A: The CWS-CARES Tribal Governments Directory will allow for organizational information for both Federally Recognized and Non-Federally Recognized Tribes to be entered in the system. Organizational information will include Contact Information, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Region (if applicable), CWS/CMS Tribal Number (if applicable), ability to record if the Tribe is Federally Recognized, whether the Tribe has lands in California or that extend into California, and if it has an IV-E and/or 1919 Agreement. The Directory will also capture whether the tribe provides Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Tribal TANF Counties served. Contact person(s) for each tribe will be documented in CWS-CARES. Contact information will include name, title, and role. CWS-CARES will provide the ability to add multiple contact people per tribal organization with different associated roles. 

A: CWS-CARES V1, CWS-CARES functionality will support Plans of Safe Care and the capture of all substance abuse and exposure information (Alcohol and Other Drugs) necessary to complete the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will release additional guidance on opportunities to use CWS-CARES in support of assessment and treatment protocols.

For V1, the state does not plan to build a dedicated medical assessment in CWS-CARES, but the worker could attach any document to a record such as an investigation, case, child health information, etc. in support of any correlations the worker draws between exposure and symptoms. As the CWDS project and the counties identify additional guidance and practices, CWS-CARES will expand functionality to meet additional needs in CWS-CARES V2 and any subsequent releases.

A: CWS-CARES will have a “Data checking tool” that can be run to make sure that we have entered known data related to Federal and State Reports. CWS-CARES will also have the ability to see who edits records and when they are edited. CWS-CARES will not have CFSR functions. However, we support CFSR with clearer ways to find information such as a structured contact note, clear documentation of case start dates, concurrent plan, service provision, etc.

A: Social workers will be able to complete all intake and hotline steps digitally, removing the use and needs of paper forms to complete the intake process. When a worker is in CWS-CARES and completing the Intake process, the worker will be directed to a newly created Structured Decision Making (SDM) tool where certain information will be automatically populated from CWS-CARES into the assessment fields, thus streamlining the assessment process. Once the assessment is completed, the assessment results will be shared back to the CWS-CARES system.
 
With the release of CWS-CARES, county workers will be directed to use the new modernized system and will no longer use CWS/CMS or CARES-Live. The existing WebSDM application will no longer be used, and the worker will be directed to use the SDM Assessment(s) via the CWS-CARES system.

A: Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) is introducing the following three new case types for guardianships:

• Non-related legal guardian from probate court.
• Non-related legal guardian from dependency court.
• Relative guardian.

A: Currently, no. Workers need to complete the SDM tool before submitting a referral to their supervisor.

A: The screening number will remain the same (for the screening) throughout the life cycle of a child’s involvement with the child welfare system. Should the screening advance to an investigation and/or a case, the investigation and case numbers would be different. CWS-CARES V1 will maintain the history of all “units of work,” including screening, investigations, child welfare cases, court cases and eligibility files, associated with a given person.