Frequently Asked Questions
Features & Functionality
Q: Will a Virtual Private Network (VPN) be necessary to access CWS-CARES?
A: CWS-CARES will be accessible via supported devices connected to the county network. Connectivity may be through a hard-wired or wireless network connection, or over the internet via a VPN connection as implemented by the county. Users must be authenticated by the county's identity and access management system.
Q: Is there spell check in CWS-CARES?
A: Yes. CWS-CARES includes spell check: a red underline appears beneath words that may be misspelled, and users can right-click to see suggested corrections.
Q: Will Post Go-Live Training environment be available in the Readiness Module?
A: The Training environment is a separate environment and will only contain mock data.
Q: When will Resource Family Approval (RFA) and FFPS portals will be available in Production Simulation?
A: The project is working to finalize a plan for when both portals will be available for testing in Production Simulation and will share the details of that plan in a formal communication once available.
Q: In CWS-CARES, can two people work on the same case at the same time and save their entries, and can users have multiple cases open simultaneously or only one at a time?
A: Yes, you can have multiple cases open at one time. The workspace tabs organize the cases. More than one person can work in a case at the same time as long as they are not working on the same record at the same time. So, for example, someone can be entering a placement while someone else is entering a contact note without a problem.
Q: Will interested unmatched applicants be first directed to the interest form before having access to the application link?
A: This will be a practice issue on how counties want to funnel applicants through the process of creating an inquiry/application. CWS-CARES is built flexibly to allow for flexible entry points to start an inquiry or application.
Q: With multiple family members in one household, how will each person complete Live Scan requirements and access the portal if they are connected to a single main applicant?
A: There will be a single user in the portal for a household. If there are issues that need to be addressed with members of the household that are not the portal user, those will be handled directly with that household member.
Q: For Foster Care Public Health Nurses (PHNs), will the Special Project Codes be available in CWS-CWS-CARES to pull data for performance measures?
A: Special Project Codes will be converted from CWS-CMS and admins will have the ability to create new special project codes that their county might need.
Q: Will CWS-CARES automatically convert .doc files to .docx format during the conversion process?
A: The Project has received this request from the counties and is currently evaluating options to address it. This item is under active discussion, and an update will be communicated through the Weekly Digest new feature, “Functionality of the Week”, once it is finalized.
Q: Will reports continue to be available in SafeMeasures as an ancillary application, be migrated into CWS‑CARES, or be embedded within the CWS-CARES system in some way?
A: Legacy SafeMeasures will continue to exist separately from CWS-CARES SafeMeasures. The legacy application will update as usual until we no longer receive CWS/CMS data. At that point, legacy SafeMeasures will stop updating and will be available with historical data. Legacy SafeMeasures will be maintained until CWS/CMS is decommissioned and we are told to decommission legacy SafeMeasures. This could happen six months after CWS-CARES implementation, but no hard date has been set. CWS-CARES SafeMeasures will not be integrated or embedded in CWS-CARES for V1. The new SafeMeasures will be a standalone application like it is currently but with a new URL and login page. Staff will be able to access both legacy SafeMeasures and CWS-CARES SafeMeasures sites.