November 20, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs and Training Coordinators:
November 20, 2023 UPDATE: Previously, a CWS/CMS user was able to access the Training Portal through the CWS/CMS application. After migrating to the new CWDS website, that functionality is no longer functional. On November 3, 2023, System Change Request (SCR) 8980 was successfully implemented in the CWS/CMS application to now direct the user to the new Training Portal location. The user will now need to enter their login credentials.
The CWDS Office is researching options to return the previous functionality to allow access from the CWS/CMS application to the CWDS Training Portal without the need to enter additional login credentials. There is no current ETA when this functionality could return. Additional communications will be shared when the situation has changed.
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We want to inform you that the Training Portal is being migrated to the CWDS Web Site on November 3, 2023.
The Training Portal will be migrated to a new web page on the CWDS Web Site. The Training Portal will go live on November 3, 2023, under the Stakeholder Resources tab on the CWDS website. See below for screenshot of new location.
Also, effective November 1st, the CWS/CMS Portals link on the CWDS Web Site will be renamed to “CWDS Portals.” All portal links on the current CWS/CMS Portals Site will redirect users to the new CWDS Web Site portal location from November 3 – December 31. The current CWS/CMS Portals page will be completely decommissioned on January 1, 2024.
Please remember to update your favorite bookmarks to the new URL.
Currently, a CWS/CMS application user can access the existing Training Portal through the CWS/CMS application, via the Help drop-down menu. This takes the user to the Training Portal and does not require the user to enter a username and password. However, upon migration of the Training Portal on November 3, 2023 to the new site, this capability will no longer be functional. Due to technical and security constraints, CWDS is exploring all options to restore this capability in the CWS/CMS Application.
The existing Navigating the Training Portal document will be updated and made available soon.
The new Training Portal site will include:
- Training Materials
- Guides
- STAR
- CWS/CMS Releases
- New User Curriculum
- Process Maps
- Mapped Documents
- FAQs
Features on the Member Area:
- Documents and other Training materials
Screenshot of the new Training Portal home page:
CWS/CMS Website Portal Registration and Password Reset
Between 11/1/23 – 11/3/23, the registration process/alerts as well as the reset password capability will not be operational. Please contact CWS_AppSupport@osi.ca.gov for any issues in registering for the site.
Action Required
Please review the new Training Portal information with personnel. If you have any questions or concerns with the migration, please contact Application Support at CWS_AppSupport@osi.ca.gov .
November 16, 2023
Communications
All CWS Directors, Probation Chiefs, SPOCs, and Technical Contacts:
The CWS/CMS migration from Visual Basic 6 (VB6) to C# code project is still in progress to ensure that the CWS/CMS Application runs on a supported platform. As many are aware, VB6 is no longer supported by Microsoft. Recently a phase of testing was conducted with Co-Existent and Dedicated County participants that uncovered some issues that have been fixed and some that need to be retested. Therefore, at this time we would like to resume C# testing with county users.
The next phase of the resumed C# testing is planned to last four weeks, beginning December 11, 2023, through December 21, 2023, with a brief break for the holidays and resuming on January 8, 2024, then concluding January 18, 2024. We are looking for both Dedicated and Co-Existent Counties who can participate to join a County Test Workshop (CTW) to further test the C# code. We would like to get as much participation from both Dedicated and Co-Existent Counties to make this a success.
Server Based Computing (SBC) soft tokens is the sole tool that will be used to connect to the CTW environment for this phase of testing.
We are looking for testers that have a broad knowledge of the CWS/CMS Application and can simulate case actions that reflect daily work performed by social workers.
The CTW will be structured so that participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous CTWs that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers. A few examples of testing scenarios might instruct testers to open a form after multiple cases are opened, close and reopen cases, access different areas of CWS/CMS, perform searches, and then try to perform additional actions in CWS/CMS to see how well the C# code handles the workload.
