CARES SPOCs, Technical Contacts, Data Quality Contacts, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:
We are pleased to announce the release of a new suite of CWS-CARES cutover readiness materials on the CWS-CARES Hub, to be available by the end of the day today, and the latest CWS-CARES Production login completion statistics.
The County Continued Operations Plan (COOP) Planning Guide for Cutover supports local agency readiness with a modular toolkit offering customizable tracking workbooks, fillable templates, and contingency protocols to maintain essential child welfare functions during the cutover window.
The CWS-CARES Go-Live Readiness Executive Overview is a package that includes detailed appendices covering key dates, conversion and cutover plans, rollout contingencies, support structures, interim workaround guidance, and business continuity plans.
Please note that these materials are living documents. The versions currently posted to the CWDS website represent a specific point-in-time snapshot of project planning; as cutover preparations progress and details are refined, these documents are subject to change and will be updated with new information and reposted accordingly.
We have also established a county-sharing area to host county-contributed planning documents. A special thank you to Fresno, Sacramento, and Los Angeles counties for contributing their materials to serve as valuable reference models. These resources are provided as optional reference models and should be tailored to meet local policy, court, and operational requirements. If your county or organization has additional resources or templates you would like to share, please contact Customer Relations. Submitted files will be reviewed and posted to the new county shared section.
The suite of materials will be posted to the new CWS-CARES Hub on the CWDS website, located on the Portals page and features areas for County COOP resources, Cutover, and Documents Shared By Counties. We are actively building and expanding this space. Please check back regularly as new resources, tools, and updates are added.
Additionally, we have included the Production Login Completion Statistics as of November 6, 2026. Please note that the Production environment is separate and distinct from the Prod Sim (CARES100) environment. As a reminder, each CWS-CARES user must log in to the Production environment to verify that their account access and permissions are active. Please ensure all county staff complete this account verification task by Monday, November 23, 2026.
Thank you for your partnership, coordination, and leadership as we work together toward a smooth cutover and successful go-live.
Action Required
Please share this with all staff impacted by this information.
Please contact Customer Relations for questions.
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Security Protocols for Prod Sim Case Data
The Prod Sim environment contains converted CWS/CMS cases reflecting actual system data as of September 20, 2026. Because this includes real, sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII), all case information must be strictly protected or redacted.
To protect CWS-CARES case data, please follow these important security guidelines when working with our support teams:
- Redact Ticket Info: Do not send Protected Health Information (PHI), PII, or confidential case details to the Service Desk via email or ticket. Sensitive and confidential data cannot be stored in the ticketing system.
- Secure Screen Shares: During support-requested screen shares, limit attendees to essential personnel only. Recording of sensitive information is strictly prohibited.
- Consult for Tier 3 Transfers: If Tier 3 support needs sensitive data, use secure transmission methods. Contact your county Privacy Officer or the CWDS ISO if you need assistance with secure routing.
Please contact the Customer Relations mailbox for questions.