CWDS Bulletins

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

June 9, 2026 UPDATE: The automated process to end-date inactive CWS/CMS user accounts will not run in June or July. The reports will resume in August, tentatively planned for August 3, 2026.

An additional update will be issued after the new reports are run and prepared for review.

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May 7, 2026 UPDATE: The automated process to end‑date inactive CWS/CMS user logins continues in May. The new reports were generated and saved to SAFE on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The SAFE file is titled, “SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-05-07.xlsx.” REMINDER: this is the first month will list CWS/CMS user accounts that have been inactive for the previous 90 days.

Please review your organization’s report, saved in the SAFE folder. Organizations that do not have any potential accounts to end‑date in their report will, instead, find the following statement, “NO ROWS FOR DATA QUALITY CLEANSE”.

If needed, up to ten (10) listed accounts may be requested to be excluded from the automated end‑date process. Please submit your exclusion file by Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 5:00 PM, to request listed user logins from being end-dated when the process runs on Saturday, May 23, 2026. If more than ten (10) user logins are needed to be excluded, please send your justification to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov). The justification will be forwarded to the review team for consideration. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

As stated in the attached SCR 9039 FAQ document, CWS/CMS User IDs that need to be reactivated following the automated end‑date process can be accomplished by contacting the IBM Help Desk at 800-428-8268. Please note that the process to reactive the accounts is complex and does take one or two weeks to be completed by the IBM team. However, in order to expedite this timeline, it is important when calling in the ticket to explain the reason the user ID login was end dated was due to SCR 9039. User accounts from the reports that are logged in prior to Friday, May 22, 2026, at 5:00 PM, will not be end‑dated in the automated process on May 23, 2026.

All User ID accounts, both active and inactive, will be migrated to CWS-CARES. End-dated User ID accounts that need to be reactivated in CWS-CARES can be completed by the Administrators within CWS-CARES. This process will be much more direct and easier to complete in CWS-CARES than it is currently accomplished in CWS/CMS.

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April 7, 2026 UPDATE: After a one-month hiatus for March, the automated process to end‑date inactive CWS/CMS user logins has resumed for April. The new reports were generated and saved to SAFE on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The SAFE file is titled, “SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-04-07.xlsx.” REMINDER: this is the final month that the report will list CWS/CMS user accounts that have been inactive for the previous 180 days. Beginning in May, the reports will list accounts that have been inactive for 90 days.

Please review your organization’s report, saved in the SAFE folder. Organizations that do not have any potential accounts to end‑date in their report will, instead, find the following statement, “NO ROWS FOR DATA QUALITY CLEANSE”.

If needed, up to ten (10) listed accounts may be requested to be excluded from the automated end‑date process. Only a few organizations currently have more than ten (10) accounts listed. Please submit your exclusion file by Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 5:00 PM, to request listed user logins from being end-dated when the process runs on Saturday, April 25, 2026. If more than ten (10) user logins are needed to be excluded, please send your justification to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov). The justification will be forwarded to the review team for consideration. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

As stated in the attached SCR 9039 FAQ document, CWS/CMS User IDs that need to be reactivated following the automated end‑date process can be accomplished by contacting the IBM Help Desk at 800-428-8268. Please note that the process to reactive the accounts is complex and does take one or two weeks to be completed by the IBM team. User accounts from the reports that are logged in prior to Friday, April 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM, will not be end‑dated in the automated process on April 25, 2026.

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March 5, 2026 UPDATE: The CWDS Project has decided to not run the automated process to end-date inactive CWS/CMS user logins during March. The monthly process will resume in April. The next reports will be sent to the SAFE folder approximately April 7, 2026.

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February 18, 2026 UPDATE: This is a reminder to submit an exclusion file, if needed, by Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 5:00 PM to prevent up to ten (10) user logins from being end-dated. No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided.

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February 11, 2026 UPDATE:  As presented at the February 10, 2026 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting, we are sharing the updated SCR 9039 FAQ document for your reference.   

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February 6, 2026 UPDATE: Based on received feedback, the reports are being updated for the following criteria:

Report criteria:

Identifies CWS/CMS user logins that have not been used in the past 180 days 

However, users are omitted from the report if they fall into one of these two categories:

1. Have NOT logged into CWS/CMS within the previous 180 days, but HAVE logged into CARES-Live within the previous 180 days.
2. The User ID has been created within the previous 90 days, and has NOT logged into CWS/CMS.

