Frequently Asked Questions
Implementation Readiness Meetings
Q: Who will own and maintain the ERR00002 (Emergency Response Notice of Referral Disposition) form in CWS-CARES?
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.
Q: Will CWS-CARES store videos (e.g., a cell phone video was provided as evidence for a Juvenile Court case and program staff wanted to upload them)?
A: CWS-CARES allows document uploads of up to 100 MB. Files must be a compatible type; allowable types include PDF, DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, JPEG/JPG, TXT, and MOV/MKV/MP4 video files. Users can upload files into a case record individually or by selecting multiple files at once.
Q: Where will SafeMeasures data be pulled from during the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Production Pilot?
A: The project is evaluating the feasibility of SafeMeasures data in CWS-CARES for pilot. Regardless, all historic SafeMeasures data will continue to be accessible on the SafeMeasures site. Currently, SafeMeasures data is planned to be available in CWS-CARES V1 Go-Live in October 2026.
Q: For children in Emergency Response (ER) or Intake Services (IS), will Public Health Nurse information — such as active Medi-Cal status, Geographic Managed Care (GMC) plan, assigned provider, and Benefits Identification Card (BIC) number — be available in CWS-CARES?
A: Yes, CWS-CARES will provide a location to document health insurance and service provider information. However, the CWS-CARES V1 scope does not include direct connectivity to a system that would automatically add this information to CWS-CARES.
Q: Once CDSS forms have been moved from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES, who is responsible for updating them?
A: CDSS statewide forms will be maintained by the Project. Organization-specific forms will be maintained by the organization.
Q: Will the Attorney-Client Log be mandatory for counties to use?
A: No. Counties are not required to maintain an Attorney-Client Log in CWS-CARES. However, it serves as a valuable tool for documenting confidential communications between County Counsel and agency personnel. Access is restricted to authorized individuals directly involved with the case (Primary, Supervisor, or Manager), and the log is protected from discovery and public records requests. This helps ensure that essential legal advice remains documented and accessible to relevant staff while maintaining confidentiality.
Q: Can California Department of Social Services (CDSS) branches obtain Tableau licenses and training for more staff than currently use Business Objects, and how will staff access those licenses?
A: CWS-CARES has the CWS-CARES Analytics Transition Workgroup (CAT) with its focus to help Legacy Business Object users to transition to the CWS-CARES Platform. Please email the CWS-CARES Analytics Transition Workgroup for Tableau Training enrollment and other support.
Q: If additional forms are not on the in-scope state forms list, how can counties ensure they are included in CWS-CARES? Will counties be required to add them?
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.
Q: Will it be possible to add new Super Users after CWS-CARES goes live, and what is the process for engaging them?
A: New Super Users can be added/switched at any time. If there is a new Super User after Go-Live, then they can be provided access to the Super User Orientation recording, Super User Guide and all other materials needed for their role by the Implementation Coordinator.
Q: Will CWS-CARES allow counties to pull table-level data (for example, CASE_T, ADDRS_T, REFERL_T) into their local systems, similar to SAP Business Objects in CWS/CMS?
A: Yes. In CWS-CARES, data extraction will be supported through two primary methods: ad hoc reports using Tableau, and a direct connection to the semantic layer. This approach enables counties to extract the data they need to support their local systems — similar to how counties currently pull table-level data (such as CASE_T, ADDRS_T, and REFERL_T) from SAP Business Objects in CWS/CMS. A data extracts overview demo is planned for an upcoming CWS-CARES Analytics Workgroup meeting.