Frequently Asked Questions
Case Management
Q: When will the Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care (HCPCFC) and Health and Education Passport (HEP) functionality be available in CWS-CARES, and how will Public Health Nurses (PHNs) document and share health information with social workers in the interim?
A: Documenting foster children and youth's medical needs, as well as generating the HEP document, will be available in CWS-CARES when we go live in October 2026.
Q: How/where will Child and Family Team (CFT) Brochure distribution to CFT members, required by All County Letter (ACL) 25-54, be logged and tracked in CWS-CARES?
A: ACL 25-54 is a new requirement that was published in 2025. We are tracking this requirement in our backlog, and it will be implemented in a future version of CWS-CARES.
Q: Will the system time stamp work completed in the system that supervisors can review?
A: CWS-CARES V1 will include a repository of completed work, with date and time of completion. CWS-CARES V1 will also support supervisor review and approval workflows. The CWS-CARES Data Infrastructure (CDI) will record all data changes (create, update, and delete transactions) to support supervision, auditing, and analytics.
Q: Can two people make updates to a record at the same time in CWS-CARES?
A: CWS-CARES has capability for multiple people to work on a case at the same, as long as they are not working on the same record simultaneously. But concurrent changes to the same case on different record fields will be saved.
Q: Is it possible in CWS-CARES to systematically track when parent(s) are incarcerated so that plans and outcomes can be adequately created and tracked?
A: Yes, there will be a way for a worker or other user to enter this data manually into CWS-CARES, so that it can be referenced when developing case and safety plans.
Q: Where in CWS-CARES can workers document a relative's contact history and chosen level of involvement with a child?
A: Family information in the Person Profile screen is documented under the 'Relationships' record found in the left navigation, where you can document familial and professional relationships between two persons. Specific information regarding a relative's involvement with a focus child can be found under Family Finding on Search Efforts within a case.
Q: Will the Attorney-Client Log be mandatory for counties to use?
A: No. Counties are not required to maintain an Attorney-Client Log in CWS-CARES. However, it serves as a valuable tool for documenting confidential communications between County Counsel and agency personnel. Access is restricted to authorized individuals directly involved with the case (Primary, Supervisor, or Manager), and the log is protected from discovery and public records requests. This helps ensure that essential legal advice remains documented and accessible to relevant staff while maintaining confidentiality.
Q: After the initial hotline report is completed, what does a worker do if/when they receive new information ?
A: If the initial screening has been submitted for approval to the supervisor (and not yet approved), the worker can "recall" the screening to add any additional information. If it has already been approved by the supervisor the information can be added to the Investigation if the user has the appropriate permissions or routed to the assigned worker.
Q: Which RM Directory Types will counties be responsible for maintaining, versus those maintained by Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS), California Department of Social Services (CDSS), or Community Care Licensing (CCL)?
A: Counties will maintain records for service providers, law enforcement agencies, county superior courts, district attorney offices, county offices, and adoption agencies, with much of this information being converted from CWS/CMS. The California Department of Education (CDE) will maintain education provider records, the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) will maintain information for regional centers, and Community Care Licensing (CCL) will maintain records for licensed facilities such as FFAs, STRTPs, and TTHPs.
Q: What type of information should be entered in the 'Additional Information' field on the CWS-CARES Person Profile screen?
A: The 'Additional Information' field allows workers to enter any relevant information they consider pertinent. This field is intentionally open-ended to accommodate individual county practice.