Frequently Asked Questions
External System Monthly Meeting
Q: Will Production Simulation include all aspects of CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1)?
A: All CARES V1 functionality will be available in Production Simulation, including:
• Intake & Investigations
• Case Management
• Courts
• Resource Family Home
• Resource & Provider Management
• Financial Management
• Eligibility
Q: Where can I locate my county’s CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Preliminary Scope Assessments?
A: For a copy of your county’s CWS-CARES V1 Preliminary Scope Assessment, please reach out to your assigned External System Coordination Unit Analyst via the ESCU Mailbox.
Q: Is Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) a data conversion system? Will there be additional external system specific meetings for external systems like ETO?
A: No, ETO was not slated for data conversion in CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1). If you have specific questions related to your county’s ETO use case, please reach out to your assigned External System Coordination Unit Analyst via the ESCU Mailbox.
Q: Is SafeMeasures an interface? If not, is it categorized as state reporting?
A: No, SafeMeasures is not an interface. SafeMeasures is categorized as a State Reporting System. For more information, please refer to the CWS-CARES and Data Exchange Fact Sheet.
Q: Will Resource Family Approval (RFA) Greenfield be treated as an external system? Who is responsible for data mapping?
A: RFA Greenfield is a State managed legacy system and is not being treated as an external system. The CWS-CARES Data Conversion team is responsible for RFA Greenfield data mapping. For RFA Greenfield specific inquiries, please reach out to the Customer Relations Mailbox.
Q: Can you provide more details about the Case Management Assessment (CMA) Suite Opeeka Person-Centered Intelligence Solutions (P-CIS) and clarify what information is being exchanged in the interface?
A: P-CIS provides real-time, bidirectional data exchange with CWS-CARES. P-CIS will support care coordination, assessments, and data sharing across agencies. Within PCIS, the CMA Suite is used to complete Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessments, Supervised Independent Living Program Readiness assessments, Life Skills Assessments, Child and Family Team Meeting surveys, and National Youth in Transition Database surveys.
For more information, please refer to the CWS-CARES and Data Exchange Fact Sheet.
Q: If CWS/CMS has an incomplete address and Binti data fills in the blank fields, is there a verification process to ensure the addresses are correct and should be merged?
A: The hierarchical conversion logic preserves CWS/CMS addresses, and Binti addresses are only utilized if the CWS/CMS field is blank. The Smarty Streets tool is used in CWS-CARES to automatically correct and complete address information.
As a reminder, CWS/CMS is the statewide system of record and the primary source of CWS-CARES data. For more information, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet.
Q: If a field in CWS-CARES already contains data, will the field be overwritten by the data received from the external system (Binti)?
A: No, if a field in CWS-CARES already contains data from the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), it will not be augmented or overwritten by Binti data. For more information, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet.
Q: When will counties be expected to assume responsibility for the cost of Binti in a read-only capacity?
A: At CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Go-Live on October 26, 2026, Binti must be decommissioned or used in a strictly read-only capacity. The continued use of Binti in inactive or read only status beyond the CARES V1 Go-Live will be at the county’s own expenses the existing Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) waiver for Binti and ETO will become inactive. Please refer to ACL 25-44.
Q: Will CWS-CARES pull data from CWS/CMS and Binti? If data is in Binti, is there any need to enter that data into CWS/CMS before the go live date? If data is in Binti but not in CWS/CMS, will the Binti data be loaded into CWS-CARES?
A: CWS/CMS data is the primary source of Child Welfare information and supersedes all other record sources. If a field in CWS-CARES already contains data from CWS/CMS, it will not be augmented or overwritten by Binti data.
For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the CWDS External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.