A: Yes. Train-the-Trainer (TTT) runs June 15 – August 14, 2026 and prepares county trainers and Super Users to lead training within their own organizations ahead of Go-Live. Each trainer completes foundational, self-paced Salesforce Enablement training beforehand, then attends TTT sessions (estimated up to two weeks, adjusted for prior experience with CWS/CMS and CWS-CARES). Ongoing office hours and a support channel continue through October to keep trainers supported. For questions, contact OTSICWDSTraining@otsi.ca.gov.

A: The Legacy Data Layer is available in CWS-CARES environments. Documentation is included in the CWS-CARES Data Dictionary and SqlDBM. County Developers have access to this in CARES102 (CountyDev) and this feature will be included in the Production Simulation environment once this is made available to the counties.

A: Guidance will be provided as to what various CWS-CARES users will need for permissions in Production Simulation.

A: Yes, we are setting up a Service Desk County Advisory Committee (CAC) to work through the ticketing process and service level expectations. This CAC will include county/project representatives and the focus is operational county and state coordination, incidents and escalations, defect prioritization, business continuity, and knowledge base.

A: Support will be provided for all Product Simulation users via a Service Desk. The specific support model is still being finalized, and more information will be shared as those details are confirmed.

A: The planned go-live date for CWS-CARES is October 26, 2026. This is subject to final readiness approval by the CWS-CARES Board of Directors.

A: Yes, we are continuing to work on plans for training; there will be a Procedure Manual with "Cheat Sheets" that you can utilize as you're training.

A: The Service Desk County Advisory Committee (CAC) now replaces the Go-Live Support Group. To maintain continuity, the February 3rd announcement suggests that counties include their former Go-Live Support members if they choose to participate in the Service Desk CAC.

A: All counties are expected to engage in Production Simulation. The state is working on getting an All County Letter (ACL) that will outline that guidance. We will continue to communicate about this through all county channels.

A: Training materials will be accessible to all Production Simulation users. We're currently finalizing the approach to ensure everyone has the most up-to-date resources, and additional details will be shared as soon as they're ready.