Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will data entered during Production Simulation Environment remain after Go-Live or be deleted?
A: Because Production Simulation is used solely for testing and validation, its data will not be moved into the live CWS-CARES Production Environment. There will be periodic refreshes that will delete and update the data with new copies.
Q: Is there additional clarity on the Sandbox versus Production Simulation environments, and whether Production Simulation is intended to replace the Sandbox? Please explain the environments that are available and additional information, such as their purpose, who can request access, how to request access, and the pros and cons of each.
A: Production Simulation is intended to supersede the Sandbox environment, which will be retired once Production Simulation is activated. It is important to note that Business Process Validation (previously called Process Simulation) is not a standalone environment. Instead, it is an activity conducted within the Production Simulation environment to validate workflows.
Unlike temporary testing sites, the Training environment is a permanent resource that will remain available after CWS-CARES V1 go-live to support onboarding and continued learning using generic (non-production) data and artificial cases.
Environment Summary:
- Sandbox: Temporary testing environment; will be replaced by Production Simulation.
- Production Simulation (Pending Federal Approval): Real-data practice environment that will be retired once CWS-CARES is live.
- Training: Ongoing staff development environment using non-production data.
- EUST: Extended User Scenario Testing environment, scheduled to retire after EUST 3.
Q: Will counties have the ability to 'delete' county-created forms from CWS-CARES or do they have to open a ticket with the state to do it? If the counties can't delete the form, will they be able to mark it inactive and will marking it inactive not display the form in the drop-down during forms generation?
A: Counties will not be able to permanently delete county-created forms in CWS-CARES. However, county form authors can mark forms as “Inactive” within the document configuration page. Once a form is marked “Inactive”, it will no longer appear in the dropdown list during form generation.
Q: Can counties use offshore resources for forms development activities?
A: Counties should consult their county counsel to determine whether offshore resources may be used based on their specific circumstances. While CDSS cannot provide county-specific legal advice, counties should consider the following:
- Offshore resources should not have access to production data
- Any agreement or contract for these services should be with an entity located in the United States, preferably California.
Q: Will we be able to see all the information when a case is transferred from Child Welfare to Probation?
A: Yes, all previous child welfare case information and history will be available for the probation worker to access and view.
Q: Regarding Optimistic Concurrency, will there be a warning message when 2 people are editing the same record (For example, the same contact note, same warrant, etc.)?
A: In CWS-CARES, updates are written directly to the cloud. If two users attempt to edit the same record at the same time (e.g., the same contact log or case record), the second user will receive an error indicating that the record has been updated. They will then need to refresh the page, re-enter their changes, and save.
To be clear, records are not locked during editing since Salesforce handles Optimistic Concurrency through conflict detection instead.
Q: Can the tribal information in Resource Management directory (for example, Tribe name changes etc.) be edited by the counties or is this going to be a state only functionality?
A: Only approved state personnel are allowed to view/edit a Tribe Organization in CWS-CARES.
Q: Following Go-Live (in addition to Production), which CWS-CARES environment(s) (e.g., staging, readiness, training, etc.) will remain available to organizations so that users can continue to "practice/train" in a non-Production environment?
A: Following go-live, counties and organizations will maintain access to multiple environments in addition to Production. This multi-environment structure enables them to develop and test county-specific forms and reports, conduct ongoing practice sessions and staff training, and support continuous learning without disrupting live operations.
Available non-production environments include:
- Training Environment – For staff training and onboarding
- County/Organization Dev Environment – Specifically for forms and report authors to continue development work. This environment will have non-production (test/simulated) data
- Readiness Environment – For ongoing practice and readiness activities. This environment will have production data (refreshed from the Production environment at a yet TBD interval). Can also be used for testing county-developed forms and reports against production data
Q: Will dedicated counties be allowed to access CWS-CARES on county computers as well as state computers?
A: Dedicated County Users will be expected to access CWS-CARES using their dedicated county machines (supported by CWDS), similar to how they currently access CWS/CMS. Non-CWDS-supported county machines will not be allowed to access CWS-CARES. Users with specialized access needs (as seen in CWS/CMS) may be assigned SCBS-Citrix access based on specific business requirements.
Q: I believe in one of the CWS-CARES meetings we were shown a demonstration that would allow us to look up the current facility roster that shows the children placed in a specific facility. Can you confirm whether that is accurate?
A: Yes, users can see a list view of currently placed children and list of historical placements.
