A: Yes. Production Simulation will take place in lieu of EUST 4. Instead of a six-week testing period during EUST 4, organizations will have five months to test in the Production Simulation environment.

A: Yes, Production Simulation will impact the training plan. The project will be making updates with the training workgroup to take the training plan impact into consideration.

A: The Production Simulation environment went live on June 8th, 2026. This environment will remain active until CWS-CARES Version 1 goes live.

A: No, Production Simulation is a practice environment so the data will not be saved into the permanent case record.

A: Yes, in All County Letter 18-47 CDSS encourages counties to work with their contract and procurement offices to incorporate language into any vendor contracts for external systems that may allow for flexibility to modify and/or terminate contracts as appropriate as the statewide functionality is developed and fully implemented in CWS-CARES.

A: Organizations should use Production Simulation and recorded demonstrations to test real workflows in CWS-CARES V1 using converted data as it becomes available.

For fully in-scope systems, we recommend organizations validate their required workflows can be completed from start to finish in CWS-CARES V1 without relying on the external system.

For partially in scope systems, organizations are encouraged to use a mix of common daily tasks, workflows, and county-specific processes to identify the boundary between CWSCARES V1 and the external system. The organization will then know which steps occur in CWS-CARES, and which steps remain outside CWS-CARES. Thus, validating functionality that is partially in-scope.

The ESCU recommendations for validation tools and activities in Production Simulation are available in the February 2026 External Systems Monthly Meeting Materials within the External Systems Portal.
 

A: The Foster Care Eligibility Determination (FCED) is an interface that will electronically transmit key case and placement data between CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) and California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) in near real-time. This includes the transmission of determination results back to CWS-CARES V1 and the sharing of documents, forms, and notices between CalSAWS and CWS-CARES users.

For information related to the CalSAWS activities completed in CWS-CARES, please refer to the Process Information Session for Placement and Eligibility which provides a walkthrough of the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) To-Be Process Map and Change Impacts.

A: The State expects to take over county costs associated with SafeMeasures starting on July 1, 2028. Counties must continue to submit an Advance Planning Document (APD) to the California Department of Social Services prior to executing, renewing, or amending the agreement or paying for associated services. Please see External Systems Monthly Meeting May 2026 Questions and Answers County Fiscal Letter 23/24-12 for APD submission requirements and details as counties will be responsible for the existing contract and access until June 30, 2028. Please refer to The Future of SafeMeasures and Structured Decision Making (SDM) Assessments with CWS-CARES for more information.

A: The DDS interface with CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) will provide current contact information for California Regional Centers to support children with development disabilities. For more information, please refer to the CWS-CARES and Data Exchange Fact Sheet.

A: A report will be shared in the following weeks after EUST 3 ends that will compile, analyze, and summarize the EUST 3 feedback to stakeholders. More information about the report will be shared toward the end of EUST 3.

If you have any additional questions regarding EUST 3, please contact the EUST Team.