Frequently Asked Questions
External System Monthly Meeting
Q: Regarding the Decommissioning Activities Timeline, can decommissioning activities for external systems begin before February 2027?
A: Yes, decommissioning activities can begin prior to February 2027. Organizations (California Department of Social Services, Counties, Tribes with California Title IV-E Agreement(s)) are encouraged to begin validating fully In-Scope functionality in the Production Simulation environment. Early validation can provide opportunity to minimize duplicate data entry, revise and finalize business processes in preparation for Go-Live, and/or move forward with plans to set fully In-Scope system(s) to read-only or decommission.
Q: Who is responsible for ensuring current Resource Family Approval (RFA) caregivers in Binti counties are informed about CWS-CARES account access? What is the communication approach for informing RFA applicants that there will be a transition from Binti to CWS-CARES?
A: Approved Resource Family Homes (RFHs)/applicants with an email address associated with their Binti account will receive communications from the Project and/or county regarding the transition from Binti to CWS-CARES and any actions needed to maintain progress toward approval. As part of this transition, RFHs/applicants will receive an invitation to the RFA portal and will follow the steps to create a CWS-CARES portal account. It is expected that information previously submitted in Binti will be available to them within the CWS-CARES portal.
Q: If counties want to keep Binti in read-only mode beyond April 2027 for data clean-up efforts, will that be allowed?
A: Yes, continued use of Binti in a read-only capacity beyond the CWS-CARES V1 Go-Live date will be at the county’s own expense.
Q: Has there been any change to the requirements for completing Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Assessments prior to the completion of a case plan? The timing of these assessments are a concern and potential barrier for jurisdiction, disposition, and voluntary Family Maintenance.
A: The Project is aware of this county concern and is currently working on a solution to allow case plans to be completed before a Child and Adolescent Strengths (CANS) assessment is completed.
Q: What is the benefit of validating External System functionality in Production Simulation for systems already assessed by the CWS-CARES V1 Preliminary Scope Assessment and Gap Analysis process?
A: The CWS-CARES V1 Scope Assessments are preliminary and based on functionality descriptions provided by organizations. Production Simulation provides the opportunity for organizations to validate functionality in CWS-CARES V1 prior to go-live, in order to identify any gaps or issues that were not previously identified or documented by the gap analysis process. Use of the Production Simulation environment also allows organizations an early opportunity to validate and finalize business process changes ahead of go-live. This will minimize the effort for Fully-In-Scope decommissioning planning as validated systems can be made inactive or read-only prior to December 31, 2027.
Q: Are all the functions of the Binti Family Finding module session (3/26/26) available for CWS-CARES V1 Family Finding functionality?
A: Yes, all the functions of Binti Family Finding are in CWS-CARES V1. Process documentation for CWS-CARES V1 Family Finding functionality is anticipated to be available in the online training tool Enablement, with Production Simulation.
Q: Will Production Simulation be canceled if the project does not receive federal approval?
A: The State intends to utilize state funds in order to proceed with Production Simulation and is not dependent on federal approval.
Q: Production Simulation is open to all 58 counties. Does that mean all staff in all counties will have access?
A: All organizations will have access to Production Simulation. Full access will be granted to all current Child Welfare Services/ Case Management System (CWS/CMS) users or people who join the organization in roles that would be equivalent to CWS/CMS users. Production Simulation access will be granted in Phases, with roughly 2,800 users participating in Phase 1 and the remaining county and organization users accessing the Production Simulation environment in Phase 2 beginning July 6, 2026.
Q: When will the Production Simulation environment go live?
A: The Production Simulation environment went live on June 8th, 2026. This environment will remain active until CWS-CARES Version 1 goes live.
Q: Will counties receive their data from Binti prior to the Binti Data Mapping - Large Group sessions?
A: No, the data conversion team is not able to share Binti data. Counties will have to coordinate with Binti directly to receive the files due to data security risks.