What is Impacted: CWS/CMS Application
On Friday, July 28, 2023, 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.
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
CWDS Bulletins
Education Provider Information from the California Department of Education (CDE)
CARES Project Roadmap Approval: Informational Sessions Presentation
All CWS Directors and SPOCs
Sent on Behalf of CWS-CARES Project Leadership
Thank you to those who were able to attend the CARES Project Roadmap Approval Informational Sessions. As a follow-up from these sessions, please see CARES Project Roadmap Approval for a copy of the presentation for reference. We look forward to providing more project information in the future via upcoming executive implementation briefing meetings, organization implementation team kickoffs, semi-annual stakeholder forums, and the CWDS website.
We would like to thank everyone once again for their contributions and support for CWS-CARES reaching this important milestone and we look forward to continue sharing more information with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Jessica Rougeux, Child Welfare Systems Branch Chief, CDSS
Cynthia Tocher, OSI CWDS Deputy Director
Tricia Gonzalez, CWDA Executive Liaison
Sent on Behalf of CWS-CARES Project Leadership
Thank you to those who were able to attend the CARES Project Roadmap Approval Informational Sessions. As a follow-up from these sessions, please see CARES Project Roadmap Approval for a copy of the presentation for reference. We look forward to providing more project information in the future via upcoming executive implementation briefing meetings, organization implementation team kickoffs, semi-annual stakeholder forums, and the CWDS website.
We would like to thank everyone once again for their contributions and support for CWS-CARES reaching this important milestone and we look forward to continue sharing more information with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Jessica Rougeux, Child Welfare Systems Branch Chief, CDSS
Cynthia Tocher, OSI CWDS Deputy Director
Tricia Gonzalez, CWDA Executive Liaison
California Department of Technology Service Desk Bulletin – CalCloud Windows Tenant Patching – June 30 – July 1, 2023 | 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled security patching of the CalCloud Windows servers. The patching window begins on Friday, June 30, 2023, at 7:00 PM and concludes on Saturday, July 1, 2023, at 06:00 AM. The patching activity will cause intermittent interruptions in connectivity to the CWDS website and the CWS/CMS Portals website during the patching window.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with the CWDS website or the CWS/CMS Portals website, 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 security patching of the CalCloud Windows servers. The patching window begins on Friday, June 30, 2023, at 7:00 PM and concludes on Saturday, July 1, 2023, at 06:00 AM. The patching activity will cause intermittent interruptions in connectivity to the CWDS website and the CWS/CMS Portals website during the patching window.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with the CWDS website or the CWS/CMS Portals website, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
CARES-Live Facility Search - Outage Incident – RESOLVED
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
June 28, 2023 Update: The connection issue with the CARES-Live application has been resolved. The Facility Search function is available.
The CWDS project has identified a connection issue with the CARES-Live application, causing the Facility Search (FS) function not to be available. We are working to resolve this issue. Status updates for this incident will be provided as they are received.
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.
June 28, 2023 Update: The connection issue with the CARES-Live application has been resolved. The Facility Search function is available.
The CWDS project has identified a connection issue with the CARES-Live application, causing the Facility Search (FS) function not to be available. We are working to resolve this issue. Status updates for this incident will be provided as they are received.
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.
CARES-Live Facility Search - Outage Incident
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWDS project has identified a connection issue with the CARES-Live application, causing the Facility Search (FS) function not to be available. We are working to resolve this issue. Status updates for this incident will be provided as they are received.
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.
The CWDS project has identified a connection issue with the CARES-Live application, causing the Facility Search (FS) function not to be available. We are working to resolve this issue. Status updates for this incident will be provided as they are received.
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.
