CWDS Bulletins

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

May 7, 2026 UPDATE: The automated process to end‑date inactive CWS/CMS user logins continues in May. The new reports were generated and saved to SAFE on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The SAFE file is titled, “SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-05-07.xlsx.” REMINDER: this is the first month will list CWS/CMS user accounts that have been inactive for the previous 90 days.

Please review your organization’s report, saved in the SAFE folder. Organizations that do not have any potential accounts to end‑date in their report will, instead, find the following statement, “NO ROWS FOR DATA QUALITY CLEANSE”.

If needed, up to ten (10) listed accounts may be requested to be excluded from the automated end‑date process. Please submit your exclusion file by Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 5:00 PM, to request listed user logins from being end-dated when the process runs on Saturday, May 23, 2026. If more than ten (10) user logins are needed to be excluded, please send your justification to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov). The justification will be forwarded to the review team for consideration. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

As stated in the attached SCR 9039 FAQ document, CWS/CMS User IDs that need to be reactivated following the automated end‑date process can be accomplished by contacting the IBM Help Desk at 800-428-8268. Please note that the process to reactive the accounts is complex and does take one or two weeks to be completed by the IBM team. However, in order to expedite this timeline, it is important when calling in the ticket to explain the reason the user ID login was end dated was due to SCR 9039. User accounts from the reports that are logged in prior to Friday, May 22, 2026, at 5:00 PM, will not be end‑dated in the automated process on May 23, 2026.

All User ID accounts, both active and inactive, will be migrated to CWS-CARES. End-dated User ID accounts that need to be reactivated in CWS-CARES can be completed by the Administrators within CWS-CARES. This process will be much more direct and easier to complete in CWS-CARES than it is currently accomplished in CWS/CMS.

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April 7, 2026 UPDATE: After a one-month hiatus for March, the automated process to end‑date inactive CWS/CMS user logins has resumed for April. The new reports were generated and saved to SAFE on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The SAFE file is titled, “SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-04-07.xlsx.” REMINDER: this is the final month that the report will list CWS/CMS user accounts that have been inactive for the previous 180 days. Beginning in May, the reports will list accounts that have been inactive for 90 days.

Please review your organization’s report, saved in the SAFE folder. Organizations that do not have any potential accounts to end‑date in their report will, instead, find the following statement, “NO ROWS FOR DATA QUALITY CLEANSE”.

If needed, up to ten (10) listed accounts may be requested to be excluded from the automated end‑date process. Only a few organizations currently have more than ten (10) accounts listed. Please submit your exclusion file by Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 5:00 PM, to request listed user logins from being end-dated when the process runs on Saturday, April 25, 2026. If more than ten (10) user logins are needed to be excluded, please send your justification to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov). The justification will be forwarded to the review team for consideration. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

As stated in the attached SCR 9039 FAQ document, CWS/CMS User IDs that need to be reactivated following the automated end‑date process can be accomplished by contacting the IBM Help Desk at 800-428-8268. Please note that the process to reactive the accounts is complex and does take one or two weeks to be completed by the IBM team. User accounts from the reports that are logged in prior to Friday, April 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM, will not be end‑dated in the automated process on April 25, 2026.

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March 5, 2026 UPDATE: The CWDS Project has decided to not run the automated process to end-date inactive CWS/CMS user logins during March. The monthly process will resume in April. The next reports will be sent to the SAFE folder approximately April 7, 2026.

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February 18, 2026 UPDATE: This is a reminder to submit an exclusion file, if needed, by Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 5:00 PM to prevent up to ten (10) user logins from being end-dated. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

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February 11, 2026 UPDATE:  As presented at the February 10, 2026 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting, we are sharing the updated SCR 9039 FAQ document for your reference.   

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February 6, 2026 UPDATE: Based on received feedback, the reports are being updated for the following criteria:

Report criteria:

Identifies CWS/CMS user logins that have not been used in the past 180 days 

However, users are omitted from the report if they fall into one of these two categories:

1. Have NOT logged into CWS/CMS within the previous 180 days, but HAVE logged into CARES-Live within the previous 180 days.
2. The User ID has been created within the previous 90 days, and has NOT logged into CWS/CMS.

Updated reports, using the new criteria listed above, will be made available in SAFE in the FromOSI folder no later than 5:00 PM, on Friday, February 6, 2026, titled: SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-02-06.xlsx. 

Please use this updated report when reviewing the list of user logins identified for deactivation.

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To prepare for CWS-CARES Mock Cycles and Production Simulation, the CWS-CARES Project will begin an automated process to end-date inactive CWS/CMS user logins. This effort helps ensure that only active users are set up with access in CWS-CARES. 