Updated reports, using the new criteria listed above, will be made available in SAFE in the FromOSI folder no later than 5:00 PM, on Friday, February 6, 2026, titled: 
SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-02-06.xlsx. 

Please use this updated report when reviewing the list of user logins identified for deactivation.

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To prepare for CWS-CARES Mock Cycles and Production Simulation, the CWS-CARES Project will begin an automated process to end-date inactive CWS/CMS user logins. This effort helps ensure that only active users are set up with access in CWS-CARES. 

This process identifies CWS/CMS user logins that have not been used in the past 180 days and schedules those logins to be end-dated. This is standard account cleanup intended to reduce inactive or outdated system access as counties prepare for CWS-CARES. 

What This Means for Counties 

• This activity affects system access only. There are no impacts to caseloads, staff roles, office assignments, or authority. 
• User logins associated with an active County License Case (CLC) are excluded from the report. 
• All user accounts (active and inactive) will still be carried forward to CWS-CARES. 

County Review and Option to Exclude User Logins  

Counties will have an opportunity to review the list of user logins identified for deactivation. To accommodate staff on extended leave (such as administrative or maternity leave), counties may exclude up to 10 user logins from deactivation, if needed. 

A report will be available in SAFE in the FromOSI folder on February 2, 2026, titled: 
SCR9039_END-DATE_USERID_2026-02-02.xlsx. 

If your county wishes to exclude user logins: 

1. Use the Excel file provided. 
2. Keep only the rows (up to 10) for user logins you want excluded. 
3. Do not modify the file layout or formatting. 
4. Upload the file to SAFE in the ToOSI folder. 

If more than 10 exclusions are needed, please contact CWDS Customer Relations and include a brief explanation. 

Deadline: February 19 at 5:00 PM 
Files received after this deadline will not be accepted, and all user logins listed in the original report will be end-dated. 

Timing and Ongoing Process 

• This first run will process and end-date User IDs on February 21, 2026. 
• The 180-day inactivity threshold will remain in place through April 2026, giving counties additional time to review the list and adjust to new processes. 
• Beginning May, the inactivity threshold will change to 90 days, consistent with CWS-CARES access policy and the Production Simulation environment. 
• After February, this process will occur monthly until the transition to CWS-CARES: 
• Reports will be posted after the first weekend of each month 
• User logins will be deactivated during the fourth weekend of the month 
• Counties will receive advance notice of specific dates 

Restoring a User Login 

If a user login is end-dated and later needs to be restored, counties may submit a Help Desk ticket to reinstate the existing login and associated staff access. 

Action Required 

• Review the report of inactive CWS/CMS user logins when it becomes available in SAFE. 
• Submit an exclusion file (if needed) by February 19 at 5:00 PM to prevent up to 10 user logins from being end-dated. 
• No action is required if your county agrees with the list as provided. 

For questions or concerns, please contact the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox. 

CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

Please note that while a Weekly Digest was not originally scheduled for this week in observance of Memorial Day, we received last-minute communications that warranted distribution. We appreciate your continued attention and flexibility. 

In this Weekly Digest:

• CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum
• Now Available: CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 Results Summary
• Coming Soon Enhanced CWDS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Registration Now Open for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8
• CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 8, 2026

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CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum

Following the May 22, 2026 update on the CWS-CARES Training Strategy, Customer Relations distributed a communication on June 3, 2026 sharing the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Role Based Training Curriculum and next steps. The communication includes:

• The Instructor-Led Training (ILT) curriculum for county, state, and specialized program staff
• A Self-Paced Learning Release Plan for Salesforce Enablement training in the Production Simulation environment
• An update on Biweekly Implementation Meetings

Action Required: To prepare for Train-the-Trainer (TTT) beginning June 15, ensure trainers and Super Users understand the schedule and remind staff to complete foundational Salesforce Enablement training prior to attending TTT sessions.

For full details, refer to the email sent by Customer Relations on Tuesday, June 3, 2026 at 5:17 PM with the subject: CWS-CARES Role Based Training Curriculum – June 3, 2026.

Please contact OTSICWDSTraining@otsi.ca.gov with any questions regarding the curriculum or scheduling, or Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov with any general questions.

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Now Available: CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 Results Summary

The results of the third annual CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey are now available. Conducted March 9 to April 3, 2026, this confidential survey assessed how well CWS-CARES communications are informing and supporting key stakeholders and identified opportunities for improvement.

