A: For a copy of your county’s CWS-CARES V1 Preliminary Scope Assessment, please reach out to your assigned External System Coordination Unit Analyst via the ESCU Mailbox.

A: No, ETO was not slated for data conversion in CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1). If you have specific questions related to your county’s ETO use case, please reach out to your assigned External System Coordination Unit Analyst via the ESCU Mailbox.
 

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: No, if a field in CWS-CARES already contains data from the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), it will not be augmented or overwritten by Binti data. For more information, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet.

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: CWS/CMS data is the primary source of Child Welfare information and supersedes all other record sources. If a field in CWS-CARES already contains data from CWS/CMS, it will not be augmented or overwritten by Binti data.

For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the CWDS External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.

A: Yes, organizations are responsible for creating and implementing external system decommissioning plans. For more information on decommissioning planning, please reach out to the External Stakeholder Coordination Units.

A: Beginning with All County Letter (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. The state encourages counties to work with their contract and procurement offices to incorporate language into any vendor contracts for external systems that may allow them flexibility to modify and/or terminate contracts as appropriate as the statewide functionality is developed and fully implemented in the CWS-CARES. Decommissioning of Binti or moving it to a read-only status is required at the time of V1 Go-Live, scheduled for October 26, 2026. 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.

A: Binti Resource Family Approval (RFA), Placement, and Family Finding functionalities are considered fully in scope for CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1).

Please note, the RFA module used by Los Angeles County providers for Foster Family Agencies is not in scope for CARES V1.

For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.

A: All CARES V1 functionality will be available in Production Simulation, including:

• Reporting
• Intake & Investigations
• Case Management
• Courts
• Resource Family Home (RFH)
• Resource & Provider Management
• Financial Management
• Eligibility