Update

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

October 30, 2025 UPDATE: The California Department of Technology (CDT) deployed their fix yesterday. Along with the patch applied yesterday by the CWDS Office, the www.ca.gov website latency issue has been resolved. Users should not experience any issue or delays when accessing the CWDS website (https://cwds.ca.gov).

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The California Department of Technology (CDT) is experiencing an issue with their shared statewide template. This issue is causing a latency issue with the www.ca.gov websites, including the CWDS website, https://cwds.ca.gov. When attempting to access the website, users will experience delays, or find the site unreachable, as the page’s contents are loading.

The CDT will deploy a fix to improve the latency later today. The CWDS Office has already applied a patch to mitigate the issue. Loading delays should be reduced.

We will provide additional updates as we receive them.

Action Required

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

This communication is a follow-up to the October 17, 2025, correspondence on the status of the CWS-CARES Project's Advance Planning Document Update (APDU), specific implementation activities, and the resulting impacts of the ongoing federal shutdown. 

The federal shutdown has impacted the submission and subsequent approval of the CWS-CARES APDU by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The absence of approved federal funding necessitates a suspension of specific implementation activities. Formally approved funding is a prerequisite for executing any CWS-CARES service contracts or contract amendments. To ensure fiscal prudence and preserve existing funding, most implementation activities will be temporarily paused effective November 3, 2025. All other implementation activities not explicitly listed below are paused pending further guidance. 

The following key implementation activities will proceed as scheduled or with necessary adjustments: 

1. Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST) 3 Training Development and Delivery: This workstream will continue as planned. The Training Advisory Workgroup meetings will focus exclusively on EUST 3.
    
2. Process Information Sessions: These sessions will continue as planned for all of the remaining topics: Courts, Probation, Resource Family Approval (RFA), Resource Management (RM), Financial Management (FM), and Administrative Services. The OCM Advisory Workgroup meetings will focus exclusively on Process Information Session preparation. 
    
3. Organization Readiness: This activity continues with modifications. We will monitor and report Organization Readiness status to relevant leadership and organizations. However, existing monthly county Implementation Readiness Meetings will be canceled and replaced by a new series of regionally aligned group meetings, in some cases led by different facilitators and using a revised format. These meetings will be used to collect and report on Organization Readiness status to leadership and partner organizations.  

Updates on Sandbox, Process Simulation, and Pilot activities will be shared in a subsequent communication. 

Significant areas of the CWS-CARES Project are continuing without interruption including prototype and build reviews, Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST), forms, reports, data conversion and external systems activities. Your organizations should continue all work, including associated readiness activities. 

The CWS-CARES Version 1 Go-Live Date remains October 2026. 

We appreciate your understanding and continued partnership as we navigate these required adjustments. We will provide continuous updates as decisions are formalized. 

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

The CWS-CARES Pop-Up Shop - Reminder

The online CWS-CARES Pop-Up Shop is now open and ready for business until Friday, September 26, 2025. You can shop our exclusive collection of CWS-CARES branded items online. This limited-time shop is open to everyone, including 58 California county child welfare and probation departments and CWDS Project staff. 

For more details regarding shipping fees, invoice requests, and future Pop-Up Shops, please reference the following link: Featured Items and FAQs. Happy Shopping! 

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CWS-CARES Process Information Sessions

The CWS-CARES Team is delivering a series of virtual Process Information Sessions to walk through new processes in CWS-CARES to explain how they will impact the way staff complete their work. These sessions are designed to ensure participants understand new and revised business processes so they can update their policies, processes, and workflows as needed. 

To date,18 process information sessions have been completed – 7 sessions for Intake (Screening and Investigations) and 11 for Placement/Eligibility. The next set of sessions will be held in September and October and will focus on Assessments, Supervised Visitation, and Case Closure; Aftercare and Re-Entry; Services and Plans; Prevention Services; and Adoptions.  

To view the session recordings, slides, and Q&A documents, visit CWS-CARES Process Information Sessions Session Materials.

For questions, please contact the CWDS Implementation Team.

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External Systems Monthly Meetings

The CWS-CARES Project launched a new External Systems Monthly Meeting Series to create a consistent space for organizations to connect with the Project team, share updates, ask questions, and stay aligned on upcoming activities. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month from 10–11 AM.  

Topics covered so far: 

• July 10: Kickoff and External Systems Overview 
• August 14: Resource Family Approval (RFA) Overview 
• September 11: Data Conversion and County Engagement Milestones 

Upcoming Session Topics:

• October 9: Continued Operations – Validating and Preparing External Systems for CWS-CARES V1 Go-Live 
• November 13: Exploring Validation Tools and Activities Available 

If you would like to receive a meeting invite, please contact the External Systems Coordination Unit (ESCU) Team. To access session records, slides, and Q&A documents, visit the External Systems Portal: Meeting Materials.  

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New CWS-CARES Slogan

We have developed a brand statement / slogan for CWS-CARES that articulates the product vision & values. The new CWS-CARES slogan is:  
 
“Advancing child welfare, together. CWS-CARES supports the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families across California through enhanced data collection and informed decision-making.” 

Organizations are encouraged to use this slogan in materials, presentations, and communications to reinforce the shared vision of collaboration and commitment to improving outcomes for children and families across California. 

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Guidelines for Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bots/Assistants in Meetings

This is a reminder that the CWDS Office has provided guidance on the appropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) bots/assistants in meetings.  

The attached document titled Guidelines for Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bots/Assistants in Meetings describes the guidelines.  

These guidelines went into effect on September 2, 2025. 

While the context of the guidelines pertains to CWDS organized meetings, it is recommended that they be followed whenever CWDS managed systems are in discussion. These guidelines should be communicated at the start of any meetings that you host. 

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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. 

Action Required

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

All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:

The Server Based Computing Services (SBCS) team of the California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled an upgrade to the Citrix NetScaler firmware. This upgrade will occur on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, beginning at 6:00 PM and concluding at 11:59 PM. During the upgrade window, users may be kicked out of, or unable to log in to, Citrix SBC.

This activity will not impact those connecting to the CWS/CMS application via direct access or through other remote access, such as Virtual Privat Network (VPN).

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.

• If you log in between August 29, 2025 - November 26, 2025:

You will see a banner at the top of your screen reminding you to set up MFA. You will have a 30-day grace period to complete the self-enrollment. While you can continue to log in with your username and password during this time, the banner will remain visible until you enroll. After the grace period ends, you will be required to enroll immediately upon your next login. Here is a screenshot of the banner message:

• If you do not log in until after November 26, 2025:

• AD 512 NMD (version 12/24): Psychosocial and Medical History of Non-Minor Dependent

• 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.

• The ELT approved an indefinite pause on the full production implementation of the C# version of the CWS/CMS application.
• Release 9.6 will be the final version that will be retrofitted and tested within the C# code base.
• CWS/CMS production releases will continue to be deployed in the VB6 codebase for Releases 9.6, 9.7 and 9.8.

• The goal of this release is, Improved CWS/CMS Data Quality in Preparation for Import to CARES, Phase 3.
• Development and VB6 code base testing have been completed successfully.
• C# code base County Test Workshop (CTW) is scheduled between June 23rd and June 27, 2025
• The new CWS/CMS Release 9.6 Go-Live date is August 16, 2025.

• SCR 9032 – CARES Production Pilot Technical Solution
• Release 9.7 is tentatively scheduled to Go-Live in December 2025.

• SCR 9003 – Place the CWS/CMS in a Read-only State
• Release 9.8 will be finalized and ready for deployment ahead of the CARES Statewide Go-Live.