Frequently Asked Questions
Data
Q: What updates can you share regarding progress on improving the reporting functionality?
A: The Project is currently assessing options to support counties and evaluating improvements to the reporting experience aligned with post‑CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) priorities and capacity.
Q: Given the ongoing problems with payment delays, incorrect validation logic, and data mismatches, what progress has been made on improving FCED?
A: To resolve current Foster Care Eligibility Determination (FCED) issues, development and testing should be completed ahead of Code Freeze, with clear identification of mandatory data fields, automated resubmission and error reporting for interface failures, and full end‑to‑end payment‑processing testing. Additional steps include producing daily reconciliation reports and establishing a process that allows payments for voluntary foster care placements when a petition is not yet sustained.
Q: Given the issues with unreliable search and record‑management functions, including duplicate results and limitations with merge/unmerge, what progress has been made to address these problems?
A: The unmerge workflow is currently under development. This work was previously dependent on onboarding the new Service Desk vendor; however, due to contracting timelines, the Project has moved forward with development of the technical components of the unmerge workflow.
Technical testing will be completed, and the timing will be confirmed. Once the new Service Desk vendor begins onboarding in early October, the Project will work with the vendor to validate the end-to-end unmerge ticketing process, including routing, assignment, notifications, and the ability to support the targeted 48-hour SLA.
The Project deployed additional enhancements and refinements to the Civica Search tool in the Production Simulation environment at the end of August 2026, including enhancements to the “AND/OR” search criteria. The Project continues to refine search functionality based on testing results and county feedback.
Q: Will there be improvements to the search functionality, and what enhancements can users expect?
A: The following Search enhancements were deployed to Production Simulation (Prod Sim, or CARES100) on August 29, 2026:
- The Person and RM (Resource Management) Directory Search now use the “And” operator instead of “Or,” resulting in more precise and narrowed search results.
- In Person Search, the “Sex at Birth” and “Approximate Age” criteria are now fully functional. Phonetic search for first and last names has also been enabled to make it easier to locate the intended individual. Previously reported performance issues, where searches took up to 2 minutes to return results, have been resolved.
- In RM Directory Search, multi-select capability for placement category types is now available.
Q: When will Organizations know whether they need to go back into CWS-CARES to update any data entered through workarounds?
A: Weekly release notes will include which functionality is being released and any workarounds that are being retired. To access the release notes, log into the System Updates & Release Notes page of the Production Simulation Hub.
Q: What guidance will be provided on the timelines for entering RFA manual data into CARES after go‑live, and how will this align with the Binti transition?
A: Additional information was released to all counties on August 31, 2026. For full details, see the Interim Guidance Document: Managing RFA, Emergency Placements, and External Systems Processes at CARES V1 Go-Live in the CWDS website.
To reduce impacts to the families and children we serve, counties will be permitted to complete Resource Family Home Applications initiated prior to CWS-CARES V1 Go-Live in the external system in which it was initiated until data conversion to CWS-CARES is complete. For systems with data conversion deferred to until after CWS-CARES Go-Live, conversion is currently anticipated to occur in July 2027. Once all active applications have been completed in the external system or data conversion is complete, whichever comes first, the external systems identified are required to be made inactive or read-only.
Q: Where can I find additional information regarding the Binti data conversion transition?
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.
Q: Will the Resource Family Approval (RFA) Portal be in the CWS-CARES site, or is this a separate site with a separate log in?
A: For the resource family, the Resource Family Approval (RFA) Portal will be a separate site with a separate log-in from CWS-CARES. However, the data from the RFA Portal will be available within CWS-CARES for the worker.
Q: Why are not all staff able to access the on-demand trainings that are self-paced?
A: Giving all users access to the training environment is difficult when we are pre-seeding data. We want a limited number of users in the training environment to help protect the seeded data, and to ensure that the data is working as expected with the production-level data.
Q: How long does created data last within the CARES104 Training Environment?
A: There are currently no plans to remove created data in the training environment.