Q: How was the Core Constituent model formed, how was it agreed to, and how does it work?
A: The model and budget were approved by the Federal Administration for Children Youth and Families and the Child Welfare Digital Services Board of Directors which is composed of representatives from the County Welfare Directors Association, the California Department of Social Services, the State Department of Finance, Health and Human Services Agency, the California Department of Technology, and the State Office of Technology and Systems Integration.
During the initial planning phases of the CWS-CARES project (then referred to as CWS-NS), the Child Welfare functionality was divided into modules referred to as Digital Services: Intake, Case Management, Courts, Eligibility, Certification and Licensing, Financial Management, Resource Management, and Administration. The County Welfare Directors Association worked with the State and Federal partners to secure a project budget for Counties participation in the development and implementation of the new system.
Core Counties were solicited to participate in the development of each module. To balance the need for diverse county input with the size of the working team, the number of Counties for each digital service was targeted to be 6, depending on the module and the counties’ willingness to participate. Case Management, due to its size, was broken into 4 areas with 6 counties in each, designated CM 1-4. The CWDA Executive Liaison was in communication with each County Human Services Director and Child Welfare Director and obtained and confirmed each County’s participation; later the subsequent Executive Liaison re-confirmed each County’s participation prior to the “kickoff” of system development and then a third acting Executive Liaison reconfirmed participation, realigned a Resource Management County, and added 2 additional Financial Management counties based on resources and requirements at that time.
Core County Constituents are county employees who remain in their existing county roles and are authorized by their counties to provide subject matter expertise on a part-time basis to inform the design of CWS-CARES. The county submits claims to the project based on the Core Constituents hours worked on the project. Please see the Core Constituent Participation Model for a visual aid.
During the initial planning phases of the CWS-CARES project (then referred to as CWS-NS), the Child Welfare functionality was divided into modules referred to as Digital Services: Intake, Case Management, Courts, Eligibility, Certification and Licensing, Financial Management, Resource Management, and Administration. The County Welfare Directors Association worked with the State and Federal partners to secure a project budget for Counties participation in the development and implementation of the new system.
Core Counties were solicited to participate in the development of each module. To balance the need for diverse county input with the size of the working team, the number of Counties for each digital service was targeted to be 6, depending on the module and the counties’ willingness to participate. Case Management, due to its size, was broken into 4 areas with 6 counties in each, designated CM 1-4. The CWDA Executive Liaison was in communication with each County Human Services Director and Child Welfare Director and obtained and confirmed each County’s participation; later the subsequent Executive Liaison re-confirmed each County’s participation prior to the “kickoff” of system development and then a third acting Executive Liaison reconfirmed participation, realigned a Resource Management County, and added 2 additional Financial Management counties based on resources and requirements at that time.
Core County Constituents are county employees who remain in their existing county roles and are authorized by their counties to provide subject matter expertise on a part-time basis to inform the design of CWS-CARES. The county submits claims to the project based on the Core Constituents hours worked on the project. Please see the Core Constituent Participation Model for a visual aid.