CWS-CARES Release 0.9.1 Production Release - June 28, 2023| 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM – UPDATE
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
EFFECTIVE JUNE 28, 2023, CWS-CARES RELEASE 0.9.1 PRODUCTION RELEASE IS PLANNED TO MOVE INTO PRODUCTION
June 27, 2023 Update: The CARES Team has developed a fix that prevented successful deployment of CWS-CARES Release 0.9 on June 21, 2023. The updated release, CWS-CARES Release 0.9.1, will be deployed to the pilot counties (Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara) on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. 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.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
June 22, 2023 Update: CWS-CARES Release 0.9 did not move into production on June 21, 2023 as planned. CWS-CARES successfully rolled back to the Release 0.8 code level. Currently, the CARES Team is working to address the issue that prevented deployment. Additional information will be shared once a fix and a new deployment date for CWS-CARES Release 0.9 is identified.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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 June 21, 2023, 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 0.9.1:
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 on June 22, 2023, 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:
Action Required
RFA Pilot County users review new features in the CWS-CARES Production Environment after June 28, 2023.
All Release Notes, including information for this release once available, can be found here: RFA Application Process Release Notes and Interim Processes.
EFFECTIVE JUNE 28, 2023, CWS-CARES RELEASE 0.9.1 PRODUCTION RELEASE IS PLANNED TO MOVE INTO PRODUCTION
June 27, 2023 Update: The CARES Team has developed a fix that prevented successful deployment of CWS-CARES Release 0.9 on June 21, 2023. The updated release, CWS-CARES Release 0.9.1, will be deployed to the pilot counties (Contra Costa, Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara) on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. 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.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
June 22, 2023 Update: CWS-CARES Release 0.9 did not move into production on June 21, 2023 as planned. CWS-CARES successfully rolled back to the Release 0.8 code level. Currently, the CARES Team is working to address the issue that prevented deployment. Additional information will be shared once a fix and a new deployment date for CWS-CARES Release 0.9 is identified.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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 June 21, 2023, 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 0.9.1:
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 on June 22, 2023, 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 June 28, 2023.
All Release Notes, including information for this release once available, can be found here: RFA Application Process Release Notes and Interim Processes.
CARES-Live Scheduled Maintenance - June 27, 2023| 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Tuesday, June 27, 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.
The CARES-Live team has scheduled maintenance for the CARES-Live application. The maintenance is scheduled for Tuesday, June 27, 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.
CWS-CARES Release 0.9 Production Release - June 21, 2023| 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM – UPDATE
All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
EFFECTIVE JUNE 21, 2023, CWS-CARES RELEASE 0.9 PRODUCTION RELEASE IS PLANNED TO MOVE INTO PRODUCTION
June 22, 2023 Update: CWS-CARES Release 0.9 did not move into production on June 21, 2023 as planned. CWS-CARES successfully rolled back to the Release 0.8 code level. Currently, the CARES Team is working to address the issue that prevented deployment. Additional information will be shared once a fix and a new deployment date for CWS-CARES Release 0.9 is identified.
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 June 21, 2023, 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 0.9:
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 on June 22, 2023, 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:
Action Required
RFA Pilot County users review new features in the CWS-CARES Production Environment after June 21, 2023.
All Release Notes, including information for this release once available, can be found here: RFA Application Process Release Notes and Interim Processes.
EFFECTIVE JUNE 21, 2023, CWS-CARES RELEASE 0.9 PRODUCTION RELEASE IS PLANNED TO MOVE INTO PRODUCTION
June 22, 2023 Update: CWS-CARES Release 0.9 did not move into production on June 21, 2023 as planned. CWS-CARES successfully rolled back to the Release 0.8 code level. Currently, the CARES Team is working to address the issue that prevented deployment. Additional information will be shared once a fix and a new deployment date for CWS-CARES Release 0.9 is identified.
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 June 21, 2023, 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 0.9:
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 on June 22, 2023, 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 June 21, 2023.
All Release Notes, including information for this release once available, can be found here: RFA Application Process Release Notes and Interim Processes.
Scheduled Internet Outage, June 23, 2023| 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
All Dedicated County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
Internet access will be down on Friday, June 23, 2023, from 5:00 PM through 8:00 PM, for maintenance and updates to the Proxy Firewall. This change will impact all Dedicated County workstations during the change window. Access to the internet will be unavailable during this time and workstations will be updated with the latest proxy settings.
Access to CARES-Live will be blocked for Dedicated County users during the maintenance window.