CWS/CMS C# CTW Schedule
CWDS is seeking fifteen (15) County staff members for each of the sessions below (two (2) sessions per day):
- Monday, December 11, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Tuesday, December 12, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Wednesday, December 13, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Thursday, December 14, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Monday, December 18, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Tuesday, December 19, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Wednesday, December 20, 2023 (AM or PM session)
- Thursday, December 21, 2023 (AM or PM session)
CWDS is seeking twenty (20) County staff members for each of the sessions below (two (2) sessions per day):
- Monday, January 8, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Tuesday, January 9, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Wednesday, January 10, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Thursday, January 11, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Tuesday January 16, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Wednesday, January 17, 2024 (AM or PM session)
- Thursday, January 18, 2024 (AM or PM session)
CWS/CMS C# County Test Workshop Registration
We appreciate the counties continued support by participating in the different phases of testing the C# code. It’s your support that will help us to confirm that the code is thoroughly tested and ready for migration.
The CWS/CMS C# County Test Workshop Online Registration Form (see link below) for each potential tester must be received as soon as possible, but no later than 5PM on November 16, 2023.
Link: https://forms.gle/GBkTdChs9zNrTioR8
If for any reason, you cannot access the Online Registration Form or if you have any questions regarding this CTW recruitment, please contact Customer Relations.
The CWDS Office will work with the registered participants on all the details of their CTW participation.
Again, your continued support of CWDS is greatly appreciated.
Action Required
Submit a C# County Test Workshop Online Registration Form no later than 5PM on November 16, 2023.
November 09, 2023
Communications
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
November 9, 2023 UPDATE: The time has changed from beginning at 5:00PM and concluding at 7:00PM to now 7:00PM and concluding at 9:00PM.
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The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for November 9, 2023, beginning at 7:00PM and concluding at 9:00PM. During the maintenance window, the CWS-CARES Resource Family Approval (RFA) Application Submission, Review, and Approval Process will be accessible for pilot counties Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara.
As part of the maintenance window the Adobe AEM functionality will not be accessible.
Action Required
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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours, and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
November 08, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, November 25, 2023, 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.
November 06, 2023
Communications
All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:
The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for November 9, 2023, 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 Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara.
As part of the maintenance window the Adobe AEM functionality will not be accessible.
Action Required
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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours, and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
November 03, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWS/CMS application will be in read-only mode for one hour during the time change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on Sunday, November 5, 2023. To prevent duplicate time stamps, users will not be able to save to the database starting at 1:00 AM Standard Time, after the clocks have been moved back from 2:00 AM Daylight Saving Time. The application will return to the normal read/write mode at 2:00 AM Standard Time.
This will not affect CWS-CARES or CARES-Live.
Action Required
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) if the CWS/CMS application has not returned to read/write mode after 2:00 AM Standard Time.
October 23, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
October 19, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, October 21, 2023, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will update the Citrix NetScaler firmware. Users should sign off prior to the start of the change. Citrix SBC users may be kicked out of the system or unable to log in. If users are kicked out of the system, they will need to wait until the maintenance window is completed to sign back in.
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.
October 12, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled a change window on Sunday, October 15, 2023, to replace core switches at the Gold Camp Data Center. The change window will begin at 12:00 midnight and conclude at 7:00 AM on Sunday morning.
CWS/CMS connections through the Gold Camp facility will failover to either the Orange or Vacaville Data Center facilities while the change is in progress. CWS/CMS users may experience a slightly longer time than usual to connect to the CWS/CMS application while the network looks for connections to the other two Data Centers. No interruption in service is expected for direct connection to CWS/CMS during this activity.
Server Based Computing (SBC) access to the CWS/CMS will be impacted during the change window, while CDT is in the process of switching out cables and making configuration changes.
CARES-Live users will also be impacted during the seven-hour change window, while CDT is in the process of switching out cables and making configuration changes.
There is no impact to connectivity to CWS-CARES.
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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours, and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day .
October 03, 2023
Communications
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
October 3, 2023 UPDATE: Resending this communication to correct the Application Support team’s email address to osicwdsAppSupport@osi.ca.gov.
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On Friday, July 28, 2023, the list of Education Providers in the CWS/CMS application was updated with data obtained from the California Department of Education (CDE). During this update, several Education Providers in the application were end dated. This occurs whenever an existing CWS/CMS Education Provider no longer shows up as an active Education Provider in the data obtained from CDE.
Please see this list of all closed Public Education Providers and all closed Private Education Providers that were end dated during this update. This information is being provided to assist counties with determining if any data corrections are needed.
Action Required
Review the attached list of closed Education Providers; if the county determines a data correction may be needed, contact the Application Support team at osicwdsAppSupport@osi.ca.gov or Customer Relations.
