Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will CWS-CARES pull data from CWS/CMS and Binti? If data is in Binti, is there any need to enter that data into CWS/CMS before the go live date? If data is in Binti but not in CWS/CMS, will the Binti data be loaded into CWS-CARES?
A: CWS/CMS data is the primary source of Child Welfare information and supersedes all other record sources. If a field in CWS-CARES already contains data from CWS/CMS, it will not be augmented or overwritten by Binti data.
For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the CWDS External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.
Q: Are the organizations (CDSS, Counties, Tribes with California Title IV-E Agreement(s)) responsible for accomplishing External System decommissioning activities?
A: Yes, organizations are responsible for creating and implementing external system decommissioning plans. For more information on decommissioning planning, please reach out to the External Stakeholder Coordination Units.
Q: Will all content in the miscellaneous section of Binti be transferred to CWS-CARES?
A: Yes. All PDFs, images, and documents from Binti will be migrated and linked. Please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet for more.
Q: Is Binti considered a Fully-In-Scope External System? If so, will all data, documents and images be migrated from Binti to the CWS-CARES platform prior to Go-Live?
A: Binti Resource Family Approval (RFA), Placement, and Family Finding functionalities are considered fully in scope for CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1).
Please note, the RFA module used by Los Angeles County providers for Foster Family Agencies is not in scope for CARES V1.
For more details, please refer to the Binti to CWS-CARES V1 Data Conversion Fact Sheet located in the Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) External Systems Portal. If you have additional questions, reach out to the External Systems Data Conversion (ESDC) team.
Q: Will Production Simulation include all aspects of CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1)?
A: All CARES V1 functionality will be available in Production Simulation, including:
- Reporting
- Intake & Investigations
- Case Management
- Courts
- Resource Family Home (RFH)
- Resource & Provider Management
- Financial Management
- Eligibility
Converted external systems data will be integrated as it becomes available.
Q: For context, the Project has stated that CWS-CARES will no longer utilize CWS User IDs. CWS-CARES V1 provides access to Structured Decision Making (SDM) and Safe Measures applications within the application; however, V1 does not completely decommission those applications, so County Admins will still be required to Add/Modify/Terminate SDM and Safe Measures user accounts within those specific applications. Currently, SDM and Safe Measures require a CWS User ID to set up a user account in both applications. The question is: Will both of those applications (SDM/Safe Measures) be modified prior to the 10/2026 go-live so that the CWS User ID is no longer required for user accounts? Also, will County Admins still access SDM and Safe Measures externally for account management functions, or will we utilize the links within the CWS-CARES app? Regarding accounts being end-dated after 90 days of inactivity, will their account just need a password reset that the employee can initiate? And lastly, will their account be end-dated or frozen? If their account is end-dated, will a new account need to be established for that employee?
A: SDM/SafeMeasures will use user’s email address for access to these systems. We haven’t tested how admin or users will need to interact with SDM or SafeMeasures outside of CWS-CARES. The Project will provide an update to the counties after the functionality has been tested.
Regarding accounts being end-dated after 90 days of inactivity, users will need to contact County Admin to reenable account.
Accounts will not be enabled in Okta. Users will need to contact County Admin to reenable account. Data in CWS-CARES associated to the user will remain the same. The user’s supervisor is responsible for units of work associated to the user if account is disabled. Note: The account is only inactive not end dated. We only end date accounts when we are truly terminating access (fired, quit, retired, etc.).
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.