A: Counties should continue to enter CWS/CMS Case Number in CalSAWS. This is required for data conversion to establish a link between CWS/CMS and CalSAWS Cases.

A: Counties will determine which of their external systems are in scope for decommission based on how they will interact with CWS-CARES. Counties will work with the CWS-CARES Project to develop a decommission plan (agreements, requirements, contract management, timeline).

A: External systems (a tool or technology used to deliver child welfare services in addition to, or outside of, the legacy CWS/CMS solution) will be addressed in the following ways during the move to CWS-CARES: 

• Select prioritized external systems will have data converted into CWS-CARES.
• Focus on external systems related to Resource Family Approval (RFA), Placement including Family Finding, and Prevention Services. 
• Continuing Operations of external systems.
• Counties and the CWS-CARES Project will work together on a strategy for continuing operations. 
• Includes Counties identifying data dependencies between existing systems, planning/updating systems to ensure business continuity after CWS-CARES go live and updating to-be process maps. 
• Decommission of external systems.
• Counties will determine which of their external systems are in scope for decommission based on how they will interact with CWS-CARES (example: functionality to CWS-CARES). 

A: As of December 2023, E-Adopt for Resource Family Approval (RFA) is currently being researched and evaluated to determine if it is a candidate for external system data conversion.

A: CWS-CARES will interface with a number of partners to ensure that CWS-CARES has timely and pertinent data for the CWS-CARES child welfare and is able to present a holistic view of an individual or a case. Currently, for the release of CWS-CARES Version 1 (V1), the CWS-CARES team will be interfacing with:

• California Department of Social Services (CDSS) – Licensing Information System (LIS) will provide information on licensed placement providers for workers within CWS-CARES. This is something that currently takes place within CWS/CMS and CARES-Live.
• California Department of Social Services – Facility Automation System (FAS) will provide children’s residential facilities information for workers within CWS-CARES.
• California Department of Social Services - County Expense Claim Reporting and Information System (CECRIS) will allow workers to complete the necessary expense claims within CWS-CARES including the ability to produce CB-496 and CFS 101 with both IV-E and IV-B expenditures and caseloads.
• California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) will provide Regional Center placement options into the CWS-CARES provider directory. This will allow workers to easily access critical regional center information without having to leave CWS-CARES.
• California Department of Education (CDE) will provide updated school (resource) data elements within CWS-CARES, similar to what is currently in CWS/CMS. This information will not include child specific school or grade level information.
• California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) – Foster Care Eligibility Determination (FCED) is an interface between CWS-CARES and CalSAWS/FCED that will eliminate the need for manual data entry from one system to another and automate the eligibility determination process in a cost effective and efficient manner.

A: Yes, data extracts will be available. The project is currently working on designing and implementing secure mechanisms to provide data extracts to organizations. Details will be provided via CWS-CARES Analytics Transition Workgroup in the coming weeks.

A: Yes, there are certain activities that counties should practice when validating converted data. As guidance, counties should practice the following:

• Identify knowledgeable staff
• Validate accuracy and completeness
• Run county-specific test scenarios
• Provide structured feedback