Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will the Production Simulation environment be taken down while trainings are scheduled through 10/16?
A: Training is supposed to occur in the Training environment.
Q: Is there a training prerequisite for Tier 1 Support staff to ensure they are prepared to assist county users with resolving CWS‑CARES issues and answering questions?
A: There are no prerequisites for Tier 1 Support Staff. We encourage Tier 1 Support Staff to include County Admins and persons who are familiar with CWS-CARES. Support clinics will be made available to potential Tier 1 Support Staff to discuss details and processes for providing Tier 1 support and escalating issues to Tier 2.
Q: What is the status of the SOC 96 (Child and Family Team - Meeting Summary and Action Plan) Form?
A: The SOC 96 Form will be drafted and included as part of the Post Version 1 releases with further details to be shared in a formal communication closer to those releases.
Q: Will the child's/youth's health insurance information be incorporated into CWS-CARES?
A: This is part of the Health and Education Passport (HEP) on the person profile. CWS-CARES users can capture Medi-Cal, Medicaid and other Health Insurance coverage info in ‘Health Information’ section of Person Profile.
Q: Will the vendor convert forms strictly from CWS/CMS into CWS‑CARES, will those forms be remediated for ADA compatibility, and is there a process for counties to submit forms not currently in CWS/CMS for conversion?
A: Yes, the vendor will convert up to 2,400 county developed forms directly from CWS/CMS into the AEM format. Once built, counties will continue to validate forms. Counties will be responsible for building forms maintained outside of CWS/CMS, such as forms in external or local systems.
Q: In CWS-CARES, can two people work on the same case at the same time and save their entries, and can users have multiple cases open simultaneously or only one at a time?
A: Yes, you can have multiple cases open at one time. The workspace tabs organize the cases. More than one person can work in a case at the same time as long as they are not working on the same record at the same time. So, for example, someone can be entering a placement while someone else is entering a contact note without a problem.
Q: Will all community (unmatched) Resource Family Approval (RFA) applications be handled by the county child welfare department? If not, how will the system determine if the application is handled by child welfare vs probation?
A: This is a county practice issue on how they process unmatched/community applicants. CWS-CARES will allow for internal county controls to manage unmatched/community applicants. CWS-CARES will not account for unmatched/community applicants that are outsourced to external agencies.
Q: Will the project develop self-help tools for external portal users? Will the project communicate to external portal users that there will be a new portal?
A: The Project is considering approaches to assist portal users along with communications to broadly share the availability of such functionality statewide. No formal decisions have been made on these issues, more information to come in future communications.
Q: Will interested unmatched applicants be first directed to the interest form before having access to the application link?
A: This will be a practice issue on how counties want to funnel applicants through the process of creating an inquiry/application. CWS-CARES is built flexibly to allow for flexible entry points to start an inquiry or application.
Q: Will the Resource Family Approval (RFA) portal have interfacing capabilities and the ability to send electronic communication to families?
A: Yes, the portal does have the ability to electronically communicate with families.