All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
Following the deployment of Release R9.8, two issues were identified that required corrective action. In addition, an update to the JV-415 form has been included to incorporate the latest version released by the Judicial Council. The CWDS Office and IBM has created a hot-fix release, R9.8.1, to provide fixes and / or updates for these items. There is no outage associated with this release.
The R9.8.1 MSI file is now available in the “R981” staging folder. Counties may deploy the release as soon as they have received the MSI file.
R9.8.1 is an optional release for Co-Existent Counties; however, deployment of the R9.8.1 code is strongly recommended.
R9.8.1 Release Highlights
IN10025562 - Case Closure Approval Issue
- R9.8 introduced a new requirement that the focus child's ICWA Eligibility value cannot be "Not Asked" when ending a Case. As an unintended consequence, 235 Cases that were already in Pending Approval status when R9.8 was deployed could no longer be approved.
- Resolution: R9.8.1 restores the ability to approve the affected Case Closure requests while maintaining the new requirement for Cases submitted after the R9.8 release.
IN10025575 - Process Placement Home Move (PPHM) Issue
- An issue introduced with R9.8 prevented users from running the Process Placement Home Move (PPHM) function.
- Resolution: R9.8.1 resolves the issue and restores normal PPHM processing functionality.
IN10025759 – JV-415 Form Update
- The recent forms release included the January 1, 2026 version of form JV-415. The July 1, 2026 version became available after release development activities were completed.
- Resolution: R9.8.1 updates JV-415 to the July 1, 2026 version.
Action Required
Co-Existent Counties
Distribute the release through the normal county process. Since R9.8.1 is an optional release, Co-Existent Counties can plan to deploy the update when it is most convenient for them once they have received the MSI file.
Dedicated Counties
IBM distributed the MSI file to the Dedicated Counties on Monday, July 20, 2026. Release 9.8.1 will be installed automatically via the normal release deployment process.
For best results the users should do the following on Tuesday, July 21, 2026:
- Reboot the workstation and log into Windows at least once to receive the Release 9.8.1 installer.
- If prompted, select “Take All Actions” (the prompt will not occur while CWS/CMS is running);
or
- When leaving the office at the end of that day, reboot the workstation again, but do not log into Windows.
- Leave the workstation powered on so that automatic installation can occur overnight.
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.