A: If counties are in need of CWDS Website log-in support, please contact Customer Relations.

A: The approved Binti modules for CWS-CARES data conversion are as listed below:

• Resource Family Approvals (RFA)
• Placement
• Family Finding

A: CWS-CARES will have one consistent location for documenting re-entry into EFC activities, so that documentation can be better captured and monitored by the county. The user will be able to manage all of the tasks required when an eligible young adult wishes to re-enter EFC, and the system will prompt the user to complete the required tasks. Training materials are being developed to guide this process. There are various points of re-entry, including at screening and within case units of work. A recent demo is available on the CWDS website under Case Management, titled "Extended Foster Care - Initial Entry & Re-Entry into EFC".

A: Data mapping sessions determine what does or does not have a place in CWS-CARES.

Most Binti data aligns with CWS-CARES and converts successfully. County-specific or Binti-specific fields are reviewed during mapping, including:

• Administrative fields
• County-specific process fields
• Binti administrative/technical fields
• Data with no CWS-CARES equivalent

A: In the event that data doesn't match or cannot be converted when migrating to CWS-CARES from Binti, there are two steps:

1. Project will share the list of data elements that cannot be moved into CWS-CARES through the conversion process. This includes data with incorrect data types, incorrect picklist values or missing mandatory data element information. If Binti provided information is different from CWS/CMS information, then Binti provided data will be rejected and shared with Counties.
2. Counties validate the data. If an issue is found, it becomes a ticket. The Project investigates, fixes the issue, redeploys the data, and counties revalidate.

A: CWS-CARES will receive client-specific assistance payment details from CalSAWS. That information will be read-only in CWS-CARES.

Note: while CalSAWS sends Assistance Payment information to CWS-CARES, it won't be displayed the same way in CalSAWS and CWS-CARES. That is, if a user looks at an Issuance Detail in CalSAWS and then looks at an Assistance Payment record in CWS-CARES, they will see some of the same data elements, but that page layout and user interface won't be the same.

A: The demonstrations provided by the CWS-CARES Product Team will be posted to this webpage: CWS-CARES Demos | Child Welfare Digital Services

• An additional demo was scheduled for 2/23/26 from 3-5pm PST.
• A final, end-to-end FFPSA demo is in process with CWS-CARES and will be scheduled for early March.

A: FFPSA is a federal program that is new for California. Please refer to the CDSS website for more detailed information about the program and its rollout at the programmatic level.
 

A: There would be three steps to this process:

• Step 1: Create a new Unit Staff relationship in the Unit/Office that the worker will be moving to. This will allow the worker to be a part of that structure.
• Step 2: Navigate to the Caseload and update the Office, Unit and Staff Name fields to match that of the new relationship that has been created in Step 1. You do not need to use the Caseload Summary screen or Bulk Assignment for this. You can simply reassign the Caseload.
• Step 3: Navigate to the old Unit Staff relationship and mark it as “inactive” and add a reason.

A: Like CWS/CMS, Public Health Nurses (PHNs), Case Management Workers, and Emergency Response (ER) Workers will be able to document foster children and youth's medical needs in CWS-CARES. This includes documenting medical referrals, screenings, medical exams and tests, diagnosed health conditions, disabilities, medications, hospitalizations, immunizations, summary of current health conditions, and more.

CWS-CARES workers will then be able to generate the HEP document. The existing HEP template from CWS/CMS has been developed for use in CWS-CARES. This functionality will be available in CWS-CARES when we go live in October 2026.