This process identifies CWS/CMS user logins that have not been used in the past 180 days and schedules those logins to be end-dated. This is standard account cleanup intended to reduce inactive or outdated system access as counties prepare for CWS-CARES. 

What This Means for Counties 

• This activity affects system access only. There are no impacts to caseloads, staff roles, office assignments, or authority. 
• User logins associated with an active County License Case (CLC) are excluded from the report. 
• All user accounts (active and inactive) will still be carried forward to CWS-CARES. 

County Review and Option to Exclude User Logins  

Counties will have an opportunity to review the list of user logins identified for deactivation. To accommodate staff on extended leave (such as administrative or maternity leave), counties may exclude up to 10 user logins from deactivation, if needed. 

A report will be available in SAFE in the FromOSI folder on February 2, 2026, titled: 
SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-02-02.xlsx. 

If your county wishes to exclude user logins: 

1. Use the Excel file provided. 
2. Keep only the rows (up to 10) for user logins you want excluded. 
3. Do not modify the file layout or formatting. 
4. Upload the file to SAFE in the ToOSI folder. 

If more than 10 exclusions are needed, please contact CWDS Customer Relations and include a brief explanation. 

Deadline: February 19 at 5:00 PM 
Files received after this deadline will not be accepted, and all user logins listed in the original report will be end-dated. 

Timing and Ongoing Process 

• This first run will process and end-date User IDs on February 21, 2026. 
• The 180-day inactivity threshold will remain in place through April 2026, giving counties additional time to review the list and adjust to new processes. 
• Beginning May, the inactivity threshold will change to 90 days, consistent with CWS-CARES access policy and the Production Simulation environment. 
• After February, this process will occur monthly until the transition to CWS-CARES: 
• Reports will be posted after the first weekend of each month 
• User logins will be deactivated during the fourth weekend of the month 
• Counties will receive advance notice of specific dates 

Restoring a User Login 

If a user login is end-dated and later needs to be restored, counties may submit a Help Desk ticket to reinstate the existing login and associated staff access. 

Action Required 

• Review the report of inactive CWS/CMS user logins when it becomes available in SAFE. 
• Submit an exclusion file (if needed) by February 19 at 5:00 PM to prevent up to 10 user logins from being end-dated. 
• No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided. 

For questions or concerns, please contact the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox. 

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Sunday, May 10, 2026, beginning at 9:00 AM and concluding at 12:00 PM. During the maintenance window, the OTech Open System Storage team will be updating the firmware on the Gold Camp STaaS NetApp Storage. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance.

Action Required

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.

Salesforce Webinar Recording Participants:

Thank you for your participation in the Salesforce Recorded Webinar on April 9, 2026. We appreciate the time you took to join the session and share your feedback.

Following feedback from our county partners, we have decided not to release the recent webinar recording. As the session focused on general Salesforce navigation, some content may not fully reflect the CWS-CARES user experience.

Instead, these topics will be integrated into upcoming CWS-CARES training to ensure users receive guidance tailored to our platform.

We appreciate your continued partnership as we refine our materials to better serve CWS-CARES users.

Action Required

If you have any questions, please contact CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov.

ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:

The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled critical maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance is on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, beginning at 10:00 PM and concluding at 10:30 PM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.

Action Required

All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.

Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.

All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:

May 5, 2026 UPDATE: In addition to the warning message issue, a second issue within the Server Based Computing (SBC) / Citrix environment was discovered. This second issue was a “High Level Problem Occurred” message. Unlike the first issue, users who encountered the second issue were blocked from proceeding access to the CWS/CMS application.

IBM worked with the California Department of Technology (CDT) and implemented a fix to resolve the “High Level Problem Occurred” last night. Users should not be encountering this issue when accessing the CWS/CMS application via SBC.

In addition, a separate fix has been implemented this morning to resolve the issue that was causing the warning message. This message should no longer appear.

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The California Department of Technology (CDT) upgraded the SBCS servers to the Windows 2022 server. This activity has caused the following warning message to appear when accessing CWS/CMS via an SBC connection:

IBM and the CWDS Office are working with the CDT on a fix, to be implemented later this week, to prevent this warning message from appearing. No action will be needed from the user once this update is made. In the meantime, users are able to connect to CWS/CMS by simply clicking the ‘OK’ button to close out the warning message.

Action Required

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.

All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:

The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Friday, May 8, 2026, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 8:00 AM. During the maintenance window, the CWS-CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process will be accessible for pilot counties Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara. However, document related functionality will not be accessible.

Action Required

No action required from end-users during this maintenance window.