Ref: CWS/CMS CHANGE TICKET: CH10259683: Dedicated County and Project Office State Proxy Scheduled Maintenance
Action Required
Dedicated County users should test internet access when they return to their workstations.
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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
Internet access will be down on Friday, June 23, 2023, from 5:00 PM through 8:00 PM, for maintenance and updates to the Proxy Firewall. This change will impact all Dedicated County workstations during the change window. Access to the internet will be unavailable during this time and workstations will be updated with the latest proxy settings.
Access to CARES-Live will be blocked for Dedicated County users during the maintenance window.
Ref: CWS/CMS CHANGE TICKET: CH10259683: Dedicated County and Project Office State Proxy Scheduled Maintenance
Action Required
Dedicated County users should test internet access when they return to their workstations.
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 during normal business hours. You may also email after hours and a Service Desk representative will contact you the next business day.
Northern Region County CWS/CMS Release 9.1 Pilot County Interest Request
All Northern Region Dedicated County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
We are sending out this communication to gauge Northern counties’ interest in acting as pilot counties to assist in using the R9.1 (C#) version of the CWS/CMS Application. The CWDS needs your support in joining the other pilot counties to assist in using the CWS/CMS R9.1C# version of the code in your normal day to day child welfare activities. Your support will help identify and resolve any issues with the migration from VB6 to C# for upcoming CWS/CMS releases 9.1 and 9.2. Counties acting as a pilot will benefit by being able to begin using the new code before it is rolled out statewide. Currently, we are underrepresented in Dedicated County Pilot users and in our overall numbers of users. It is extremely important that we have more dedicated Counties pilot users so that the Statewide release can be smoother for all Counties. There are numerous “look and feel” differences, and we are finding a few software bugs with the current support of pilot county participation that did not surface in the County Test Workshop.
Participating pilot counties will not necessarily need to deploy the R9.1 (C#) code to every CWS/CMS workstation within the county during the pilot; it could be possible to limit the deployment to a select group of workers. However, we discourage those county participants that have critical time sensitive assignments or emergency response workers not be part of the pilot user group. In addition, there will be some expectations if participating as a pilot county:
NOTE: R9.1 (C#) software deployment will follow the same process used to receive and deploy regular releases. No intervention will be required by the Dedicated Counties.
Action Required
Please notify Customer Relations of your county’s interest in participating as a pilot for R9.1 (C#).
We are sending out this communication to gauge Northern counties’ interest in acting as pilot counties to assist in using the R9.1 (C#) version of the CWS/CMS Application. The CWDS needs your support in joining the other pilot counties to assist in using the CWS/CMS R9.1C# version of the code in your normal day to day child welfare activities. Your support will help identify and resolve any issues with the migration from VB6 to C# for upcoming CWS/CMS releases 9.1 and 9.2. Counties acting as a pilot will benefit by being able to begin using the new code before it is rolled out statewide. Currently, we are underrepresented in Dedicated County Pilot users and in our overall numbers of users. It is extremely important that we have more dedicated Counties pilot users so that the Statewide release can be smoother for all Counties. There are numerous “look and feel” differences, and we are finding a few software bugs with the current support of pilot county participation that did not surface in the County Test Workshop.
Participating pilot counties will not necessarily need to deploy the R9.1 (C#) code to every CWS/CMS workstation within the county during the pilot; it could be possible to limit the deployment to a select group of workers. However, we discourage those county participants that have critical time sensitive assignments or emergency response workers not be part of the pilot user group. In addition, there will be some expectations if participating as a pilot county:
- Attend regularly scheduled conference call meetings, during the pilot phase, with the CWDS Office and IBM to discuss the status of the deployment and any possible issues that have been discovered.
- Request that any discovered issues with the R9.1C# code be sent to the ‘Pilot’ queue of the IBM Help Desk.
NOTE: R9.1 (C#) software deployment will follow the same process used to receive and deploy regular releases. No intervention will be required by the Dedicated Counties.
Action Required
Please notify Customer Relations of your county’s interest in participating as a pilot for R9.1 (C#).
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.