Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When can we expect to receive the course descriptions and learning objectives for the self-paced courses?
A: The Learning Paths and Course descriptions were sent to counties on 6/25.
Q: For Self-Paced courses, will counties determine who will take which learning path?
A: The Learning Paths include recommendations on which users, based on permissions, should take which Self-Paced courses. The counties will make the final determination on who from their county needs to take which courses.
Q: Why are not all staff able to access the on-demand trainings that are self-paced?
A: Giving all users access to the training environment is difficult when we are pre-seeding data. We want a limited number of users in the training environment to help protect the seeded data, and to ensure that the data is working as expected with the production-level data.
Q: Will CWS-CARES include Medi-Cal eligibility information?
A: Yes. A health insurance section is part of the Person Profile for the focus child. Users can document the type of insurance — Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Mental Health, Health Insurance Coverage, Prescription Drug Coverage, or no coverage — along with details such as provider name, policy holder name, policy number, and date of issuance.
Why are there separate fields for Current Child Address and Placement Address in the Mandatory Child Eligibility Request Information section of the Eligibility Record? Wouldn't these addresses always be the same if the Eligibility Record is generated when a placement is made?
A: Yes, the Product Team is looking at having just one address, but this change will not be made in CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1).
Q: In our county, the CalSAWS Eligibility Worker collects and enters income. If a worker enters income in CalSAWS, will that populate the income in CWS-CARES?
A: Yes, property or income information entered in CalSAWS for the focus child will transmit over to CWS-CARES. Property or income for other members of the Home of Removal will not be sent from CalSAWS to CWS-CARES in Version 1.
Q: Will all county rates be uploaded to this system? What about Level of Care (LOC), specialized rates, clothing, and general funds?
A: The Financial Management Team is looking at developing rate tables. However, for standard state rates (Level of Care, Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program, etc.), the CWS-CARES user will select the rate type/subtype and send that to CalSAWS. CalSAWS will receive the rate type/subtype and use that to determine the rate from the tables in its system. The CWS-CARES user will only need to enter rate amounts for non-standard rates (rates that are not the same for all counties), such as clothing allowances.
Q: Will a check be distributed without an aid code?
A: Issuance records used to create checks are distributed from CalSAWS after the Eligibility Determination and Benefit Calculation (EDBC) is run; there is no change to this functionality in CalSAWS.
Q: Will the aid codes still come over as 40-non-federal? If eligibility won't be determined until later, will the Eligibility Worker be able to update the aid code after the case is approved by the CalSAWS Eligibility Supervisor?
A: The aid code is determined by CalSAWS. Eligibility Determination and Benefit Calculation (EDBC) will still run to determine an initial aid code while CalSAWS intake is processed (for those counties who issue under non-federal funds initially and finish processing the Foster Care application later). In the State ID section of the Person Record, if no aid code has been received from CalSAWS, the CWS-CARES user can set the aid code to 40 if that is the county business practice. Once CalSAWS sends an aid code to CWS-CARES as a result of running EDBC, then that aid code is reflected on the Eligibility Record and is available to be selected on the Person Record for the State ID. CWS-CARES will continue to work with CalSAWS to determine the appropriate information is sent, including the Legal Authority.
Q: Is there an error code or reminder when trying to enter placement rates for a Tribally Approved Home if the required background checks have not been done to be eligible for foster funding?
A: If those background checks have not been cleared, they won't be in the system as a Tribally Approved Home. They might be an emergency placement, and the Case Management Worker must document the minimum clearances for an emergency placement.