April 08, 2024
Communications
All SPOCs:
The CWDS Office is pleased to announce a new page on the CWDS Website titled The Latest News from CWS-CARES. The new page will feature the CARES Compass (CWS-CARES Executive Summary) and the CARES Explorer (CWS-CARES Project Newsletter) and will be implemented on April 22, 2024.
The CARES Compass is a bimonthly 2-page summary of upcoming CWS-CARES communications, and brief project highlights.
The CARES Explorer is published quarterly to keep external audiences informed on CWS-CARES through a full-length newsletter of informational items and specific topics with more detailed project information.
Accessing the new page:
- From the main CWDS Website, access will be added under the Stakeholder Resources dropdown then clicking the CWS-CARES User Resources link.
- Repurpose the “Check out our FAQs” blue box to state, “Check out the latest news from CWS-CARES.”
Here are screenshots of the updates on the CWDS website:
Action Required
Contact the CWDS Customer Relations team if you have any questions.
April 05, 2024
Communications
ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, April 20 2024, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at 2:00 AM. 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.
April 02, 2024
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and Training Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance to the CARES-Live Training Environment on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This scheduled maintenance is to upgrade the Training Environment to the CARES-Live 2.8.29 version. Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live Training Environment during the scheduled outage.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CARES-Live Training Environment, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CARES-Live 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.
April 02, 2024
Communications
All CWS/CMS SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
April 2, 2024 UPDATE: This is a reminder that beginning today, April 2, 2024, CWS SPOCS, CWS SPOC Backups, and CWS Technical Contacts will begin to see county/organization MS Teams channels in their MS Teams application. The naming convention selected for the channels is: MO_Reports_Countyname.
We have also linked the MS Teams M&O Reports – Quick Guide which provides a general overview of the MS Teams application and its use in sharing the CWS/CMS User ID, Windows Workstation and the CANS Duplicates reports.
If you have any questions regarding this process, please reach out to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov .
__________________________________________________________________________
March 20, 2024 UPDATE: At this time, we would like to provide CWS SPOCS and CWS Technical Contacts with an update on MS Teams use in sharing specific CWS/CMS Reports as well as the CANS Duplicate Reports. After reviewing the feedback from our testing counties, we have determined that use of MS Teams can move forward.
We plan on going live with all county CWS SPOCS, SPOC Backups, and CWS Technical Contacts starting April 2, 2024. The rollout of MS Teams will be completed on a phased approach. Beginning on the morning of April 2, 2024, we will add users to the MS Teams county/organizations channels following this schedule:
| Date – Onboarding of users |
Region |
| 4/2/24 |
Bay Area region counties |
| 4/2/24 |
Mountain Valley region counties |
| 4/2/24 |
Southern region counties |
| 4/3/24 |
Central Valley region counties |
| 4/3/24 |
Northern region counties
Yurok and Karuk Tribes |
We are confident that the use of MS Teams will be a mutual benefit to our counties/organizations as well as to CWDS in sharing specific reports and eliminating the need to email these sensitive reports, which has been problematic.
Beginning on April 2, 2024, CWS SPOCS, CWS SPOC Backups, and CWS Technical Contacts will begin to see county/organization MS Teams channels in their MS Teams application. The naming convention selected for the channels is: MO_Reports_Countyname. This name will be used since these reports fall under Maintenance & Operations. We hope this prevents any confusion with the other existing CARES Workgroup MS Team channels that some county/organization staff may have access to now.
This is a sample screenshot of how it would look in MS Teams.
Once the user clicks on the County/Organization MS Teams Channel, this will be the folder structure under the Files tab in MS Teams:
Channel / Folder Access
CWS SPOCS and CWS SPOC Backups will be granted access to all the folders shown above. However, CWS Technical Contacts will only be granted access to the CWS CMS User ID Reports and Windows Workstation Reports folders and not the CANS Duplicates folder.
For additional security, all documents contained in these folders will be password protected. Your Customer Relations team member will provide you with those passwords in a separate encrypted communication.
Thank you in advance for your patience as we begin rolling out MS Teams to the CWS SPOCS, CWS SPOC Backups, and CWS Technical Contacts.
