Training

CWS-CARES Data Dictionary, Training Video, and Upcoming Webinar

March 04, 2025 Communications
External Systems Points of Contact, CARES SPOCs, County Leadership, CARES Implementation Coordinators, and OCM Coordinators:

This email provides an update on the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary information previously communicated to External Systems Points of Contact and CARES SPOCs on February 11, 2025. 

We are excited to share that the initial version of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary and legacy mapping of CWS/CMS is now available. We have also created a training video that provides a walkthrough of the materials, and a Webinar will be held on March 20, 2025 where staff can get further details and ask questions. See below for more details.
 
Updates since our last communication: 
  1. CWS-CARES Data Dictionary Preview Session Complete: On February 13, 2025, a small group of counties previewed the Data Dictionary and provided feedback, which was incorporated into the Data Dictionary. 
  1. New Microsoft Teams Channel: A dedicated Microsoft Teams channel has been created for all CWS-CARES Data Dictionary-related materials. Your county’s Implementation Coordinator and CWS-CARES Single Point of Contact (SPOC) will be invited to the MS Teams channel. The Teams Channel is located under the CWDS Org Share, and the Channel name is CARES Data Dictionary. See the below section For Reference: Accessing Materials in MS Teams for more instructions on how to access materials. 
  1. CWS-CARES Data Dictionary and Legacy Mapping – Ready for Review: The initial version of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary, which incorporates legacy mapping of CWS/CMS fields is now available in the Teams channel under Files. The folder name is CWS-CARES Data Dictionary v0.02. 
  1. Training Video Available: A training video has been uploaded to the Teams channel under Files, in the folder called Walkthrough Recording. Please watch the video before reviewing the materials to ensure a clear understanding of the content.  
  1. FAQ Document Available: A FAQ is located on the Teams channel under CARES Data Dictionary FAQs Tab.
  1. Terms of Use: The CWS-CARES Data Dictionary documentation is considered sensitive and confidential. Please read the CWDS Terms of Use located on the Teams channel under Files. 
  1. Upcoming Webinar: A webinar will be conducted on Thursday, March 20, 2025 from 9 AM – 10 AM. Your county’s Implementation Coordinator and CWS-CARES SPOC will be invited, and the meeting invitation may be forwarded to others. The webinar will cover navigation of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary, utilization of the support documentation, and use of legacy mapping documentation with the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary. 
  1. Adding Staff to the Teams Channel: We kindly ask that you email CWDSDataManagement@osi.ca.gov with any additional County staff names and associated email addresses and their roles that should have access to the Microsoft Teams Channel:  CARES Data Dictionary. 
Publication and Ongoing Updates 
  • Updates to the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary will be published quarterly in the Teams channel. The next version will be available March 31, 2025.
  • Future versions will include significant changes, including potential additional and updated legacy mapping. 
Communication and Support 
  • Please refer to the FAQs in the Teams channel. 
For Reference: Accessing Materials in MS Teams
Under CWDS Org Share, select the CARES Data Dictionary channel.

In the CARES Data Dictionary Channel, select the Files Tab. The initial version of the Data Dictionary is available in the folder called CWS-CARES Data Dictionary v0.02. 
 
In the CARES Data Dictionary Channel, select the Files Tab. The recorded Training video walkthrough is available in the folder called Walkthrough Recording. 

We appreciate your support and understanding as we work diligently to ensure the successful implementation and ongoing maintenance of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary. 
Training, Data, CWS-CARES

EUST 2 Survey Follow-Up – Training Requirement

February 24, 2025 Communications
Registered EUST 2 Participants:
Thank you for your participation in the recently distributed Brief Survey for EUST 2 Planning. As we continue to prepare for the upcoming EUST 2 period, CWDS Project Leadership wishes to ensure that all testers have the best possible experience while participating in EUST 2. Part of ensuring a successful testing experience involves confirming that our testing participants are appropriately trained on navigating CWS-CARES. As such, the training activities planned for EUST 2 will be a requirement in order to participate in the testing process.

We understand that attending the training activities will require an additional time commitment from our participants. However, the hands-on learning opportunities and instructions that participants will be provided during the planned curriculum will prove to be crucial in ensuring that testers are able to effectively navigate the system and provide their feedback efficiently.

