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 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.

A: All CARES V1 functionality will be available in Production Simulation, including:

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.

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.
 

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.

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.