All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Sunday, June 1, 2025, 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.
CWDS Bulletins
Major Incident Status - Network outage - SERVICE RESTORED
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
May 30, 2025 at 8:05 AM - UPDATE: The California Department of Technology (CDT) has reported that service has been successfully restored. If you are still experiencing any connectivity issues, please contact the IBM Help Desk.
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CDT has received reports that the Network is inaccessible. Verizon has confirmed a major outage due to a fiber cut. There is currently no estimate of when access will be restored. Updates will be sent out as new information is received.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, CARES-Live or CARES RFA, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
May 30, 2025 at 8:05 AM - UPDATE: The California Department of Technology (CDT) has reported that service has been successfully restored. If you are still experiencing any connectivity issues, please contact the IBM Help Desk.
______________________________________________________________________________________
CDT has received reports that the Network is inaccessible. Verizon has confirmed a major outage due to a fiber cut. There is currently no estimate of when access will be restored. Updates will be sent out as new information is received.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, CARES-Live or CARES RFA, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
CARES-Live Scheduled Maintenance - May 29, 2025 | 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance the CARES-Live team will focus on application maintenance changes that are not visible to CARES-Live users.
NOTE: Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the scheduled outage.
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.
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance the CARES-Live team will focus on application maintenance changes that are not visible to CARES-Live users.
NOTE: Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the scheduled outage.
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.
CWS/CMS: California Department of Technology Service Desk Bulletin – Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers, May 31, 2025 | 6 AM - 10 AM
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, May 31, 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, May 31, 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/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk Tickets
All CWS SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
As of April 2025, the CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk has transitioned from using Maximo to a new asset management software, Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique (GLPI).
This has resulted in a change to the ticket naming convention. CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk tickets are now an eight-digit numerical number (ex. 10000000). All open Maximo tickets (IN1xxxxxxx) have been migrated to the new system.
If you have opened a ticket prior to April 2025 with a ‘IN1xxxxxxx’ ticket number and contact the CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk for status, they will inform you of the new ticket number and requested status.
PLEASE NOTE: the IBM Help Desk phone number (1-800-428-8268) remains unchanged.
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.
Action Required
No action is required on behalf of the county.
As of April 2025, the CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk has transitioned from using Maximo to a new asset management software, Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique (GLPI).
This has resulted in a change to the ticket naming convention. CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk tickets are now an eight-digit numerical number (ex. 10000000). All open Maximo tickets (IN1xxxxxxx) have been migrated to the new system.
If you have opened a ticket prior to April 2025 with a ‘IN1xxxxxxx’ ticket number and contact the CWS/CMS IBM (Boulder) Help Desk for status, they will inform you of the new ticket number and requested status.
PLEASE NOTE: the IBM Help Desk phone number (1-800-428-8268) remains unchanged.
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.
Action Required
No action is required on behalf of the county.
CWS/CMS: Solicitation for County Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for CWS/CMS Release 9.8
All SPOCs and Training Contacts
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the Release 9.8 (R9.8) Business Needs Analysis (BNAs) meetings and Joint Application Design (JAD) to give feedback on issues. SMEs will participate in R9.8 activities, tentatively scheduled to GO LIVE in March 2026.
R9.8 BNAs will be held on June 3, 2025. SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once all responses are received.
R9.8 JAD has not yet been scheduled, but SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once a date is selected.
System Change Requests (SCRs) include:
The SCRs listed below were covered during a previous BNA. A brief meeting will be held to ensure nothing has changed:
Those who volunteer are welcome to register for one or more SCRs.
Participants will work with other County and State SMEs as well as vendor support staff.
We seek a diverse group of participants from large, medium, and small counties. The CWDS Office will work with SMEs to determine the details of participation.
If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact CWDS Application Support.
Action Required
Staff should submit a Release 9.8 SME Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential SME.
Link: Release 9.8 Subject Matter Expert Online Registration Form
Forms should be submitted no later than May 30, 2025.
The Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) Office is requesting county staff to participate as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the Release 9.8 (R9.8) Business Needs Analysis (BNAs) meetings and Joint Application Design (JAD) to give feedback on issues. SMEs will participate in R9.8 activities, tentatively scheduled to GO LIVE in March 2026.
R9.8 BNAs will be held on June 3, 2025. SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once all responses are received.
R9.8 JAD has not yet been scheduled, but SMEs will receive an Outlook invitation once a date is selected.
System Change Requests (SCRs) include:
The SCRs listed below were covered during a previous BNA. A brief meeting will be held to ensure nothing has changed:
- SCR 9023 – Add Missing CCLD-Licensed Placement Facility Types to CWS/CMS (Prioritized #1) - Application Support Contact: Colin Kelley
- SCR 8973 – ICWA Eligibility Data Entry Reminder (Part A) (Data Quality) (Prioritized #2) - Application Support Contact: Gina Blakemore
- SCR 8853 – Validate & Cleanse Collateral Data Demographic Data (Data Quality) (Prioritized #3) – Application Support Contact: Gina Blakemore
- SCR 8852 – Validate & Cleanse Reporter Demographic Data (Data Quality) (Prioritized #4) - Application Support Contact: Kim Carpenter
- SCR 8993 – Referral Completed Due Date (Prioritized #5) – Application Support Contact: Nora O’Hara
Those who volunteer are welcome to register for one or more SCRs.
Participants will work with other County and State SMEs as well as vendor support staff.