If you have any questions regarding this process, please reach out to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov .
__________________________________________________________________________
The CWDS Project is excited to announce that Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) will soon be used by CWS/CMS as method to share reports previously sent via encrypted emails. MS Teams will support sharing various reports, including the following:
- CANS Duplicate Reports
- Windows Workstation Reports
- CWS/CMS User ID Clean Up Reports
On January 2, 2024, it was shared that the use of MS Teams would be implemented on a phased approach, starting with the CARES Analytics Workgroup on January 8, 2024. This work was completed by our CARES Data Infrastructure (CDI) lead engineer, Craig Woody, in partnership with OTSI’s Information Technology Office (ITO). Thanks to that effort, we feel that it can now be expanded to use for CWS/CMS report sharing.
A major difference in the use of MS Teams for CWS/CMS, as opposed to its use in CARES, is that each individual county/organization will have a siloed/isolated County MS Teams channel. Due to the nature and security of the reports to be shared, only the Single Points Of Contacts (SPOCs) and Technical Contacts will have access to these county MS Teams channels. Additionally, channel members from one County will not be able to access or view another County’s MS Team channel.
Starting on March 11, 2024, a small subset of counties will assist CWDS in testing access to MS Teams for the use mentioned above. Those test counties are:
- Fresno
- Placer
- Sacramento
- San Diego
- Shasta
- Solano
We anticipate that the testing will end on March 15, 2024. After which, the testing findings will be reviewed. We will then share an official go-live date for all of the rest of the counties/organizations in an updated communication.
Please send Customer Relations an email if your county does not plan to use MS Teams for collaboration with the CWDS Project at this time. Customer Relations will document your county’s decision and/or identify a future timeframe to explore setting up an MS Teams channel with your county.
Action Required
Please reply by March 15, 2024 if your county does not plan to use MS Teams at this time or in the near future.
March 28, 2024
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:
March 28, 2024 UPDATE: The CAD/Business Objects (BO) server maintenance has been rescheduled to the following week. The maintenance window is now scheduled for Sunday, April 14, 2024, beginning at 8:00 AM and concluding at 1:00 PM. CAD Business Objects (BO) / Business Intelligence (BI) will not be accessible during the maintenance window.
Any BO reports scheduled to run during this timeframe will be affected.
_____________________________________________________________________
The California Department of Technology (CDT), working with the CWDS Team, have scheduled maintenance for the CAD/Business Objects (BO) server. The maintenance window is scheduled for Sunday, April 7, 2024, beginning at 8:00 AM and concluding at 1:00 PM. CAD Business Objects (BO) / Business Intelligence (BI) will not be accessible during the maintenance window.
Any BO reports scheduled to run during this timeframe will be affected.
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content.
March 28, 2024
Communications
To: CARES SPOCs and Implementation Coordinators
CC: County, Tribe, Probation, and State Leadership, OCM Coordinators, Specific CWDA Staff Related to Child Welfare
We are excited to introduce the CARES Explorer, the CWS-CARES newsletter for staying up to date on the CWS-CARES project.
This is sent directly to our most influential stakeholders for project communications: County, Tribe, Probation, and State leadership, CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs), Organization Implementation Coordinators, and specific CWDA staff related to child welfare. All have a vital role in sharing updates about CWS-CARES and ensuring that staff receive this information.
This newsletter provides readers with:
- Awareness and adoption: Offers overviews of system functionality and explains the benefits for different stakeholders.
- Education: Highlights resources available for users, and information on how the system will improve child welfare outcomes.
- Ongoing communication: Shares important updates and includes frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the system.
- Building trust and transparency: Explains how the system promotes better collaboration, information sharing and highlights how the system supports best practices in child welfare.
We recommend that you share this newsletter with all of your staff that are impacted by the changes coming with CWS-CARES. When executives or key staff take the initiative to communicate about CWS-CARES directly, it shows staff that leadership values the project and its impact on child welfare. This fosters a sense of ownership and encourages staff to actively participate in learning about CWS-CARES.
The first issue of the CARES Explorer is now available here: CARES Explorer - Vol 1 - Issue 1 - March 2024 - Final.pdf
We encourage you to take a few minutes to review it and gain valuable insights into CWS-CARES. Please feel free to share this with others. We believe the CARES Explorer will be a valuable tool for everyone to stay informed and engaged. We look forward to sharing future editions with you.
