Frequently Asked Questions
General
Q: What are the latest anticipated read-only dates/times for CWS/CMS? Is it the period right before Go-Live? Also, could you please let me know the anticipated go-live time on 10/26?
A: The latest anticipated read-only dates and times for CWS/CMS is currently planned for Friday, October 23, 2026, at 5:00 PM PST. The anticipated Go-Live time on October 26, 2026, is currently planned for 8:00 AM PST.
Q: Is the business continuity/disaster planning ask focused only on the cutover weekend, or on worst-case, longer-term scenarios as well?
A: While the Business Continuity plan is focused primarily on the cutover weekend prior to Go-Live, this can be leveraged for the future in case CWS-CARES and/or your county happens to have an outage.
Q: Will out of scope external systems be built into CWS-CARES beyond CWS-CARES Version 1?
A: The scope for CWS-CARES beyond V1 has not been finalized. External systems currently identified as out of scope for CWS-CARES V1 will be reevaluated for duplicative functionality following the release of future CWS-CARES scope.
Q: Is October 26th a hard stop by the state on CWS/CMS?
A: The Go-Live for CWS-CARES continues to be October 26, 2026 and we are moving forward towards that date. Upon cutover from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES, CWS/CMS will be moved to read only.
Q: Why are there so many different names for what seems like the same function? (e.g. Intake/Hotline/Screening)
A: Historically, counties have used different names for the same core function (receiving, assessing, and routing referrals) — some emphasize “hotline,” others “intake” or “screening.” The FAQ page standardizes on the term “Intake.”
Q: Can questions be submitted to be added to the FAQ page, and if so, to whom?
A: If you want to request additions of questions to the FAQs webpage, please route questions through your implementation lead, who will send them through the internal review process for an answer before posting to the FAQ site. The Project is exploring more direct submission options in the future, but this is the current process.
Q: What is the difference between the Organizational Change Management (OCM) Advisory Workgroup and the Counties' Organizational Change Management (OCM) Coordinators?
A: The OCM Advisory Workgroup is a larger overreaching group comprised of select people from different counties within each region and is used as a forum to gather counties perspectives on the materials and communications. This group will assist the OCM branch of the Implementation Team in creating global To-be processes, validate communication products like email announcements, FAQs, and will participate in various stakeholder engagement activities such as system demos, videos, and change impact analysis. The County OCM Coordinator works directly within their county only and handles county specific communication and OCM activities. Things like leading and supporting staff through migration, coordinating tailoring and delivery of communications, and understanding and tailoring as-is and to-be business processes to align with county processes and procedures.
Q: Are there situations where teams aside from the Implementation Lead (IL) (such as Organizational Change Management (OCM)/Training) may interact with the County team?
A: The IL is the Primary point of contact, however, OCM will be delivering As-Is/To-Be process mapping at the regional level (high level). The IL will then take those maps and assist with the tailoring of the maps to county-specific process.
Q: Is everyone moving to the co-existent model? Will someone be able to work remotely if doing work for two counties?
A: The Project has decided to continue supporting both the Dedicated and Co-Existent models for CWS-CARES to avoid disruption to county operations. The Project is currently conducting an analysis to determine how these models will be implemented within CWS-CARES and to further assess their impacts. Any updates or new information resulting from this analysis will be communicated and shared as they become available.
Q: How did we come up with the time commitment estimates for the county implementation teams?
A: The estimates provided for each of the implementation roles are based on past experience designing and delivering similar implementations for other statewide IT projects. They are intended to be a range and will vary by organization. We anticipate these time commitments to increase as we advance towards Go-Live.