Training will be conducted between March 17 to March 21, 2025. The time required for each class is dependent on the tester role, as follows:

Case Management Worker, Eligibility Worker, and Court Worker: Approximately 6-hour class
Date(s) & Timing Offered:
  • Daily, Monday (3/17) – Friday (3/21) - Please use the Brief Survey for EUST 2 Planning to indicate your training date preferences. Calendar invitations will be sent, and every effort will be made to accommodate respondents’ top choices.
  • 9 – 4pm (Breaks Included)
  • Following are the durations of topics covered for each tester role and are subject to change.
EUST 2 Training: Case Management Worker Timing
Introduction to CARES and CARES Navigation 30 min
Persons, Contacts and Tribal Inquiries and Documents, Change Assignment, Task 1 hour
Introduction to Investigations Engagement & Determination 45 min
Investigations Engagement & Determination
Practice
Introduction to Case Management 1 hour
Emergency Placement pre-RFA Home
STRTP
Practice
Introduction to Eligibility 30 min
Request Determination
Practice
Court Hearing Framework 1 hour
Practice
Case 30 min
Practice
JNET 10 min
Practice

Case Management Supervisor: 1-hour class
Date(s) & Timing Offered:
  • Daily (Immediately following the Worker program noted above)
EUST 2 Training: Case Management Supervisor Timing
Investigations, Determination and Supervisor 30 min
Practice
Case Management Supervisor 30 min
Practice
Probation: Approximately 3-hour class
Date(s) Offered:
  • Wednesday, 3/19, 9am – 12pm
  • Thursday, 3/20, 9am – 12pm
EUST 2 Training: Probation Timing
Introduction to CARES and CARES Navigation 30 min
Persons, Contacts and Tribal Inquiries and Documents, Change Assignment, Task 1 hour
Introduction to Case Management - Probation 1 hour
Cases
Placement RFA/FFA
Request Determination – Eligibility
Practice

CDSS/Resource Management: 1.5-hour class
Date(s) Offered:
  • Wednesday, 3/19, 2pm – 3:30pm
  • Thursday, 3/20, 2pm – 3:30pm
EUST 2 Training: CDSS/Resource Management Timing
Introduction to CARES and CARES Navigation 30 min
CDSS Oversight and Title IV E Staff Placement 1 hour
Practice

Makeup training will be offered on March 24 and March 25 from 9AM – 4PM.

Thank you again for your time and participation.

Action Required
Attend the required training sessions appropriate for your EUST 2 tester roles.
Training, CARES, CWS-CARES

CWS/CMS: Remote County Testing - Release 9.6 Improved CWS/CMS Data Quality in Preparation for Import to CARES, Phase 3

December 16, 2024 Communications
All SPOCs and Training Contacts:
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate in the Release 9.6 County Test Workshop (CTW). Registered testers will participate in the testing of Release 9.6 Data Quality SCRs, which is scheduled for delivery to the Counties on May 17, 2025.
The CTW for Release 9.6 will be conducted in a remote setting via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) workstations.
The deadline to register is Thursday, January 9, 2025
System Change Requests (SCRs) included in this release are:
  • SCR 8982 - Add Missing Name for Placement Homes for CARES
  • SCR 8983 - Add Missing Name for Non-Foster Care Facilities for CARES
  • SCR 8999 - Update Client Dates out-of-range for CARES
  • SCR 8985 - Make Name Mandatory for Non-Foster Care Facility
  • SCR 8989 - Cleanup Outdated Home Studies
  • SCR 8843 - Transfer Enrollment between DOE Schools
  • SCR 8967 - Duplicate Hearing Notebook Warning
  • SCR 8972 - ACL 22-95 ICWA Eligibility Data Entry Mandatory Fields (Part B)
  • SCR 8943 - Expand Merge History Log
  • SCR 9020 - R9.6 Training Tools Package
Counties are encouraged to register individuals with knowledge and experience working in the areas mentioned above. A mix of end users with casework or supervisory experience will also be beneficial. Participants will validate the changes in the release and will perform tests of problem fixes and enhancements. Participants will work with other County and State testers and vendor support staff.

Remote CTW sessions will take place in the morning from 9:00AM - 12:00PM and again in the afternoon from 1:00PM – 4:00PM on the following dates: 

R9.6 Data Quality SCRs in the VB6 Environment
CWDS is seeking a total of fifteen (15) County staff members for each of the following twelve (12) sessions (2 sessions per day):
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, February 6, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, February 13, 2025 (AM or PM session)

R9.6 Data Quality SCRs in C# Environment
CWDS is seeking fifteen (15) County staff members for each of the C# fourteen (14) sessions (2 sessions per day).
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, April 3, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Monday, April 7, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, April 10, 2025 (AM or PM session)

Participants are welcome to register for any of the sessions listed above in half or whole-day increments.

We encourage you to submit your request for a specific session as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 PM on January 9, 2025. If a session’s count exceeds the maximum count, Customer Relations will work with that tester to be rescheduled for another session. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

A Release 9.6 CTW Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential tester must be received as soon as possible but no later than 5:00 PM on January 9, 2025, so the CWDS office can finalize the needed arrangements.

 Link:     https://forms.gle/cBBQdesgqUYpc5eA6

The CWDS Office will work with the registered testers on all the details of their CTW participation.  

Special Note: The County data will be pulled from the Production environment and copied to the CTW environment at the close of business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Therefore, changes to your Production environment after this date will not be in the CTW environment.

If you cannot access the Online Registration Form or have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.

Your continued support of CWDS is greatly appreciated. 