If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
Action Required:
We request that all CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CARES Explorer Newsletter to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES.
March 28, 2024
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled a change window on Sunday, June 9, 2024, to upgrade switches at the Gold Camp Data Center. The change window will begin at 4:00 AM and conclude at 8:00 AM. The CWS/CMS application and the CARES-Live application will both experience up to a 40-minute interruption in service within the change window. There is no impact to connectivity to CWS-CARES. Business Objects (BO) access and BO reports will be impacted within the change window.
Action Required:
CWS/CMS Users
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.
CARES-Live Users
Please follow your county process for reporting issues. CARES-Live 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.
CAD Administrators
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
March 27, 2024
Communications
All Co-Existent County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
As requested, here is the list of patches that IBM tested and applied to the Dedicated County Windows 10 Workstations for March 2024:
Windows 10 22H2: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2 - Windows 10 Version 22H2 - KB5035845 (x64) Critical
Google Chrome: Google Chrome 122.0.6261.129 High
Visio: Security Update for Microsoft Visio 2016 - KB5002565 Important
Action Required
No action is required. Informational only.
March 25, 2024
Communications
March 25, 2024 UPDATE: CWS-CARES Release 0.12, originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, 2024, has been rescheduled to Friday, March 29, 2024. The release activity is planned to begin at 5:00 PM and conclude at 11:00 PM. During this scheduled outage, users in pilot counties will not be able to access the CARES RFA application.
__________________________________________________________________________
EFFECTIVE March 27 29, 2024, CWS-CARES RELEASE 0.12 PRODUCTION RELEASE IS PLANNED TO MOVE INTO PRODUCTION
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled release activity that will interrupt connectivity to the CWS-CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process for pilot counties Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara. The release activity is planned to begin at 5:00 PM on March 27 29, 2024, and conclude at 11:00 PM. During this scheduled outage, users in pilot counties will not be able to access the CARES RFA application.
CWS-CARES Release 0.12:
The purpose of this release is to primarily deliver fixes for known issues, enhancements to behind-the-scenes functionality and security improvements to CWS-CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process.
CWDS is excited to share the new RFA features that are planned to be available following the implementation of CWS-CARES Release 0.12 on March 27 29, 2024, to the CARES-RFA Pilot County users. These new features are derived from user feedback as well as project planned enhancements.
As a resource to pilot counties, over the next few weeks, your organization can expect to receive information regarding a Webinar along with an updated Participant and Quick Reference Guide. These resources will provide the system users with details of the features/functionality that have been added since the last production release.
RFA Application Process:
The RFA Application process is the Receipt, Record, Submission, and Assignment of an Application. The RFA Application process was selected as the first software build for CARES. CARES will ultimately replace the legacy Child Welfare System CWS/CMS. The RFA Application Process will operate in a totally new Production Environment without integrating with other legacy systems, such as the CWS/CMS and CARES-Live applications.
RFA Application Process Features:
- Allows an applicant or County staff member to initiate an emergency or standard application to become a resource family home
- Creates a facility profile that tracks required information to complete this process, including background check results, completion of orientation and training hours, physical home assessment, and family evaluation
Aggregates information into a report to recommend approval or disapproval of a resource family application
Action Required
RFA Pilot County users review new features in the CWS-CARES Production Environment after March 28 30, 2024.
All Release Notes, including information for this release once available, can be found here: RFA Application Process Release Notes and Interim Processes
March 25, 2024
Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
Effective March 28, 2024, CARES-Live 2.8.29 Release is Scheduled to Move Into Production
The CARES-Live team has scheduled release activity that will interrupt connectivity to the CARES-Live application. The release activity will begin at 6:00 PM on Thursday, March 28, 2024, and conclude at 9:00 PM. During this release, the CARES-Live team will focus on application changes, and users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during this scheduled outage.
CARES-Live 2.8.29:
- This release address security findings and other infrastructure updates and security patches not visible to CARES-Live users.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CARES-Live, please follow your county process for reporting issues. CARES-Live 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.
