A: Counties' dedicated workstations meet the required hardware specifications even if out of warranty. Counties will, however, need to ensure that the software and operating system on each workstation are fully up to date.

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: Yes, current office and staff information will be migrated from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES.

A: Probation data will be converted to CWS-CARES. The primary and secondary responsible agency for a case in CWS-CARES will not use the terms "600" or "300" (it will show "Probation"); however, the dual statuses from CWS/CMS will be brought into a narrative field in CWS-CARES so users can see the original CWS/CMS term (for example, "Dep 300 Receiving Prob Srvcs" or "Ward 601/602 Receiving CWS"). As an example of the mapping: if a CWS/CMS case has a primary responsible agency of "County Welfare Department" and a client dual status of Probation, then in CWS-CARES the case's primary responsible agency would be "Child Welfare" and the secondary responsible agency would be "Probation."

A: Counties are encouraged to practice using synthetic data — for example, CWS/CMS cases and referrals to initiate interfaces. Historical data within those interfaces will not be available.

A: Each county in CWS-CARES will be assigned a RFA queue where these homes could reside. The county will have flexibility to assign someone to this queue as notifications on needed actions will need to be sent to someone.

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: Yes. CWS-CARES will look and feel very different from CWS/CMS. CWS/CMS is a Windows-based, mainframe-dependent system, while CWS-CARES is a modern, web-based system built using Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) technology on Salesforce. Users new to Salesforce are encouraged to take the Salesforce navigation training before the CWS-CARES-specific training. CWS-CARES also introduces expanded features and integrations, including connections with Structured Decision Making (SDM), Case Management Assessment (CMA), and Foster Care Eligibility and Determination (FCED), with a more modern interface designed to make day-to-day tasks easier.

A: A six-month read-only period for CWS/CMS is planned after CWS-CARES goes live. Note that CWS/CMS mainframe data will no longer be updated once CWS-CARES is live, meaning the data will become stale. Although read-only access remains available for six months, the last data update will occur at the October 2026 Go-Live. Counties intending to perform a one-time data pull after Go-Live are strongly encouraged to do so as close to the Go-Live date as possible.

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.