Action Required
Submit a Release 9.6 County Test Workshop Online Registration Form no later than 5:00 PM on January 9, 2025.
Training, Product Release, CWS/CMS, Testing

CWS/CMS: Remote County Testing of Release 9.5 – Improved CWS/CMS Data Quality in Preparation for CARES, Phase 2 - REMINDER

July 17, 2024 Communications
ALL SPOCs and TRAINING CONTACTS:
July 17, 2024 Update:  This is a reminder that the deadline to register for the R9.5 County Test Workshop (CTW) is Friday, July 26, 2024.

In addition, there is an update. Due to the planned testing of Windows 11 support during CTW, the decision has been made to not use Server Based Computing (SBC) for these testing sessions.  Instead, connection to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) workstations will be used.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate in the Release 9.5 County Test Workshop (CTW).  Release 9.5 is scheduled for delivery to the counties on December 14, 2024.
The CTW for Release 9.5 will be conducted in a remote setting, via Server Based Computing (SBC) soft tokens. 
The deadline to register is: July 26, 2024

The CWDS Office is requesting county staff to participate in the Release 9.5 CTW.  Registered testers will participate in the testing of Release 9.5, which is scheduled for delivery to the counties on December 14, 2024.  CWDS is seeking a total of 15 county staff members for each of the 12 sessions (2 sessions per day, 9AM - 12PM and 1PM - 4PM) for VB6 testing and 16 sessions (2 sessions per day, 9AM - 12PM and 1PM - 4PM) for C# testing. There will be no testing from 12PM - 1PM each day of CTW.   

Remote CTW sessions for VB6 testing will be on the following dates: 
Tuesday, August 27, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, August 29, 2024 (AM or PM session)

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, September 5, 2024 (AM or PM session)

Remote CTW sessions for C# testing will be on the following dates: 
Monday, October 21, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, October 23, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, October 24, 2024 (AM or PM session)

Monday, October 28, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 (AM or PM session)
Thursday, October 31, 2024 (AM or PM session)

Participants are welcome to register for any of the sessions listed above, in half or whole day increments. The sessions will be limited to a maximum of 15 people per session.  No exceptions. 

We encourage you to submit your request for a specific session as soon as possible, but no later than close of business on July 26, 2024.  If a daily count exceeds the maximum count, Customer Relations will work with that tester to be rescheduled to another session. 

Please note that all requests must be submitted by the deadline so that the CWDS Office can finalize the needed arrangements.  Late registrations cannot be accepted.

A  Release 9.5 County Test Workshop Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential tester must be received as soon as possible, but no later than close of business on July 26, 2024.

 Link: Release 9.5 (VB6 and C#) County Test Workshop (CTW) Registration Form  

If for any reason, you cannot access the Online Registration Form, please contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.
The CWDS Office will work with the registered participants on all the details of their CTW participation.  

SBC Soft Token Use:
Once registration has closed on July 26, 2024, Customer Relations will schedule a WebEx meeting with testers and their County IT Contacts.  The purpose of this meeting will be to make sure that your County IT can configure your workstation with the needed software and any other required configurations.  If this cannot be accomplished, your registration in this CTW cannot be accommodated. 
System Change Requests (SCRs) included: 
  • SCR 8954 – Service Provider NPI Data Batch Update
  • SCR 8960 – Other Child in Home Name Fields
  • SCR 8961 – Other Child in Home Name Fields Data Population
  • SCR 8964 – Update CWS/CMS User Emails for CARES Readiness
  • SCR 8965 – Mandatory CWS/CMS User Emails
  • SCR 8970 – Deduplication of Hearing Notebooks
  • SCR 8971 – Illogical Client Relationship Correction
  • SCR 8990 – R9.5 Training Tools Package
Counties are encouraged to register individuals with knowledge and experience working in the areas mentioned above.  A mix of end users with casework or supervisory experience will also be very helpful.  Participants will validate the changes in the release and will perform tests of problem fixes and enhancements. Participants will work with other County and State testers as well as vendor support staff.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact:  Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.
Your continued support of CWDS is greatly appreciated. 

Action Required
Submit a Release 9.5 County Test Workshop Online Registration Form no later than July 26, 2024.
Training, CWS/CMS

CARES-Live Training Environment Scheduled Maintenance

April 02, 2024 Communications

All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and Training Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance to the CARES-Live Training Environment on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This scheduled maintenance is to upgrade the Training Environment to the CARES-Live 2.8.29 version. Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live Training Environment during the scheduled outage.

Action Required
If users experience any issues with CARES-Live Training Environment, 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 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.

Training, CARES-Live

CARES-Live Training Environment Scheduled Maintenance

January 30, 2024 Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and Training Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance to the CARES-Live Training Environment on Friday, February 2, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This scheduled maintenance is to upgrade the Training Environment to the CARES-Live 2.8.28.1 version. Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live Training Environment during the scheduled outage.

Action Required
If users experience any issues with CARES-Live Training Environment, 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 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.
Training, Maintenance, CARES-Live