A: The CWDS Service Desk will be responsible for system support for the RFA and FFPSA portals. Within each portal, should a user need their password reset, there is an option to self-serve a password reset. In most cases this will resolve a user’s password concern, such as forgetting their password. However, if the password reset link is not received by a portal user after 24 hours, the user will need to contact the CWDS Service Desk for additional support.
For basic troubleshooting and supporting the applicant (i.e., how to complete an application), questions on overall application questions and processes, etc., the County would be responsible for providing that support.
Portal access is granted/received in two distinct methods based on the portal.

• RFA Portal – A Resource Family can access the portal via public link on the CWDS and county website(s) and is open for individuals to submit applications for interest in becoming a Resource Family Home (RFH). The second way to access the RFA Portal is for a CWS-CARES RFA Worker or RFA Supervisor to initiate an invitation to the prospective portal applicant. It should be noted that this method of invitation is only in the circumstance of an Emergency Placement, otherwise the Applicant would go to the public link to apply. Existing RFH homes with an email address previously provided will be extended an invitation to the portal. This will be done in the CWS-CARES application and dedicated training materials and guides will be provided on how to accomplish this task.

• Link to RFA Portal end-to-end demonstration
   
• FFPSA Portal – Access to this portal is by invitation only to Community Based Organizations (CBOs). A CWS-CARES worker will initiate the invitation to the portal by adding the prospective or existing Service Provider to CWS-CARES, including their email. Once the email address has been added to CWS-CARES, the provider will receive an email inviting them to the FFPSA Portal. With this invitation email, the provider will be able to establish their password and update any applicable information. CWS-CARES will provide CARES workers with the necessary training materials and guides on how to accomplish this task.
• Link to FFPSA Portal demonstration

• CBO Portal Worker
  • They can fill out and submit candidacy determinations and cost tracking
• CBO Portal Supervisor
  • They receive requests from IV-E agencies
  • They assign CBO workers to children/cases
  • They enter cost information for monthly reports
• CBO Portal Administrator
  • They activate and deactivate portal access for workers within their organization
  • They handle profile changes/updates
  • They upload capacity reports
  • They also enter cost information for monthly reports

A: RFA Greenfield is a State managed legacy system and is not being treated as an external system. The CWS-CARES Data Conversion team is responsible for RFA Greenfield data mapping. For RFA Greenfield specific inquiries, please reach out to the Customer Relations Mailbox.

A: The County Administrator will be responsible for adding county users to county FFPSA and RFA portals.

A: Please note that the below response also applies to counties using Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) recruitment and licensing functionality. 

An APD is required for the initiation, amendment, or renewal of a software licensing agreement. Written approval must be obtained from the State prior to executing any contracts, agreements or renewals. County Fiscal Letter 23/24-12 discusses APD requirements, including when an APD is necessary, in detail. 

All County Letter 25-44 explains that the existing COTS waiver for Binti or ETO Resource Family Approval recruitment and licensing functionality will remain active until CWS-CARES Version 1 is implemented in October 2026. State approval of federal funds for these contracts extending beyond CWS-CARES Version 1 go-live will be prorated, since the software will be ineligible for federal funding once the COTS waiver becomes inactive. 
 
Beginning with ACL 18-47, CDSS has been encouraging counties to include early termination language in their contracts for external systems to enable them to decommission duplicative functionality when required. Decommissioning of Binti/ETO or moving it to a read-only status is required at the time of Version 1 go-live, scheduled for October 26, 2026. If the county is opting to fully decommission Binti/ETO at go-live, counties should review their contracts now and identify when to exercise their early termination language. If the county has chosen to move the software to a read-only status, counties should consider how long their internal contract amendment processes take and determine when to initiate that process to accomplish a read-only status by October 26, 2026. Continued use of Binti in a read-only capacity beyond the CWS-CARES Version 1 go-live date will be at the county’s own expense until it is decommissioned or for the duration of its availability in read-only status.  Costs associated with activities related to converting RFA data into CWS-CARES are eligible for Core Constituent Participation (CCP) funding, as they are aligned with the activities discussed in All County Letter 23-62 and County Fiscal Letter 23/24-03. 
 

A: RFA Applicants will be put in as Category 1 people, and they will become part of the Person record.

A: Yes, tribally approved homes will be a placement type in CWS-CARES. There won’t be a dedicated field in CWS-CARES, but there will be an indicator on the Resource Family Home (RFH) profile to identify a tribally approved home.

A: Unstructured data from External Systems is analyzed and converted similarly to structured data. If these documents/unstructured data are determined to be within the scope and are acceptable document types (such as RFA PDF/Word documents associated with an in-scope functionality in CARES), they can be processed and converted using the pre-defined external system conversion process. This is contingent upon counties providing the necessary mandatory metadata (e.g., IDs to link the document to the associated entity in CARES) for the conversion. Additional steps, such as moving documents to a predefined location, may be required, but the process is analogous to structured data conversion.

Forms/documents like Word, PDF, and Excel files are generally considered unstructured data. The term "applications" likely refers to forms or documents in progress but could also include partially structured data.

A: The CWS-CARES meetings are captured in CWS-CARES Meeting Calendar on the CWDS website. All Core Constituent counties are invited to CWS-CARES demonstrations. If a Core Constituent county wishes to be added to a demo, please reach out to OTSI CWDS CARES Demos

A: Counties can upload Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) in Child Welfare System-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES). Documenting background checks is a core functionality of resource family approval (RFA) that allows for each individual required to have background checks, be documented, and cleared. CWS-CARES can record background checks.

A: Yes. BCIA forms will be automatically created and stored upon approval of specified allegation substantiations.