Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can you provide more details about the Case Management Assessment (CMA) Suite Opeeka Person-Centered Intelligence Solutions (P-CIS) and clarify what information is being exchanged in the interface?
A: P-CIS provides real-time, bidirectional data exchange with CWS-CARES. P-CIS will support care coordination, assessments, and data sharing across agencies. Within PCIS, the CMA Suite is used to complete Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessments, Supervised Independent Living Program Readiness assessments, Life Skills Assessments, Child and Family Team Meeting surveys, and National Youth in Transition Database surveys.
For more information, please refer to the CWS-CARES and Data Exchange Fact Sheet.
Q: If CWS/CMS has an incomplete address and Binti data fills in the blank fields, is there a verification process to ensure the addresses are correct and should be merged?
A: The hierarchical conversion logic preserves CWS/CMS addresses, and Binti addresses are only utilized if the CWS/CMS field is blank. The Smarty Streets tool is used in CWS-CARES to automatically correct and complete address information.
As a reminder, CWS/CMS is the statewide system of record and the primary source of CWS-CARES data. For more information, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet.
Q: If a field in CWS-CARES already contains data, will the field be overwritten by the data received from the external system (Binti)?
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.
Q: We were wondering if CWS-CARES will incorporate Safety Organized Practice (SOP) into the system. This is the state approved model approach we use in practice.
A: CWS-CARES incorporates elements aligned with Safety Organized Practice (SOP) where appropriate within system functionality. For example, provisional Harm and Danger Statements are available at Intake (Screening) and can be further developed throughout the referral and case lifecycle. Additionally, SOP-aligned language has been integrated into relevant areas of the system, including structured contact notes and other documentation features, where applicable.
Q: Who will be responsible for adding users to the FFPSA and RFA portals?
A: The County Administrator will be responsible for adding county users to county FFPSA and RFA portals.
Q: Are there plans on implementing a document imaging solution for CWS-CARES?
A: Currently, there are no plans for a document imaging solution directly into CWS-CARES at this time. Users can scan documents to their computers and upload any saved documents as needed.
Q: Outside of Child & Family Services (CFS) staff, will other Health & Human Services (HHS) partners, like Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) for example, who have access to CWS-CARES be able to access all information or will they only have access to limited information/functions in CWS-CARES?
A: Access to CWS-CARES is role-based, and counties are responsible for determining how system access is assigned to their users based on local operational needs.
At this time, there is no dedicated worker permission specifically configured for Behavioral Health staff. For secondary role assignment, a “Public Health Nurse” role is available and may be leveraged by counties as appropriate. However, there is currently no distinct Behavioral Health role with a separate, limited permission set.
Q: It is noted that there is the ability in CWS-CARES to e-sign a lot of documents i.e. courts, state forms etc. Has the State already approved e-signatures? We have been previously instructed they need wet signatures for many different documents.
A: While CWS-CARES has the functionality to e-sign documents such as court reports and state forms, e-signatures are not required. Counties will have the flexibility to follow their own County and Court policies around e-signing documents. Please view Rule 2.257 for further details on use of e-signatures.
Q: Will counties be able to copy and modify reports created by other counties? If so, when will those reports be available for counties to access and copy?
A: In the CWS-CARES 102 environment, County Report Developers have permission to view reports developed by other counties. However, they do not have the ability to download, copy, or modify these reports because they are not members of the respective county or project folder structures where the reports are stored. Counties will continue to have read-only access to reports developed by other counties.
Reports developed by the project are managed and maintained under the project vendor warranty. For this reason, County Report Developers are not granted permissions to download or modify these reports. All CWS-CARES users will have the ability to run and view available reports as part of the CWS-CARES solution.
Reports are organized within their respective folder structures (such as county-specific folders or project folders), and access permissions are managed accordingly.
Q: How will Resource Family Approval (RFA) Applicants be categorized in CWS-CARES V1? Will they remain separate or become part of the Person record?
A: RFA Applicants will be put in as Category 1 people, and they will become part of the Person record.