Frequently Asked Questions
Process Information Session (PIS)
Q: What does the 'FOP' label on one of the records mean?
A: The 'FOP' followed by a series of numbers indicates the individual person record ID number for the child or person receiving services.
Q: What happens if the CBO attempts to provide services, but the family doesn't engage?
A: There will be functionality for the provider to report in the system that they did not provide services because the family did not engage.
Q: For the cost-tracking template, is that a set unit rate and how many units are being provided?
A: Unit rates will be county-specific based on the county-specific contracts. CDSS plans to issue additional guidance via an ACL regarding this.
Q: Do Administrators still need to have a particular Permission Set assigned to themselves before we can assign it to someone else?
A: No, Administrators do not need a particular permission set assigned to them before assigning it to others; however, there are currently several permissions and overrides that can only be assigned by a State Administrator.
Q: Does the information in CWS-CARES mirror the information in CalSAWS?
A: CWS-CARES will receive client-specific assistance payment details from CalSAWS. That information will be read-only in CWS-CARES.
Note: while CalSAWS sends Assistance Payment information to CWS-CARES, it won't be displayed the same way in CalSAWS and CWS-CARES. That is, if a user looks at an Issuance Detail in CalSAWS and then looks at an Assistance Payment record in CWS-CARES, they will see some of the same data elements, but that page layout and user interface won't be the same.
Q: When will counties be able to see the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) Provider Portal demonstrated?
A: The demonstrations provided by the CWS-CARES Product Team will be posted to this webpage: CWS-CARES Demos | Child Welfare Digital Services
- An additional demo was scheduled for 2/23/26 from 3-5pm PST.
- A final, end-to-end FFPSA demo is in process with CWS-CARES and will be scheduled for early March.
Q: Is Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) something new, or is it replacing an existing program?
A: FFPSA is a federal program that is new for California. Please refer to the CDSS website for more detailed information about the program and its rollout at the programmatic level.
Q: Since cases will remain with the same worker but the worker is having their office/unit changed, is there a way to update the worker's profile to show a change in the office/unit?
A: There would be three steps to this process:
- Step 1: Create a new Unit Staff relationship in the Unit/Office that the worker will be moving to. This will allow the worker to be a part of that structure.
- Step 2: Navigate to the Caseload and update the Office, Unit and Staff Name fields to match that of the new relationship that has been created in Step 1. You do not need to use the Caseload Summary screen or Bulk Assignment for this. You can simply reassign the Caseload.
- Step 3: Navigate to the old Unit Staff relationship and mark it as “inactive” and add a reason.
Q: Will Rate Tables be added by CWS-CARES or will each county need to enter them manually?
A: The State will be responsible for entering and maintaining the Rate Tables in CWS-CARES. Counties will be able to view those rates to guide them when completing eligibility requests.
The Rate Tables in CWS-CARES are not directly connected to the Assistance Payments received by CalSAWS. That is, we aren't using the CWS-CARES Rate Tables to send Rate info to CalSAWS.