Frequently Asked Questions
Implementation Readiness Meetings
Q: Are there any children and family advocate groups that are involved in the CWS-CARES development process who can help to inform how decisions might potentially impact clients of the child welfare system program?
A: The project engaged California Youth Connection (CYC) in developing the CWS-CARES Child Journey Map, which identifies pain points and opportunities, from a child and youth perspective, across the lifecycle of child welfare involvement. The project is currently exploring options to fund further lived experience research directly involving additional child and family advocate groups. The project has also provided updates to the quarterly meeting with advocates and California Department of Social Servies (CDSS) and intends to leverage that meeting as an opportunity to solicit feedback in system development.
Q: We were informed that a Financial Management Coordinator position is being introduced and that the position is to be filled from an outside entity. Will that individual need to have access to CWS-CARES?
A: Per ACIN I-33-11, the authority to determine who should have access to CWS-CARES is delegated to the county. We recommend that counties work with their county counsel to decide whether or not this position will have a business need to access CWS-CARES in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) 827 and WIC 10850.
Q: What systems currently supported by CWDS will have functionality incorporated into CWS-CARES?
A: CWS-CARES is being developed as a end to end child welfare system that is intended to replace CWS/CMS. The functionality in CWS-CARES-Live will be redeveloped in CWS-CARES (as CWS-CARES-Live was created in a different platform/software). CWS-CARES RFA functionality will be merged into CWS-CARES as it was also developed in the same platform, but for now it is its own\separate system. All of these systems are in production, with scheduled updates/releases.
Q: What are the expectations of prioritization with respect to the hours-per-role which were projected in the meeting slide deck as opposed to other ongoing project meetings?
A: The expectation is to please prioritize completion of CWS-CARES readiness activities within target completion dates. If you are finding that the workload exceeds the estimated hours, please have a discussion with your Implementation Lead (IL) to determine where adjustments can be made.
Q: Are counties required to use the Enterprise version of Windows 11?
A: No. The Enterprise version of Windows 11 is not required.
Q: There was concern that anyone with a county email can sign-up for an account to access the Data Quality Portal protected pages. Are there any security measures to limit sign-ups to only members of a county's specific Implementation Team?
A: The cwds.ca.gov website where the Data Quality Portal lives allows anyone with a government domain email to register. So while it cannot be limited to the county implementation team, no one outside of the State or counties can register and view this information.
Q: Is it possible in CWS-CARES to systematically track when parent(s) are incarcerated so that plans and outcomes can be adequately created and tracked?
A: Yes, there will be a way for a worker or other user to enter this data manually into CWS-CARES, so that it can be referenced when developing case and safety plans.
Q: What is the purpose of the CWS-CARES Forms Tracker, and when will counties be given access to the state's forms list?
A: The CWS-CARES Forms Tracker, located in the CWS-CARES Forms Teams Channel, is the repository for the list of state forms that have been identified as potential candidates for CARES V1 development. The Project plans to share the Tracker with counties at an upcoming Forms Workgroup meeting.
Q: How is Holistic Design integrating data mapping in CWS-CARES?
A: Holistic Design uses the legacy domain model mapping as an input to its design. For example, there are more than 200 adoptions fields in CWS/CMS; business analysts have built a domain model showing where those fields are expected to live in CWS-CARES. As Holistic Design for Adoptions moves forward, the team will create a substantial amount of new adoptions functionality while using the domain model as a starting input.
Q: Will Organizations have the flexibility to use their preferred virtual meeting platform, or will all meetings need to be conducted over WebEx?
A: In general, the State uses WebEx, but we have to be flexible to meet our organization's needs. The RUGs meetings belong to the counties and they use the format they prefer.