We seek a diverse group of participants from large, medium, and small counties. The CWDS Office will work with SMEs to determine the details of participation.
If you have any questions regarding this recruitment, please contact CWDS Application Support.
Action Required
Staff should submit a Release 9.8 SME Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential SME.
Link: Release 9.8 Subject Matter Expert Online Registration Form
Forms should be submitted no later than May 30, 2025.
CWS/CMS: Data Quality Milestones
All SPOCs and Data Quality Analysts:
We had significant Data Quality (DQ) milestones completed this past weekend! Counties have performed over a million Manually-Directed data quality SCR updates (1,019,762 to be exact) since 2021. This is where counties review and approve files for batch updates/merges. Additionally, over 1.5 million Education Enrollments closed automatically by SCR 8844 over the past five quarters.
The DQ portal and the DQ dashboard have been updated to reflect the April batch updates listed below:
The next round of bi-monthly updates will be in June, however, the SCR 8794 Service Provider Merge and SCR 8912 SCP Merge will continue to be available weekly. New, updated reports shall be sent out next week for those two processes.
We had significant Data Quality (DQ) milestones completed this past weekend! Counties have performed over a million Manually-Directed data quality SCR updates (1,019,762 to be exact) since 2021. This is where counties review and approve files for batch updates/merges. Additionally, over 1.5 million Education Enrollments closed automatically by SCR 8844 over the past five quarters.
The DQ portal and the DQ dashboard have been updated to reflect the April batch updates listed below:
- Page 1 of the dashboard shows the current data quality metrics of outstanding items.
- Page 2 shows a history of updates performed for data quality.
The next round of bi-monthly updates will be in June, however, the SCR 8794 Service Provider Merge and SCR 8912 SCP Merge will continue to be available weekly. New, updated reports shall be sent out next week for those two processes.
CWDS: Dedicated County State Proxy Scheduled Maintenance | May 2, 2025, 5 PM - May 4, 2025, 7 PM
All Dedicated County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWDS Infrastructure Team will perform maintenance on the Dedicated County State Proxy. CWDS and Kyndryl will replace expiring certificates on proxy servers and CMS workstations. The maintenance window begins on Friday, May 2, 2025, 5:00 PM, and concludes on Sunday May 4, 2025, at 7:00 PM. Dedicated County users are expected to experience a loss of internet service during the update activities. Concurrent Counties are not affected by this maintenance.
Kyndryl will push out the updated certificate to CWS/CMS computers that are powered on and connected to CMS State network. After the proxy certificate is updated, CWS/CMS computers attempting to connect to external websites requiring SSL connection will receive an error message stating the site is blocked by the CWDS Proxy due to an expired certificate.
This update normally completes within 90 minutes, but could take up to 24 hours. Rebooting the computer may speed up the process, if it did not take effect by 7:00 AM on Saturday, May 3 2025.
CWS/CMS computers that are using VPN, or are not powered on, will not receive the updated certificate.
VPN users will need to bring their CWS/CMS computers in to the office and connect to the CMS State network, reboot their computer, and then test access to external websites. If sites that worked before the update are still being blocked after 90 minutes, please try rebooting the computer before opening an IBM Help Desk ticket.
CWS/CMS computers that are powered off, but connected to the State network, will need to be powered on. As stated above, the update normally completes within 90 minutes, but could take up to 24 hours. Rebooting the computer may speed up the process.
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: 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.
The CWDS Infrastructure Team will perform maintenance on the Dedicated County State Proxy. CWDS and Kyndryl will replace expiring certificates on proxy servers and CMS workstations. The maintenance window begins on Friday, May 2, 2025, 5:00 PM, and concludes on Sunday May 4, 2025, at 7:00 PM. Dedicated County users are expected to experience a loss of internet service during the update activities. Concurrent Counties are not affected by this maintenance.
Kyndryl will push out the updated certificate to CWS/CMS computers that are powered on and connected to CMS State network. After the proxy certificate is updated, CWS/CMS computers attempting to connect to external websites requiring SSL connection will receive an error message stating the site is blocked by the CWDS Proxy due to an expired certificate.
This update normally completes within 90 minutes, but could take up to 24 hours. Rebooting the computer may speed up the process, if it did not take effect by 7:00 AM on Saturday, May 3 2025.
CWS/CMS computers that are using VPN, or are not powered on, will not receive the updated certificate.
VPN users will need to bring their CWS/CMS computers in to the office and connect to the CMS State network, reboot their computer, and then test access to external websites. If sites that worked before the update are still being blocked after 90 minutes, please try rebooting the computer before opening an IBM Help Desk ticket.
CWS/CMS computers that are powered off, but connected to the State network, will need to be powered on. As stated above, the update normally completes within 90 minutes, but could take up to 24 hours. Rebooting the computer may speed up the process.
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: 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.
CWS-CARES Scheduled Maintenance - April 29, 2025 | 5 PM - 7 PM
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Tuesday, April 29, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 7:00 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 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, April 29, 2025, beginning at 5:00 PM and concluding at 7:00 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 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.
CARES-Live Scheduled Maintenance - April 24, 2025 | 6PM - 8PM
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance the CARES-Live team will focus on application maintenance changes that are not visible to CARES-Live users.
NOTE: Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the scheduled outage.
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.
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance the CARES-Live team will focus on application maintenance changes that are not visible to CARES-Live users.
NOTE: Users will not be able to access the CARES-Live application during the scheduled outage.
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.
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.