All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Monday, June 30, 2025, 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.
During the maintenance window, document related functionality in the CARES application 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.
CWDS Bulletins
The CARES Explorer Newsletter – June 2025 Issue
CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribal Leadership, Probation Leadership, State Leadership, and OCM Coordinators:
We are pleased to share the CARES Explorer – June 2025 issue, the newsletter for staying up to date on the CWS-CARES project.
This communication is sent directly to our key stakeholders for project communications: County, Tribe, Probation, and State leadership, CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs), and Organization Implementation Coordinators.
The June 2025 issue contains information on:
Project Updates: Learn about the Child Welfare Systems Branch and new changes to Letters and Notices at CDSS. Get a sneak peak of our upcoming Stakeholder Briefing Webinar on June 25, 2025. You’ll also find information on a new resource: the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary.
CWS-CARES: This issue highlights how the Project partners with Tribes with Title IV-E agreements with CDSS to shape CWS-CARES. It also includes a summary of our findings and highlights from our recent Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST) 2 period, and an overview of the feedback received on the interface between CWS-CARES and CalSAWS. We share an overview of the Court Hearing Framework, which details some new features that will be included in CWS-CARES. In this issue, you will learn about how the Project is helping to make State and County Forms work more efficient, and the upcoming training available for Forms Authors. We also share more information on the collaborative Decommissioning Planning effort by Counties and the Project and announce a new meeting series dedicated to External Systems.
Implementation: Discover how Sacramento County has created an intranet site, complete with project resources, flyers, and videos, to build enthusiasm for CWS-CARES. Learn more about the recent Intake Process Information Sessions and changes to Intake from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES. We are excited to share the selection of the Pilot Counties and Alternates, as well as an update on the Sandbox Environment. You will also find information on the CWS-CARES Super User program, including the dates of upcoming Orientation sessions in each region.
We recommend that you share this newsletter at your discretion with staff that are impacted by the changes coming with CWS-CARES.
The CARES Explorer – June 2025 issue is now available here: The CARES Explorer Vol 2, Issue 2
You may also obtain all CARES Explorer issues on the CWDS website: CARES Compass/Explorer | Child Welfare Digital Services
If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.
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 at their discretion.
We are pleased to share the CARES Explorer – June 2025 issue, the newsletter for staying up to date on the CWS-CARES project.
This communication is sent directly to our key stakeholders for project communications: County, Tribe, Probation, and State leadership, CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs), and Organization Implementation Coordinators.
The June 2025 issue contains information on:
Project Updates: Learn about the Child Welfare Systems Branch and new changes to Letters and Notices at CDSS. Get a sneak peak of our upcoming Stakeholder Briefing Webinar on June 25, 2025. You’ll also find information on a new resource: the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary.
CWS-CARES: This issue highlights how the Project partners with Tribes with Title IV-E agreements with CDSS to shape CWS-CARES. It also includes a summary of our findings and highlights from our recent Extended User Scenario Testing (EUST) 2 period, and an overview of the feedback received on the interface between CWS-CARES and CalSAWS. We share an overview of the Court Hearing Framework, which details some new features that will be included in CWS-CARES. In this issue, you will learn about how the Project is helping to make State and County Forms work more efficient, and the upcoming training available for Forms Authors. We also share more information on the collaborative Decommissioning Planning effort by Counties and the Project and announce a new meeting series dedicated to External Systems.
Implementation: Discover how Sacramento County has created an intranet site, complete with project resources, flyers, and videos, to build enthusiasm for CWS-CARES. Learn more about the recent Intake Process Information Sessions and changes to Intake from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES. We are excited to share the selection of the Pilot Counties and Alternates, as well as an update on the Sandbox Environment. You will also find information on the CWS-CARES Super User program, including the dates of upcoming Orientation sessions in each region.
We recommend that you share this newsletter at your discretion with staff that are impacted by the changes coming with CWS-CARES.
