Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Since Structured Decision Making (SDM), CARES-Live, and Binti data is slated for summer 2026, will synthetic data for these systems be in the environment until then?
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.
Q: At Go-Live, what system will be available to document reports if CWS/CMS is read-only the weekend prior?
A: All CWS/CMS data entered on or before the Friday read-only mode begins will be converted to CWS-CARES and available on the Monday when CWS-CARES goes live. CWS-CARES will be available to document reports and provides a wide set of state forms and reports for users to generate, and counties have the option to create county-specific forms and reports.
Q: Will the test scenarios include examples relevant to child welfare, probation, and prevention populations?
A: The Project is actively preparing scenarios to mirror as many different aspects as possible and will communicate further as scenarios are finalized.
Q: If workers are mid-function in CWS/CMS when it changes to read-only and data transfers to CWS-CARES, will in-progress items default to pending or be treated as finalized?
A: The Conversion team has developed and implemented transformation logic that allows users to continue "in-flight" cases, referrals, or other units of work (such as items pending approval) from CWS/CMS into CWS-CARES. Production Simulation is a good opportunity to test these in-progress workflows.
Q: Will CWS-CARES V1 address the Word compatibility limitation where court reports, case plans, and forms must be downloaded and re-uploaded?
A: For templates with fields such as checkboxes or radio buttons that are expected to be modified during form generation, the template choice should be revisited. This is a product limitation, and users are advised to account for these factors when selecting templates.
Q: Can California Immunization Registry (CAIRS) immunization reports be uploaded into CWS-CARES rather than hand-entered?
A: For immunizations to appear in the Health and Education Passport (HEP), they must be entered into CWS-CARES. A CAIRS immunization report can be uploaded into the document section of CWS-CARES, but it will not generate as part of the HEP. CAIRS will not be included in CWS-CARES V1, though the Project is considering integrating the functionality in future development.
Q: Are checkboxes and radio buttons functional in CWS-CARES when using a Microsoft Word template, and are entry fields still editable?
A: When using Word-based templates within CWS-CARES, certain native Word functionalities — such as checking or unchecking checkboxes and toggling radio button selections — are not supported. This is a product limitation within the integration, and counties are advised to account for it when choosing template formats. Note that restrict editing is also not supported: the document will be editable in both the fillable fields and the static text.
Q: When will CARES 100 be available for county developers?
A: County forms authors are being onboarded to the CARES 100 environment.
Q: Will all existing documents in CWS/CMS be migrated to CWS-CARES, and how will that migration be accomplished given the multiple document areas in CWS-CARES?
A: Yes. All existing documents in the legacy system will be available in CWS-CARES as part of the data conversion process.
Q: Will CWS-CARES eventually auto-populate more fields than CWS/CMS currently does?
A: Yes. The Project aims to open up more fields than are currently available in the legacy system, though that is slated to happen after Go-Live.