Frequently Asked Questions
External Systems
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: Since Binti is scheduled for decommissioning but will still be required until CWS-CARES goes live in October, how should counties handle Advance Planning Documents (APDs) and contracts expiring/ renewals for the period now until 11/01/2026?
A: Please note that the below response also applies to counties using Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) recruitment and licensing functionality.
An APD is required for the initiation, amendment, or renewal of a software licensing agreement. Written approval must be obtained from the State prior to executing any contracts, agreements or renewals. County Fiscal Letter 23/24-12 discusses APD requirements, including when an APD is necessary, in detail.
All County Letter 25-44 explains that the existing COTS waiver for Binti or ETO Resource Family Approval recruitment and licensing functionality will remain active until CWS-CARES Version 1 is implemented in October 2026. State approval of federal funds for these contracts extending beyond CWS-CARES Version 1 go-live will be prorated, since the software will be ineligible for federal funding once the COTS waiver becomes inactive.
Beginning with ACL 18-47, CDSS has been encouraging counties to include early termination language in their contracts for external systems to enable them to decommission duplicative functionality when required. Decommissioning of Binti/ETO or moving it to a read-only status is required at the time of Version 1 go-live, scheduled for October 26, 2026. If the county is opting to fully decommission Binti/ETO at go-live, counties should review their contracts now and identify when to exercise their early termination language. If the county has chosen to move the software to a read-only status, counties should consider how long their internal contract amendment processes take and determine when to initiate that process to accomplish a read-only status by October 26, 2026. Continued use of Binti in a read-only capacity beyond the CWS-CARES Version 1 go-live date will be at the county’s own expense until it is decommissioned or for the duration of its availability in read-only status. Costs associated with activities related to converting RFA data into CWS-CARES are eligible for Core Constituent Participation (CCP) funding, as they are aligned with the activities discussed in All County Letter 23-62 and County Fiscal Letter 23/24-03.
Q What is the plan for CARES-Live (Snapshot, Facility Search, and Child and Adolescent Needs Strengths (CANS) Assessments) once CWS-CARES goes live?
A: Upon the launch of CWS-CARES, the following details will be converted and available in CWS-CARES:
- CARES-Live Snapshot data: Migrated from CWS/CMS.
- CARES-Live Facilities data: Migrated from LIS/FAS and CWS/CMS.
- CARES-Live CANS data: Migrated and integrated with the CMA/P-CIS interface.
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.
Q: Will Binti data be migrated by the first day of Go-Live, on October 26, 2026?
A: Yes, the Binti data will be migrated into CWS-CARES at Go-Live using the conversion logic as described in the Data Conversion Fact Sheet.
Q: Are the organizations (CDSS, Counties, Tribes with California Title IV-E Agreement(s)) responsible for accomplishing External System decommissioning activities?
A: Yes, organizations are responsible for creating and implementing external system decommissioning plans. For more information on decommissioning planning, please reach out to the External Stakeholder Coordination Units.
Q: What is the project’s recommendation for Binti counties whose contract agreements end before the CWS‑CARES Go‑Live date?
A: Beginning with All County Letter (ACL) 18-47, CDSS has been encouraging counties to include early termination language in their contracts for external systems to enable them to decommission duplicative functionality when required. The state encourages counties to work with their contract and procurement offices to incorporate language into any vendor contracts for external systems that may allow them flexibility to modify and/or terminate contracts as appropriate as the statewide functionality is developed and fully implemented in the CWS-CARES. Decommissioning of Binti or moving it to a read-only status is required at the time of V1 Go-Live, scheduled for October 26, 2026. If the county has chosen to move the software to a read-only status, counties should consider how long their internal contract amendment processes take and determine when to initiate that process to accomplish a read-only status by October 26, 2026.
Q: Will all content in the miscellaneous section of Binti be transferred to CWS-CARES?
A: Yes. All PDFs, images, and documents from Binti will be migrated and linked. Please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet for more.
Q: Is Binti considered a Fully-In-Scope External System? If so, will all data, documents and images be migrated from Binti to the CWS-CARES platform prior to Go-Live?
A: Binti Resource Family Approval (RFA), Placement, and Family Finding functionalities are considered fully in scope for CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1).
Please note, the RFA module used by Los Angeles County providers for Foster Family Agencies is not in scope for CARES V1.
For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.
Q: For context, the Project has stated that CWS-CARES will no longer utilize CWS User IDs. CWS-CARES V1 provides access to Structured Decision Making (SDM) and Safe Measures applications within the application; however, V1 does not completely decommission those applications, so County Admins will still be required to Add/Modify/Terminate SDM and Safe Measures user accounts within those specific applications. Currently, SDM and Safe Measures require a CWS User ID to set up a user account in both applications. The question is: Will both of those applications (SDM/Safe Measures) be modified prior to the 10/2026 go-live so that the CWS User ID is no longer required for user accounts? Also, will County Admins still access SDM and Safe Measures externally for account management functions, or will we utilize the links within the CWS-CARES app? Regarding accounts being end-dated after 90 days of inactivity, will their account just need a password reset that the employee can initiate? And lastly, will their account be end-dated or frozen? If their account is end-dated, will a new account need to be established for that employee?
A: SDM/SafeMeasures will use user’s email address for access to these systems. We haven’t tested how admin or users will need to interact with SDM or SafeMeasures outside of CWS-CARES. The Project will provide an update to the counties after the functionality has been tested.
Regarding accounts being end-dated after 90 days of inactivity, users will need to contact County Admin to reenable account.
Accounts will not be enabled in Okta. Users will need to contact County Admin to reenable account. Data in CWS-CARES associated to the user will remain the same. The user’s supervisor is responsible for units of work associated to the user if account is disabled. Note: The account is only inactive not end dated. We only end date accounts when we are truly terminating access (fired, quit, retired, etc.).