If users experience any issues with the CWS-CARES, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CWS-CARES County Administrators may contact the CARES Service Desk through the CWDS ServiceNow Customer Support Management (CSM) Portal. Alternate methods are phoning 1-855-292-3444 or via email at Servicedesk@cwds.ca.gov during normal business hours. You may also email after hours, and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.  

• Reminder: Register for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 
• Court Reports Development: Templates and Resources Update 
• The April 2026 Progress and Engagement Summary is Now Available 
• CWS-CARES Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) of the Week 

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Reminder: Register for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7

We encourage you to attend the next CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing on May 27, 2026 from 10:00 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 #7 | 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 May 2026 Stakeholder Briefing is available to view on the CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 Registration page. Updates will include: 

• Implementation 
• Extended User Scenario Testing 3 
• Production Simulation 
• Resource Family Approval (RFA) Portal Demonstration 

View the dates for all upcoming CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefings in 2026 on the Stakeholder Briefings and Webinars page on the CWDS website. 

Thank you for participating in our Stakeholder Briefing webinar series! We hope to see you on May 27, 2026 to continue the conversation on the upcoming transition to CWS-CARES. 

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Court Reports Development: Templates and Resources Update 

In February 2026, we shared that CWS-CARES introduces a new approach to court report development, providing base templates while giving counties flexibility to build and modify reports to meet local needs. See the communication here: CWS CARES: Changes to Court Reports Development. 

As of April 9, 2026, Court Report base templates are now available in the CWS-CARES application (CARES 102 environment) and can be used as a starting point for court report development if modification is needed. 

Forms Workgroup sessions have provided “how-to” demonstrations for county forms authors, with recordings available. 

The Court Reports Guide in the Forms Workgroup Teams channel provides a step-by-step guide for generating, updating, and validating court reports in CWS-CARES.  

For support, Form Authors can attend the Forms Authors Office Hours on Thursdays from 2–3 PM, or contact otsicwdscaresforms@otsi.ca.gov with any questions. 

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The April 2026 Progress and Engagement Summary is Now Available 

The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summaries provide a concise overview of the collaborative efforts and achievements of CWS-CARES. The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary | April 2026 features engagement analytics for the March 2026 reporting period across the following subject areas:  

• Project Communications  
• Core Constituent Demonstrations  
• Forms and Data  
• External Systems, Interfaces, and Analytics  
• Implementation, OCM, and Training Activities  

View all CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summaries on the CWDS website: CWS_CARES_Progress_and_Engagement_Updates. 

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CWS-CARES Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) of the Week

Each week, we highlight a common question from counties and partner organizations, along with a clear, practical answer to  help you better understand CWS-CARES functionality.  

May 4, 2026, FAQ of the Week: 

Q: If a client moves from one county to another, will imaged documents and associated data transfer automatically with the rest of the client’s data? 

A: Yes. In CWS-CARES, documents attached to a unit of work, such as a case, remain associated with that case. When the case is transferred from one county to another, the associated documents and relevant data remain linked to the case and are accessible to the receiving county. 

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’ll be happy to help.

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.

ALL SPOCs and TRAINING CONTACTS:

May 1, 2026 update: This is a reminder that the deadline to register for the R9.8 County Test Workshop (CTW) is May 19, 2026.

Additionally, we want to ensure all potential testers are aware of the database cutoff date in advance. The last day to enter data into CWS/CMS and have it included in CTW is May 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Any data entered after this date and time will not be available during CTW.

Please note: if new users are participating in CTW and they have no data entered before the cutoff, they will not have any data available to test during CTW.

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The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate in the Release 9.8 County Test Workshop (CTW).  Release 9.8 is scheduled for delivery to the counties on July 11, 2026.

The CTW for Release 9.8 will be conducted in a remote setting, via Server Based Computing (SBC) soft tokens.  

The deadline to register is:  May 19, 2026

Registered testers will participate in the testing of Release 9.8, which is scheduled for delivery to the counties on July 11, 2026.  CWDS is seeking a total of 15 county staff members for each of the 16 sessions (2 sessions per day, 9AM - 12PM and 1PM - 4PM). There will be no testing from 12PM - 1PM each day of CTW.   

Remote CTW sessions will be on the following dates: 

Week 1 (Read/Write Environment)

Monday, June 1, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Thursday, June 4, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Week 2 (Read-Only Environment)

Monday, June 8, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Wednesday, June 10, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Thursday, June 11, 2026 (AM or PM session)

Participants are welcome to register for any of the sessions listed above, in half or whole day increments. Participants are recommended to register for at least one session per week. This will allow the participant to compare activities in both the usual read/write environment and the read-only environment.

