A: The ERR00002 (Emergency Response Notice of Referral Disposition - ERNRD) form is in development and will be ready for CWS-CARES V1. The Project will continue to maintain this form for the future.

A: All CDSS users who access case- or client-level information in CWS-CARES are required to be fingerprinted. State fiscal workers will have access to case- and client-level data through CWS-CARES financial management reports and will also need to be fingerprinted if they have not already been. In short: staff who have already been fingerprinted need take no further action; staff who have not been fingerprinted and will be given access will need to complete fingerprinting.

A: In CWS-CARES, two active cases will exist for the focus child: a Case Management case and an Adoption case. The Case Management case is where all dependency-related activities are documented, including status review hearings, case plans, monthly contacts, and ongoing case work. The Adoption case is designed specifically for adoption-related functionality, and within it the Court section is limited to documenting the finalization hearing. Other hearing types — such as status review hearings, related reports, memos, and ex parte activities — should be documented within the Case Management case. Counties may determine how work is assigned based on their local business processes: a single worker may be assigned to both cases, or responsibilities may be split, in which case the Adoption worker may also hold a secondary role on the Case Management case to support coordination.

A: The final, in-scope list of state forms is posted in the CWS-CARES Forms Tracker within the CWS-CARES Forms Workgroup Teams Channel (For access to this channel, please email the CWS-CARES Forms Mailbox). Currently, the scope is closed, and the project is formulating a process to capture all requested or newly identified forms. The project will notify CWS-CARES points of contact when this process is in place.

A: Yes, all statewide forms developed by the state and identified as in-scope for CARES V1 will be available in CWS-CARES at the start of the Pilot phase. A detailed list of these statewide forms can be found in the CWS-CARES Forms Tracker, located in the CWS-CARES Forms Workgroup Teams Channel. If you’re not a member of this channel and need access to the document, please reach out to the CWDS CWS-CARES Forms Mailbox for support.

A: Yes, counties will be able to run and test reports against practice data entered in Production Simulation including all Key Performance Indicators (KPI) reports and Tableau reports.

A: Documenting foster children and youth's medical needs, as well as generating the HEP document, will be available in CWS-CARES when we go live in October 2026.

A: Yes, you will be able to print a unit report with staff names and ID numbers listed.

A: Who can do what in CARES is dependent on county business process. If the EW needs to generate the FC 8, then we grant them access to CARES to do that. This is why we need to complete the process workgroups to determine who does what, and where the handoffs occur.

A: If changes are needed after the form is in final status, a new document will need to be generated in CARES.