CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:
In this Weekly Digest:
- CWS-CARES Production Simulation Revised Dates & Key Details - 6/12/2026
- Action Required: CWS-CARES Technical Readiness Resource Document Update
- Reminder: Nine (9) Days Left to Register for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8
- CWS-CARES Data and Technical Contacts
- CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 15, 2026
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CWS-CARES Production Simulation Revised Dates & Key Details - 6/12/2026
Following the June 5, 2026 communication regarding the postponement of the Production Simulation (Prod Sim) launch, the CWS-CARES Project distributed an update on Friday, June 12, 2026 providing revised dates and key details for Prod Sim and related environments through CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Go-Live on October 26, 2026.
Prod Sim Environment – Revised Dates
- June 22, 2026: Counties begin hands-on validation of converted legacy data
- July 6, 2026: Additional county users join testing; Self-Paced Training curriculum and the ability to run forms, reports, and extracts will be available
- August 3, 2026: Prod Sim access opens for all 25,000 CWS/CMS users through Go-Live on October 26, 2026.
- September 26, 2026: ‘Sealed & Sensitive’ cases and referrals will be added to Prod Sim
Other Environments – Revised Dates
- June 15, 2026: The V1 Readiness (EUST 3) Environment will be decommissioned to migrate interface connections for upcoming training
- June 15 – August 7, 2026: New IBM-converted CWS/CMS forms will be available in County Forms Development Environment 102 on a rolling basis for county testing and validation
- June 16, 2026: Training Environment (CARES 104) opens for Train-the-Trainer (TTT) staff to begin perquisite training
For full details, refer to the email sent by Customer Relations on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 4:08 PM with the subject: CWS-CARES Production Simulation Revised Dates & Key Details – 6/12/2026.
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Action Required: CWS-CARES Technical Readiness Resource Document Update
The CWS-CARES Implementation team distributed an updated Technical Readiness Resource document on June 5, 2026, to CARES Implementation Coordinators and Implementation Technical Coordinators. Updates in this version include changes to processor hardware requirements, software requirements, and secondary workstation and remote VPN URLs.
Action Required: Please complete the updated Technical Readiness Resource CARES V1 – June 2026 Update document and return it to your assigned Implementation Lead no later than June 26, 2026.
For full details and instructions, refer to the email sent by the OTSI CWDS Implementation team on Friday, June 5, 2026, at 4:53 PM with the subject: Action Required: CARES Technical Readiness Resource Document Update (due no later than June 26, 2026).
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Reminder: Nine (9) Days Left to Register for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8
Thank you to the 230+ stakeholders who have already registered for the next Stakeholder Briefing on Wednesday, June 24, 2026! If you’ve not yet registered, we encourage you to attend the live webinar on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. All stakeholders impacted by the changes to CWS-CARES are welcome to attend, ask questions, and hear updates from Project leadership.
Register now at: CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 | Registration. Note: A separate calendar invitation will not be sent by the CWS-CARES Project. Please manually add the .ics attachment in the registration confirmation email to your calendar.
The full agenda for the June 2026 Stakeholder Briefing is available to view on the CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 Registration page. Updates will include:
- Project Status Update
- Preparing for Production Simulation
- Production Simulation Demo
- Training
- Organizational Change Management (OCM)
Thank you for participating in our Stakeholder Briefing webinar series! We hope to see you on June 24, 2026 to continue the conversation on the upcoming transition to CWS-CARES.
New Resources Now Available on the CWDS Website
The following resources are now available on the Stakeholder Webinar Materials | Child Welfare Digital Services page on the CWDS website:
- Stakeholder Briefing #7 Presentation Slides
- Stakeholder Briefing # 7 Q&A
- Stakeholder Briefing #6 Q&A – Update
View all past content and dates for all upcoming CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefings in 2026 on the Stakeholder Briefings and Webinars page on the CWDS website.
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CWS-CARES Data and Technical Contacts
As CWS-CARES approaches Go-Live, counties and organizations may have questions across a range of data and technical topics. The following contacts can assist with specific CWS-CARES topics and questions:
- Data Conversion or Converted Data: Data Conversions Workgroup – OSICWDSDataConversion@otsi.ca.gov
- Data Dictionary, Field Definitions, Data Types, Field Lengths, Data Mapping, or SqlDBM Access: Data Management Team – CWDSDataManagement@otsi.ca.gov
- Data Extracts: Data Extracts Workgroup – OTSICWDSCARESDataExtracts@otsi.ca.gov
- Forms: Forms Workgroup – OTSICWDSCARESForms@otsi.ca.gov
- Functional or Business Process Questions: Product Delivery Lead (PDL) Team – CARESPDL@otsi.ca.gov
- Reports, Dashboards, or Tableau: CWDS Analytics Transition (CAT) Workgroup – OSICWDSAnalyticsTransition@otsi.ca.gov
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CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 15, 2026
This week, the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight features the CWS-CARES Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) of the Week.
June 15, 2026 FAQ of the Week:
Q: Is DocuEdge single sign-on?
A: Yes. DocuEdge supports Single Sign-On (SSO) within CWS-CARES. DocuEdge functionality is accessed directly through the CWS-CARES interface, and users do not need to sign in separately to DocuEdge.
To view all of the CWS-CARES FAQs, please visit the CWDS website: CWS-CARES FAQs | CWDS Website.
Have a question? Send it to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov and we will be happy to help.
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Share Your Feedback and Subscribe
Thank you for following our progress! Share your feedback on this CWS-CARES Weekly Digest here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Feedback Form. Subscribe to future issues here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Subscription Form.
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Action Required: We request that all CWS-CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CWS-CARES Weekly Digest to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES, at their discretion.