A: Yes, in the CFT documentation section the meeting topics are customizable and have various options that can be selected, including “Other Topic”. There is also a section for meeting notes with a character limit of 5K.

A: The connection between CFT function and generating a CANS must be determined through CDSS Policy guidance and training.

A: The Child and Family Team (CFT) Action Plan is located in the CFT Summary and Action Items section.

A: In CWS-CARES, wraparound services are captured as a service type within the "Case Management Services" category. A dedicated checkbox is also available to indicate wraparound services, consistent with how this information was captured in CWS/CMS.

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: Yes. The Project will provide updated confidentiality forms (such as the End User ID Application Form) for CWS-CARES. Once the CWS-CARES V1 permission sets are complete, the Project will release the official form.

A: To access the live (steady-state) CWS-CARES system, dedicated county users are expected to use their dedicated county machines (supported by CWDS), similar to how they access CWS/CMS. County machines that are on the county network and not CWDS-supported are, by design, not allowed access to the steady-state CWS-CARES production system. Users with special requirements, similar to those in CWS/CMS, may be assigned as Citrix users based on specific business needs.

A: There are no additional processes to follow. The county's CWS-CARES Administrator is responsible for adding new users to CWS-CARES. This includes current staff who never used CWS/CMS as well as new staff hired after CWS-CARES goes live. Current staff who are already active in CWS/CMS and have not been deactivated will automatically convert into CWS-CARES at Go-Live.

A: Counties have the flexibility to determine how offices, units, and user access are structured in CWS-CARES based on their local operational needs. This includes configuring Adoptions, Probation, and Child Welfare staff under a single office structure, similar to current CWS/CMS configurations. CDSS recommends maintaining separate offices for certain functions (such as Probation and Child Welfare) to support data security and access considerations, but this is not a system-enforced requirement; counties are responsible for assessing and managing access, security, and associated risks in alignment with applicable regulations and local governance. Note that CWS-CARES does not include unit-level record security in the same way CWS/CMS does, so users across units within the same office may have visibility into each other's records based on assigned permission sets. Existing office and unit structures from CWS/CMS will be mapped into CWS-CARES with no expected impact, business workflows will continue to function regardless of office structure, and reporting will continue to support unit-level analysis. The Project recommends that counties review the differences between the CWS/CMS and CWS-CARES security models and consult internal leadership, including County Counsel, when determining their structure.

A: In CWS-CARES, the User ID will change from RACF ID to email address, and a field has been added to capture employee number. Office, unit, and caseload names will follow each county's current format in production; those names will not be changed.