Update

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

April 01, 2025 Communications
External Systems Points of Contact, CARES SPOCs, County Leadership, CARES Implementation Coordinators, and OCM Coordinators:
 
April 1, 2025 UPDATE: As stated in the original communication sent out on March 4, 2025, the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary will be published on a quarterly basis. This update is to notify everyone that v0.03 of the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary is now available to view in the MS Teams channel under ‘Files.’

This updated version includes:
1) Newly added tab:
a) "Column Definitions" tab
2) Changes to the current tabs:
a) "Tables" tab - newly added/removed object names based on application development activities.
b) "Columns" tab - newly added/removed columns names based on application development activities.
c) "Relationships" tab - modified relationships based on application development activities.
d) "Columns" tab - added “Unique” column.
e) "Columns" tab - removed “DISPLAYED_ON_SCREEN” column. This column will be added back in future versions.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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. 
Data, Update, CARES, CWS/CMS, CWS-CARES

CWS/CMS: Major Incident Status - VPN Service Unavailable - RESOLVED

April 01, 2025 Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

April 1, 2025 UPDATE: The California Department of Technology (CDT) is reporting that the issue with the Virtual Private Network (VPN) has been resolved. Users should now be able to access VPN.
______________________________________________________________________________________
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has reported a major incident. Users are unable to connect to the Virtual Private Network (VPN). The CWDS Infrastructure team and CDT are investigating the issue. There is currently no estimate of when VPN access will be restored.

We will send out updates as new information is received.

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

New CWDS Meeting and Event Calendar

March 27, 2025 Communications
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.
 
Update, Announcement, CARES, CWS-CARES

CWS-CARES Users Website Update | Effective April 8, 2025

March 25, 2025 Communications
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.
 
  1. The CWS-CARES Users page is currently located under the ‘Stakeholder Resources’ dropdown (note: URL for this page has not changed):

 
  1. 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:
 
  1. 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:
  2. “Follow our Progress” (part of the horizontal navigation bar at the top of the page)
  3. “RFA and CARES-Live Users” (part of the “Stakeholder Resources” drop down menu)
  4. “Technical Support” (part of the “Stakeholder Resources” drop down menu)
 
  1. In addition to these changes, the resources found on the former page titled “Project Reporting” will be moved to the following locations:
    1. Legislative Updates – Monthly: now visible under “Follow Our Progress”
    2. CWDS Planning Roadmap & Timeline: now visible under “Follow Our Progress”
    3. CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefings: now on CARES User Resources | Child Welfare Digital Services
 
  1. 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.
 
Update, Announcement, CWS-CARES

CWS/CMS: Reports of Server Based Computing Unavailability - RESOLVED

March 17, 2025 Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:

March 17, 2025 UPDATE: The California Department of Technology (CDT) has resolved the issue which prevented access to Server Based Computing (SBC). Counties are now reporting that they are successfully accessing SBC and are able to launch the CWS/CMS application.

Please contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) if you continue to experience any issue with accessing CWS/CMS or with SBC.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Multiple counties have reported issues with connecting to Citrix Server Based Computing (SBC). The CWDS Infrastructure Team is working with the California Department of Technology (CDT) to determine the cause and resolution for this issue.

There is currently no estimate of when the issue will be resolved. Updates will be shared as new information is received.

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.
Update, CWS/CMS

CWS/CMS: County Access Data (CAD) Business Objects - RESOLVED

March 14, 2025 Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:

March 14, 2025 UPDATE: The Search indexing issue has been resolved.
________________________________________________________________________

The CWS/CMS CAD BusinessObjects (BO) server was unavailable last night, January 29, 2025. It was rebooted this morning at 10:10 AM, and the service was restored. The Search indexing caused logging issues for the DB2. Therefore, the Search indexing has been temporarily paused until the issue is resolved. Additionally, no scheduled reports were run this morning, but the scheduler is now running and will catch up soon. Therefore, you may experience some slowness. Please check in periodically for completed reports throughout the morning. 
 
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports today and tomorrow morning. Rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
Contact CWDS Customer Relations if you require more information regarding this issue.
 
Update, CWS/CMS

CWS-CARES – Core Constituent Feedback - UPDATE

February 27, 2025 Communications
To: Core Constituent Points of Contact
The feedback you have provided in our quarterly Core Constituent Surveys is driving meaningful improvement in how we communicate, collaborate, and enhance the CWS-CARES experience. We are sharing a summary of the completed and in progress actions we have taken from your feedback.  
 
