Frequently Asked Questions
Features & Functionality
Q: What Financial Management functionality will be included in CARES V1, and what has been deferred to a later release?
A: The CWS-CARES V1 Scope Summary, available on the CWDS website, describes the Financial Management functionality included in V1. Functionality planned for releases beyond V1 has not yet been defined.
Q: Is there going to be any capacity for CWS-CARES to line to any phone systems (i.e., will CARES interface with phone lines)?
A: No. This is not in the scope of CWS-CARES V1 or V2.
Q: Will converted documents from CWS/CMS to CARES be the same format that they were already saved as, or is there a standard format that they will be converted to?
A: Yes, documents converted from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES will retain their original file formats. The conversion process preserves the document format as stored in CWS/CMS rather than converting documents into a standardized format.
Q: Are there size limits to imported Imaging files or storage limits by county?
A: CWS-CARES will allow documents uploads of up to 100 MB. File types must be compatible with CWS-CARES, allowable file types include PDF, DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, Jpeg/jpg, txt, mov/mkv/mp4 files. Users will be able to upload files into CWS-CARES using either individual or multifile selection into a case record.
Q: Where in CWS-CARES can workers document a relative's contact history and chosen level of involvement with a child?
A: Family information in the Person Profile screen is documented under the 'Relationships' record found in the left navigation, where you can document familial and professional relationships between two persons. Specific information regarding a relative's involvement with a focus child can be found under Family Finding on Search Efforts within a case.
Q: Does the CWS-CARES documentation state who can see the 'worker note' comments?
A: Yes, the 'worker note' section is only available to the Admin and Supervisor.
Q: For users who are new to CWS-CARES and never used CWS/CMS, are there additional processes they need to follow to get access?
A: There are no additional processes to follow. The county's CWS-CARES Administrator is responsible for adding new users to CWS-CARES. This includes current staff who never used CWS/CMS as well as new staff hired after CWS-CARES goes live. Current staff who are already active in CWS/CMS and have not been deactivated will automatically convert into CWS-CARES at Go-Live.
Q: Can two people make updates to a record at the same time in CWS-CARES?
A: CWS-CARES has capability for multiple people to work on a case at the same, as long as they are not working on the same record simultaneously. But concurrent changes to the same case on different record fields will be saved.
Q: Can dedicated counties access CWS CARES V1 from both county and state computers, including county devices connected through VPN?
A: To access the live (steady-state) CWS-CARES system, dedicated county users are expected to use their dedicated county machines (supported by CWDS), similar to how they access CWS/CMS. County machines that are on the county network and not CWDS-supported are, by design, not allowed access to the steady-state CWS-CARES production system. Users with special requirements, similar to those in CWS/CMS, may be assigned as Citrix users based on specific business needs.
Q: Will all Probation departments be required to have an office separate from the county Child Welfare office in CWS-CARES?
A: Counties have the flexibility to determine how offices, units, and user access are structured in CWS-CARES based on their local operational needs. This includes configuring Adoptions, Probation, and Child Welfare staff under a single office structure, similar to current CWS/CMS configurations. CDSS recommends maintaining separate offices for certain functions (such as Probation and Child Welfare) to support data security and access considerations, but this is not a system-enforced requirement; counties are responsible for assessing and managing access, security, and associated risks in alignment with applicable regulations and local governance. Note that CWS-CARES does not include unit-level record security in the same way CWS/CMS does, so users across units within the same office may have visibility into each other's records based on assigned permission sets. Existing office and unit structures from CWS/CMS will be mapped into CWS-CARES with no expected impact, business workflows will continue to function regardless of office structure, and reporting will continue to support unit-level analysis. The Project recommends that counties review the differences between the CWS/CMS and CWS-CARES security models and consult internal leadership, including County Counsel, when determining their structure.