CWS-CARES Public Library

This July, the CWS-CARES Sandbox Environment opened to the first cohort of 559 users across 30 organizations. The Sandbox gives users the opportunity to gain early, hands-on exposure to CWS-CARES and practice Child Welfare business processes and scenarios.
 
To prepare for their Sandbox journey, new Sandbox users attended an orientation session to learn about the Sandbox user access process, functionality and data available in the system, and the support provided for users. New users attended a training session to learn how to access and complete the on-demand training programs within the Sandbox environment. Drop-in Office Hours are available twice a day to provide support and troubleshooting as Sandbox users continue to explore and build familiarity with the system.   ​

Up Next: Adding More Sandbox Users​

This first cohort of Sandbox users is broken into three groups, beginning with the first group of users from organizations whose connectivity to CWS-CARES was established when they participated in EUST. Six additional organizations make up Cohort 1, Group 2, which began onboarding into the Sandbox in mid-September 2025.  Cohort 1, Group 3, the remaining organizations, will onboard in October.

The project will continue to onboard new cohorts of users into the Sandbox throughout 2025 and into Spring 2026. Cohort 1 users will fill a vital role in supporting their organization’s future Sandbox users by setting up internal support structures, sharing best practices, and serving as go-to resources for questions and troubleshooting.  ​

Implementation Coordinator(s) and Single Point(s) of Contact at each organization select Sandbox users for each cohort. If you’re interested in joining the CWS-CARES Sandbox, please reach out to your organization’s Implementation Coordinator(s) and Single Point(s) of Contact.  ​

“When people in my organization have questions about CARES, it's really helpful to log into the Sandbox and show them what it looks like.” ​

– CWS-CARES Sandbox User

Sandbox Onboarding Timeline​

July – October 2025​

Cohort 1​

Group 1: Mid-July 2025​
30 Organizations that established connectivity during previous Extended User Scenario Testing ​

Group 2: Mid-September 2025​
6 additional Organizations able to establish early connectivity​

Group 3: October 2025​
All remaining Organizations​

October 2025​

Cohort 2: Additional members from each organization​

January 2026​

Cohort 3: Additional members from each organization ​

April 2026

Cohort 4: Additional members from each organization​