Changes Made Based on Your Feedback 
  1. Enhanced Feedback Process: You expressed a desire for better visibility into the status of the feedback you provide and clearer communication about the feedback process. 
  1. Improved Meeting Scheduling and Experience: You shared that meetings should be scheduled in advance, a clear view of upcoming meetings should be available for planning, and agendas should include enough detail to help determine who needs to attend and assist with scheduling. 
    • A standardized Core Constituent Demonstration meeting invite template now includes specific details on agenda items and scenarios.  
    • The CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar is published monthly to reflect a 3 month view of upcoming meetings, including Core Constituent demonstrations, implementation meetings, and key workgroups. In Spring 2025, we will transition to a real-time meeting calendar on the CWDS webpage, ensuring accurate and up-to-date scheduling.  
    • Core Constituent demonstrations and key meetings are now scheduled at least 1 month in advance. 
  1. Streamlined Access to Key Information: You requested big picture updates, an updated project roadmap, functionality updates, and demonstrations comparing CWS/CMS and CWS-CARES. 
    • The CARES Compass: Executive Summary and CARES Explorer: Project Newsletter keep stakeholders informed about project updates, including deep dives into service areas, system functionality, and interfaces. 
    • The updated CWDS Planning Roadmap is now available on the CWDS webpage. 
    • The CARES Experiences Timeline reflects organization activities and tasks that provide experiences for direct observation or participation in CWS-CARES up to Version 1 Go-Live.  
    • The Stakeholder Briefings include Product demonstrations with side-by-side comparisons of CWS/CMS and CWS-CARES. 
Upcoming Changes  
These items are planning for release in Spring 2025 to further enhance transparency and engagement: 
  • A Real-Time Meeting Calendar: A new CWDS Meeting & Event Calendar will launch on the webpage, ensuring accurate, up-to-date scheduling with direct access for Core Constituents. 
  • Big-Picture Project Updates: A Project Progress Summary will provide updates on CWS-CARES progress, including updates on Product, External Systems and Data Conversion, User Engagement, Implementation/OCM/Training, and Project Announcements/Engagement Opportunities. 
  • Core Constituent Orientation Guide: This resource will provide onboarding support resources for new Core Constituents, including links to key resources. 
While there is still room for improvement, we want to keep you informed on what has been accomplished and what is underway. We will continue to share updates as we implement further enhancements. 
 
Share Your Feedback in the Next Survey 
We want to continue improving based on your input, and your participation is essential. Stay tuned for a request to complete the next Core Constituent Survey in March 2025.

Action Required
Please share this information with those at your organization who need to be updated.
Update, CARES, CWS-CARES

CARES-Live Scheduled Maintenance - UPDATE

February 24, 2025 Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
February 24, 2025 UPDATE: Due to a schedule conflict with another maintenance window, this CARES-Live maintenance has been rescheduled to Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Users will still not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the re-scheduled outage.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance the CARES-Live team will focus on application maintenance changes that are not visible to CARES-Live users.

NOTE: Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the scheduled outage.

 Action Required
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 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.
Update, Maintenance, CARES-Live

CWDS Website Update – CWS-CARES Public Library

February 24, 2025 Communications
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. 
  1. The CWS-CARES Public Library will be located under ‘Stakeholder Resources’ dropdown - navigate to ‘CWS-CARES Users.’

 
  1. On the ‘CWS-CARES Users page’ you will find the link to the CARES Public Library.

 
  1. 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.

 
  1. Click on any article title to view the full text on its own page.

 
  1. ​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.
Update, Announcement, CARES, CWS-CARES

Updated CWS/CMS Workstation Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Install Options Guide

February 14, 2025 Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWS/CMS Workstation Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Install Options guide has been updated to version 7.3. The date of this updated guide is February 5, 2025. IBM/Kyndryl have loaded this updated guide to the Co-Existent Counties’ shared folder (CodeDist\COTS_Software\Windows_11) If a Co-Existent County does not see the updated version in their shared folder, then review to confirm that the folder is synced to copy the files from the IBM folder. A manual sync might be needed if the automated process is not active.

In addition, the guide has also been added to the CWDS website at https://cwds.ca.gov/pages/hardware_technical_information. You can navigate to the guide by opening the ‘CWDS website’ à click the drop-down arrow next to the ‘Stakeholder Resources’ header à click on the ‘CWS/CMS User’ link à click on the ‘CWS/CMS Guides’ link listed below the “County Logon” header ( website logon is required to access this section) à click on the ‘Hardware and Technical Information’ link à click on the ‘CWS Workstation COTS Install Options v7.3’ link.

Action Required
Co-Existent Counties should review the CWS/CMS Workstation COTS Install Options guide to build their workstation image to match the settings used for the Dedicated County image.
Update, CWS/CMS