Frequently Asked Questions
Admin Services
Q: What updates can you share regarding improvements to access and permissions in CARES?
A: The Project reports that Roles Based Access will be ready for testing during Production Simulation, the CWS-CARES Administration team is supporting user setup, and staff lists have been updated to include only active users.
Q: What training and preparation will county Help Desk teams receive to ensure they are ready to support users at Go‑Live?
A: County Help Desk teams will receive targeted guidance and training to ensure they are ready for Go‑Live. The project is defining clear roles for Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 support, and policies and procedures for local Tier 1 help desks are currently being developed. A new service desk vendor begins at the end of September, and counties will receive information to help them understand the transition and what support will look like during cutover and Go‑Live. The Production Simulation (Prod Sim) team will remain in place to assist throughout this period.
Counties can leverage built‑in CWS-CARES tools and ServiceNow, which will guide users through basic troubleshooting and route issues to live support when needed. Some counties will use local Tier 1 help desks, while others without local support will contact the project help desk directly.
A small SME huddle will be convened to finalize help desk procedures, and counties are invited to provide input through county leadership and CWDA to the Project.
Q: What factors will counties be told must be met during the go/no‑go decision process?
A: ELT received a walkthrough on August 24, 2026. The 60-day checklist can be obtained from CWDA.
Q: Will counties receive a list of the 76 pending ACLs and ACINs that will be updated because of CARES?
A: A list of the pending All County Letters (ACLs) and All County Information Notices (ACINs) was provided to CWDA and County Leadership representatives via email on August 19, 2026.
Q: How will the ticketing system identify training needs and system issues, and how will users receive feedback through the ticket process?
A: The ticketing system helps identify both system defects and training needs by tracking issue trends and reviewing how tickets are submitted and resolved. Tickets stay open until fixes are confirmed, ensuring accurate visibility into recurring problems. Tier 2 follows established workaround guidance before escalating or closing issues, and users retest fixes or tickets close after five business days without response.
Service desk reviews and data analysis highlight where additional user training is needed and whether training-related issues are entering the ticket system. OTSI will also verify that current county messaging on ticket closure aligns with actual ticket behavior.
Through this process, the system provides users with clear updates while helping identify both technical issues and training gaps.
Q: How will Binti counties receive communication regarding contract amendments and approvals?
A: Additional information was released to all counties on August 31, 2026. For full details, see the Binti County Guidance Update: Contracts, 181 Report Planning, New Workshop Series and Resources – 8/31/2026 communication in the CWDS website.
Counties should decide whether to extend their Binti contracts based on when those contracts expire and how much Resource Family Approval (RFA) work is still underway. As work in Binti winds down, systems can move to read‑only access.
Because Binti data conversion is planned for end of July 2027, counties are encouraged to keep contract flexibility and ensure they have secure plans for storing any data they retain. Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) waiver funding ends in October 2026, but an extension is being pursued. Any software licensing changes for child welfare systems require an Advance Planning Document (APD) and State approval.
Q: After Go-Live, when CWS/CMS goes into read-only mode, how do counties terminate account access for staff who are no longer with the division? County Admins will not have the ability to terminate access like before. Additionally, will the State be automatically terminating CWS/CMS access when a CWS-CARES Account is terminated? Will County Admins need to submit a ticket to the State for termination?
A: Counties will need to submit CWS/CMS Help Desk tickets to IBM to request termination of account access. County Admins will not have the ability to terminate that access like before but will be given access to weekly deactivation reports in CWS-CARES to help support this process. Please note that CWS/CMS account access will not automatically be terminated when an CWS-CARES account is terminated, so please ensure to submit a CWS/CMS ticket to IBM for CWS/CMS account access termination.
Q: How are the Regional Office Staff, Social and Mental Health Services (SAMMS), Duty Emergency Response Supervising Children’s Social Worker (ER SCSW), and Assigned Emergency Response Children’s Social Worker (ER CSW) notified of a new Immediate Response (IR) Referral? Who sends the alerts, are they automated?
A: If someone gets assigned to a unit of work as a primary or secondary, they will then get notifications pertaining to that assignment. Supervisors also get an email once the screening has been submitted for approval. Any other noticing will have to be handled per county business processes as determined by each county whether that is by assignments within CWS-CARES or an external county business process.
Q: Will the CWS-CARES registration process be changing post-Go-Live? How will this look for new employees coming post-Go-Live?
A: After Go-Live, County Admins are responsible for creating new user accounts and assigning permissions in the Admin Console for any staff who join the department post–Go-Live.
Q: Do counties have full control over who can access to P-CIS (CANS)?
A: Yes, P-CIS access will be permission/role-based and controlled by counties.