The CARES Explorer – June 2025 issue is now available here: The CARES Explorer Vol 2, Issue 2
You may also obtain all CARES Explorer issues on the CWDS website: CARES Compass/Explorer | Child Welfare Digital Services
If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov.
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 at their discretion.
CWS-CARES RFA Greenfield Release Cycle Ending
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
To support the transition to CWS-CARES, the CARES RFA Greenfield releases will be ending soon. The product team has confirmed that RFA0.17 will be the final release for RFA Greenfield, unless a critical incident arises that requires an additional update.
Customer Relations continues to be available to provide support for RFA Pilot Counties. Additionally, the CWDS Service Desk will continue tracking and working with the technical teams to review tickets reported by RFA Pilot Counties until the statewide rollout of CARES V1.
Action Required
No action required. Contact CWDS Customer Relations if you have any questions.
To support the transition to CWS-CARES, the CARES RFA Greenfield releases will be ending soon. The product team has confirmed that RFA0.17 will be the final release for RFA Greenfield, unless a critical incident arises that requires an additional update.
- The stories in the backlog will be assessed and the needed stories will be moved to the CARES V1 project for future consideration;
- All other remaining stories will be marked with the status: “Closed – Will not do”;
- This will help ensure better alignment with CARES V1 and avoid duplicating work;
- Additionally, it will provide a stable, unchanging environment to support data conversion activities.
Customer Relations continues to be available to provide support for RFA Pilot Counties. Additionally, the CWDS Service Desk will continue tracking and working with the technical teams to review tickets reported by RFA Pilot Counties until the statewide rollout of CARES V1.
Action Required
No action required. Contact CWDS Customer Relations if you have any questions.
CWS/CMS: Education Provider Information from the California Department of Education (CDE)
What is Impacted: CWS/CMS Application
On Friday, June 27, 2025, from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM, the CDE Interface will run to update Education Provider information for public schools, private schools, and school districts in the CWS/CMS application. This update applies to CDE school information only. School information manually created by a CWS/CMS user will not be affected. During this time, users may be unable to perform Education Provider searches in the CWS/CMS application.
Due to differences in data and formatting between CDE and the CWS/CMS application, some otherwise valid Education Providers may be end-dated. If this occurs, please refer to the Work Around section below. A list of all end-dated Education Providers will be sent to the SPOCs via email as soon as they become available.
Additional Notes:
Code Table Refresh is not required.
Work Around
If an existing CDE Education Provider has been end-dated because of this process, users will need to conduct a search for the current Education Provider and create a new Education Notebook for the client.
Contact
CWDS Customer Relations
CWS/CMS: CDT Service Desk Bulletin - SAFE Cloud Service Scheduled Maintenance - June 22, 8 PM - June 23, 2 AM
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, June 22, 2025, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, June 23, 2025, 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.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, June 22, 2025, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, June 23, 2025, 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.
CWS-CARES Scheduled Maintenance - June 19, 2025 | 5 PM - 6 PM
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Thursday, June 19, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 6:00 PM. 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.
There is no anticipated impact for CWS-CARES users. We are sharing this information in the unlikely circumstance that there is an actual impact during the scheduled maintenance window and the CWS-CARES application becomes inaccessible.
Action Required
No action required for end-users is needed 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.
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Thursday, June 19, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 6:00 PM. 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.
There is no anticipated impact for CWS-CARES users. We are sharing this information in the unlikely circumstance that there is an actual impact during the scheduled maintenance window and the CWS-CARES application becomes inaccessible.
Action Required
No action required for end-users is needed 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.
CDT Service Desk Bulletin – Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, June 28, 2025, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
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.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, June 28, 2025, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
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.
CWS-CARES Scheduled Maintenance
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Tuesday, June 17, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 8:00 PM. 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.
During the maintenance window, CARES Tableau reports refresh will be on hold.
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.
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Tuesday, June 17, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 8:00 PM. 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.
During the maintenance window, CARES Tableau reports refresh will be on hold.
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.
