We request that all CWS-CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CWS-CARES Weekly Digest to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES, at their discretion.