Frequently Asked Questions
Implementation
Q: Which external systems will be retained [or discarded] after Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) go-live?
A: Counties will determine which of their external systems are in scope for decommission based on how they will interact with CWS-CARES. Counties will work with the CWS-CARES Project to develop a decommission plan (agreements, requirements, contract management, timeline).
Q: What is the role of external systems in the move from Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) to Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System? (CWS-CARES)?
A: External systems (a tool or technology used to deliver child welfare services in addition to, or outside of, the legacy CWS/CMS solution) will be addressed in the following ways during the move to CWS-CARES:
- Select prioritized external systems will have data converted into CWS-CARES.
- Focus on external systems related to Resource Family Approval (RFA), Placement including Family Finding, and Prevention Services.
- Continuing Operations of external systems.
- Counties and the CWS-CARES Project will work together on a strategy for continuing operations.
- Includes Counties identifying data dependencies between existing systems, planning/updating systems to ensure business continuity after CWS-CARES go live and updating to-be process maps.
- Decommission of external systems.
- Counties will determine which of their external systems are in scope for decommission based on how they will interact with CWS-CARES (example: functionality to CWS-CARES).
Q: If the allocated amount for Implementation support does not meet the estimation of effort expected from the counties, will it be increased?
A: The Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) Implementation Team estimated organization implementation participation hours that took into consideration the types of interactions it anticipated would be needed from the counties over the course of the next few years, recognizing that participation would increase as the go-live date gets closer. Examples of the types of activities that were anticipated in the near term include:
- Attendance at the bi-weekly CWS-CARES Implementation Meeting
- Initiating organization engagement with the CWS-CARES Implementation Team by way of attendance at the Implementation Executive Briefing
- County Implementation Coordinator Kickoff meetings, County Implementation Assessments, and then ongoing monthly interactions with each county
Q: What are the upcoming deliverables aside from the completion of Data Validation/Conversion in the upcoming future? (Roadmap showing timeline and milestones)
A: The project has made final revisions to our timeline, reviewed, and approved by the state Department of Technology and Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) Board of Directors. Please see CARES Project Roadmap Approval presentation for more information. You can also view the more detailed Roadmap online: CWDS Roadmap
Q: When will Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) be decommissioned?
A: Upon go-live in October 2026, CWS/CMS will be a read-only system until its decommissioning. There will be a stabilization period of at least six months after Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) go-live.
Q: Will the Core County structure remain in place?
A: Yes, the Core County structure will remain. Core constituents have been identified from Core Counties and are actively involved in collaboration activities with Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System. The current Core Constituents can be found on the CWDS.ca.gov website: CWS-CARES Core Constituent List.
Q: Is any of the previous information counties provided available and being used?
A: The project has the collected research from previous efforts provided by the Organizations and will continue to leverage/refer to it as needed.
Q: Is the project Agile or Waterfall?
A: The project is utilizing a modified agile approach. This means the project is developing the functionality in Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES), incrementally.
Q: What are the service areas for Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES)?
A: The service areas for CWS-CARES include Intake, Case Management, Resource Management, Financial Management, Eligibility, Courts, Data Management, CARES Administration, External Stakeholder Coordination, and Certification Approval and Licensing (CALS). You can find high-level descriptions of each service area located on our CWDS.ca.gov website: CWS-CARES Service Areas.
Q: Can social work staff or supervisors be included in the attendance of the Data Conversion Workgroup meeting or is the focus more specific to the actual technical conversion of the data?
A: The purpose of the Data Conversion Workgroup is to validate the data mapping and not the CARES application. It is best to have people that understand the underlying data and fields, who can best validate that the intended data is properly related to the appropriate object model in CARES. This is best suited for people who have some type of experience with data models, xTools, databases, or Entity-Relationship-Diagrams.