CWS/CMS: May 2025 Workstation Patches
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 Workstations for May 2025:
MS Windows 11 23H2 Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 - Windows 11 Version 23H2 - KB5058405 (x64) Critical
MS Windows 10 22H2 Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2 - Windows 10 Version 22H2 - KB5058379 (x64) Critical
MS Windows 2016 (LTSB) Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 - Windows 10 Version 1607 LTSB - KB5058383 (x64) Critical
MS25-MAY: Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 - Windows 10 Version 1607 LTSB - KB5058524 (x64) Critical
MS Office 2016 Patches
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 - Excel 2016 - KB5002717 Important
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002695 Critical
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002711 Critical
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002716 Critical
MS Office 365 Patches
Office 365 Version 16.0.18730.20168 Available - Current Channel - Office 365 (English (United States)) Critical
Action Required
No action is required. Informational only.
As requested, here is the list of patches that IBM tested and applied to the Dedicated County Workstations for May 2025:
MS Windows 11 23H2 Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 - Windows 11 Version 23H2 - KB5058405 (x64) Critical
MS Windows 10 22H2 Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2 - Windows 10 Version 22H2 - KB5058379 (x64) Critical
MS Windows 2016 (LTSB) Patches
MS25-MAY: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 - Windows 10 Version 1607 LTSB - KB5058383 (x64) Critical
MS25-MAY: Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 - Windows 10 Version 1607 LTSB - KB5058524 (x64) Critical
MS Office 2016 Patches
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 - Excel 2016 - KB5002717 Important
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002695 Critical
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002711 Critical
MS25-MAY: Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 - Office 2016 - KB5002716 Critical
MS Office 365 Patches
Office 365 Version 16.0.18730.20168 Available - Current Channel - Office 365 (English (United States)) Critical
Action Required
No action is required. Informational only.
Announcing the CWS-CARES Progress & Engagement Summary
CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, County, Tribe, Probation, State Leadership, and OCM Coordinators:
We are excited to announce the launch of the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary, a new communication tool designed to provide stakeholders with a clear, concise, and consistent overview of our collaborative efforts and achievements.
This work product was specifically formulated as a direct response to your valuable stakeholder feedback and recent survey results. We heard your need for a more transparent and consistent way to track our collective progress, and this summary aims to meet that need.
The purpose of this summary is to keep you informed about the key activities we have jointly undertaken, fostering transparency and mutual understanding. By regularly outlining progress in areas like county participation in prototype and build reviews, forms, reports, data conversion, external systems, interfaces, implementation, OCM, and training, we ensure everyone has the same understanding of what has been accomplished. This will be a monthly update, posted to the CWDS website and shared in various meetings that contain project updates.
The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary is specifically intended for external stakeholders, including child welfare leadership and CWS-CARES Points of Contact, who are seeking to understand our collective progress at a high level.
We believe this new summary will be an invaluable resource for all as we continue our work together.
We appreciate your continued commitment to staying informed.
Action Required
No action required. If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
We are excited to announce the launch of the CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary, a new communication tool designed to provide stakeholders with a clear, concise, and consistent overview of our collaborative efforts and achievements.
This work product was specifically formulated as a direct response to your valuable stakeholder feedback and recent survey results. We heard your need for a more transparent and consistent way to track our collective progress, and this summary aims to meet that need.
The purpose of this summary is to keep you informed about the key activities we have jointly undertaken, fostering transparency and mutual understanding. By regularly outlining progress in areas like county participation in prototype and build reviews, forms, reports, data conversion, external systems, interfaces, implementation, OCM, and training, we ensure everyone has the same understanding of what has been accomplished. This will be a monthly update, posted to the CWDS website and shared in various meetings that contain project updates.
The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary is specifically intended for external stakeholders, including child welfare leadership and CWS-CARES Points of Contact, who are seeking to understand our collective progress at a high level.
We believe this new summary will be an invaluable resource for all as we continue our work together.
We appreciate your continued commitment to staying informed.
Action Required
No action required. If you have any questions, need clarification, or have any accessibility issues, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Relations.
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.