A: In general, processing referrals in CWS‑CARES is expected to take roughly the same amount of time as in CWS/CMS. Staff considered 'expert' in CWS/CMS ran multiple referral scenarios to establish a time estimate: staff considered 'novice' in CWS/CMS completed the minimum requirements in about 30 minutes, and expert staff completed them in less time. The Project team is currently working to schedule walk-through sessions with Fresno and Los Angeles Counties to demonstrate the Hotline functionality, highlight recent enhancements to the Search tool, and gather additional feedback.

Counties later identified that search functionality contributed to concerns about overall processing time. In response, the Project has implemented improvements to search functionality. For more information on improved search functionality, see Improvements to Search in Prod Sim (CARES100).
 

A: Counties can expect the September V1.0 Production Simulation release to include a set of upcoming fixes that OTSI is currently compiling and preparing to share. This will give counties a clear understanding of what changes are included and what they should look for during testing.

Once a bug, defect, or story has been fixed, release notes will be updated so counties know when to go back in and retest the functionality. This provides counties with a clear feedback loop and ensures they can validate the new behavior as part of the Production Simulation release.
 

A: The State is still evaluating the availability of the testing environment after Go‑Live, and no determination date has been identified at this time.
 

A: The following Search enhancements were deployed to Production Simulation (Prod Sim, or CARES100) on August 29, 2026:

• The Person and RM (Resource Management) Directory Search now use the “And” operator instead of “Or,” resulting in more precise and narrowed search results.
• In Person Search, the “Sex at Birth” and “Approximate Age” criteria are now fully functional. Phonetic search for first and last names has also been enabled to make it easier to locate the intended individual. Previously reported performance issues, where searches took up to 2 minutes to return results, have been resolved.
• In RM Directory Search, multi-select capability for placement category types is now available.

A: The ticketing system helps identify both system defects and training needs by tracking issue trends and reviewing how tickets are submitted and resolved. Tickets stay open until fixes are confirmed, ensuring accurate visibility into recurring problems. Tier 2 follows established workaround guidance before escalating or closing issues, and users retest fixes or tickets close after five business days without response.

Service desk reviews and data analysis highlight where additional user training is needed and whether training-related issues are entering the ticket system. OTSI will also verify that current county messaging on ticket closure aligns with actual ticket behavior.

Through this process, the system provides users with clear updates while helping identify both technical issues and training gaps.
 

A: The Project Team is committed to offering make‑up trainings. We will assess the best ways to support users with data‑entry instructions for the workarounds, which may include providing a desk guide or offering a webinar overview.
 

A: Weekly release notes will include which functionality is being released and any workarounds that are being retired. To access the release notes, log into the System Updates & Release Notes page of the Production Simulation Hub.

A: Weekly release notes will include which functionality is being released and any workarounds that are being retired. To access the release notes, log into the System Updates & Release Notes page of the Production Simulation Hub.
 

A: Weekly release notes will include which functionality is being released and any workarounds that are being retired. To access the release notes, log into the System Updates & Release Notes page of the Production Simulation Hub.
 

A: Final workaround processes were released to counties on September 4, 2026. For full details, log into the System Updates & Release Notes page of the Production Simulation Hub and access the CWS-CARES Interim Workaround Guidance document.

The CWS‑CARES Knowledge Base has been updated to reflect these finalized workarounds, and all refresher training materials will be aligned with and based on these final processes.