The sessions will be limited to a maximum of 15 people per session.  No exceptions. 

We encourage you to submit your request for a specific session as soon as possible, but no later than close of business on May 19, 2026.  If a daily count exceeds the maximum count, Customer Relations will work with that tester to be rescheduled to another session. 

Please note that all requests must be submitted by the deadline so that the CWDS Office can finalize the needed arrangements.  Late registrations cannot be accepted.

A  Release 9.8 County Test Workshop Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential tester must be received as soon as possible, but no later than close of business on May 19, 2026.

 Link:   Release 9.8 County Test Workshop (CTW) Registration Form

If for any reason, you cannot access the Online Registration Form, please contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov.

The CWDS Office will work with the registered participants on all the details of their CTW participation.  

SBC Soft Token Use:

Once registration has closed on May 19, 2026, Customer Relations will schedule a MS Teams meeting with testers and their County IT Contacts.  The purpose of this meeting will be to make sure that your County IT can configure your workstation with the needed software and any other required configurations.  If this cannot be accomplished, your registration in this CTW cannot be accommodated. 

System Change Requests (SCRs) included: 

• SCR 9003 - Place CWS/CMS in a Read-Only State
• SCR 8993 - Referral Completed Due Date
• SCR 8973 - ICWA Eligible Data Entry (Part A)
• SCR 9034 - R9.8 Training Tools Package

Counties are encouraged to register individuals with knowledge and experience working in the areas mentioned above.  A mix of end users with casework or supervisory experience will also be very helpful.  Participants will validate the changes in the release and will perform tests of problem fixes and enhancements. Participants will work with other County and State testers as well as vendor support staff.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact: Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov.

Your continued support of CWDS is greatly appreciated. 

Action Required

Submit a Release 9.8 County Test Workshop Online Registration Form no later than May 19, 2026.

CWS-CARES SPOCs:

May 1, 2026 UPDATE: This is an update to the February 19, 2026, communication requesting participants for Data Conversion

Mock Cycles 1 and 2.  Mock Cycle 2 is the next full load of organization data from CWS/CMS and select systems into CWS-CARES for review. This validation helps confirm that real-world records appear accurately and completely in the system. 

Mock Cycle 2 data will now be loaded into the Production Simulation environment. Beginning May 26, 2026, participants will be able to validate converted data as part of Production Simulation activities rather than through a separate Mock Cycle 2 process. 

Support for data validation will be provided through regular support channels, including Office Hours. 

Thank you for your continued partnership and flexibility as we align Production Simulation and data conversion readiness activities. 

If you have questions about data conversion, please contact CWDS Data Conversion.

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February 19, 2026

Participants Requested for Data Conversion Mock Cycles 1 and 2 – Survey Due March 2, 2026

All CWS-CARES SPOCs:

As CWS-CARES continues statewide readiness efforts, we appreciate your continued partnership in data validation activities.

The next phase is Data Conversion Mock Cycles 1 and 2. These are full test runs where organization data from CWS/CMS and select systems are converted into CWS-CARES to review real-world records and confirm the data appears accurately and completely in the system.

We are seeking one (1) to five (5) participants per organization who are familiar with their data to support this effort. All participants will receive calendar invitations and communications for both cycles, so you do not need to indicate which cycle(s) they plan to support.

Timeline

Mock Cycle 1: March 23, 2026 – April 10, 2026
Mock Cycle 2: April 21, 2026 – May 4, 2026

Participants may support one or both cycles. Mock Cycle 2 will include system improvements, sealed and sensitive records, and updated user access settings in preparation for Production Simulation.

Support

Participation includes a one-hour kickoff and a wrap-up session. Orientation sessions and semi-weekly office hours will be available to support questions and issue review. Time spent on validation is flexible and based on each organization’s level of review.

Action Required:

Please complete the brief survey by March 2, 2026, so we can set up user access:

CWS-CARES Data Conversion Mock Cycles 1 and 2 Survey

Only one survey response per organization is needed, so please coordinate internally before submitting.

If you have questions, please contact CWDS Data Conversion.

All SPOCs and Advanced Planning Document (APD) contacts:

This is a questionnaire that guides APD Coordinators and program staff through providing a thorough use case for External Systems APDs. California Title IV-E Agencies requesting to implement or maintain an external system should be submitting an APD package, including a QuEST with all sections fully completed. The questionnaire is located on our CWDS Website at Advance Planning Document (APD) Information | Child Welfare Digital Services.

Action Required

Please review the questionnaire and disseminate to the appropriate people in your county.