Child Welfare Directors, Child Welfare Director-Alternates, Tribal Leadership, All CARES SPOCs and Implementation Coordinators
Child Welfare Leadership,
Thank you for your staff’s continued participation in the design and development of CWS-CARES. Through lessons learned and feedback we’ve received from your organizations we have identified opportunities to improve the way we build and deliver CARES V1.
We recognize that our current model has created gaps in the user experience. To address these gaps, we are launching a more holistic approach to delivering CARES V1 while preserving the October 2026 Go-Live date and scope.
The holistic design approach considers all aspects from the user experience and functionality to the visual design. It ensures that every element works together seamlessly to achieve the desired outcomes.
Given the scope and complexity of CWS-CARES, it has been challenging to connect the user experience across service areas and functional areas of the product. The new holistic design process will increase early opportunities for users to provide feedback and offer a broader functionality preview during Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST). This allows design review participants to see the proposed user experience across an entire business process, rather than incrementally. It also helps teams identify interdependencies across business areas earlier in the design process and reduce the need for rework.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more information and a schedule to prepare for this transition. We understand that any change requires adaptation and with that said, we believe that the holistic design approach will improve the quality of our work and ultimately benefit CWS-CARES end users.
If you have any questions, please contact CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.
CWS-CARES Holistic Design Announcement
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.