The results summary includes:

• Survey demographics and response rates across 58 counties
• Weighted average scores for communication helpfulness across key CWS-CARES channels, including the Weekly Digest, CWS-CARES Explorer, and Progress & Engagement Summary
• Current sentiment responses across six categories, including clear and useful communications, confidence on project timeline, and concerns and feedback acknowledged
• Average sentiment trends across all three surveys from 2024 to 2026
• Contributing factors to sentiment trends and recommended action plans for improvement

To view the full results, please see the attached file titled "CWS-CARES Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 - Results Summary - April 2006.”

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Coming Soon Enhanced CWDS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The CWS-CARES Project is preparing to update the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the CWDS website to make it easier for organizations to find the information they need in one centralized location.

We heard that CWS-CARES information can be difficult to track when questions and responses are shared across multiple meetings, forums, and communications channels. To help address this, the updated FAQ webpage will include hundreds of new questions and answers, improved categories aligned with CWS-CARES Project areas, and meeting tags to help you identify where topics were discussed.

We will share an update in a future CWS-CARES Weekly Digest when these enhancements are available on the CWDS website.

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Registration Now Open for CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8

We encourage you to attend the next CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing on Wednesday, June 24, 2026! Register now at: CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 | Registration. Note: A separate calendar invitation will not be sent by the CWS-CARES Project. Please manually add the .ics attachment in the registration confirmation email to your calendar.

All stakeholders impacted by the changes to CWS-CARES are welcome to attend, ask questions, and hear updates from Project leadership. The full agenda for the June 2026 Stakeholder Briefing is available to view on the CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 | Registration page. Updates will include:

• Project Status Update
• Preparing for Production Simulation
• Production Simulation Demo
• Training
• Organizational Change Management (OCM)

Thank you for participating in our Stakeholder Briefing webinar series!  We hope to see you on June 24, 2026 to continue the conversation on the upcoming transition to CWS-CARES.

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CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight: June 8, 2026

This week, the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight features the CWS-CARES Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) of the Week.

June 8, 2026 FAQ of the Week: 

Q: Will converted documents from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES be in the same format they were originally saved in, or will they be converted to a standard format?

A: Yes, documents converted from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES will retain their original file formats. The conversion process preserves the document format as stored in CWS/CMS rather than converting documents into a standardized format.

To view all of the CWS-CARES FAQs, please visit the CWDS website: CWS-CARES FAQs | CWDS Website.

Have a question? Send it to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov and we will be happy to help.

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Share Your Feedback and Subscribe 

Thank you for following our progress! Share your feedback on this CWS-CARES Weekly Digest here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Feedback Form. Subscribe to future issues here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Subscription Form.

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Action Required:  We request that all CWS-CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CWS-CARES Weekly Digest to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES, at their discretion.

CARES SPOCs, Technical Contacts, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

We are writing to provide an important update regarding the upcoming launch of the CWS-CARES Production Simulation (Prod Sim) environment, which was previously scheduled for June 8, 2026. 

To ensure that your organizations have access to a stable, functional environment to simulate your business processes, we have made the decision to postpone the June 8th launch.  We understand this change affects your go-live preparation activities, and we are partnering closely with CWDA, CPOC, and county leadership to address and mitigate these impacts.  

Our team is actively troubleshooting and resolving critical system issues. Key priorities include refining role-based access controls to guarantee that sealed cases are restricted to authorized staff, and correcting functionality defects within the person and provider search tools. We are working diligently through these technical areas to establish a revised and realistic Production Simulation launch date. 

Key Impacts 

• Prod Sim Kickoff Meetings will be rescheduled to align with the new timeline. 
• The Phase 2 timeline, specifically the July 6th target to open Prod Sim access to all users – is currently under evaluation. 

We deeply appreciate your patience and ongoing partnership throughout this transition as we maintain our shared commitment to the safety and well-being of children and families. To prevent the risk of further changes in timelines, we will establish a new Production Simulation launch date when we are confident the code updates and data transfers are complete, rather than committing to a timeline before we have that confidence.  

The state and county leaders will convene on Tuesday, June 9th to further discuss the next steps that are critical to continuing progress and will provide a revised Prod Sim launch date by June 12, 2026. 

Please contact Customer Relations for questions: CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov

 

Action Required

No action is required.

CARES SPOCs, Technical Contacts, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, Training Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

Following our May 22, 2026, update regarding the CWS-CARES Training Strategy, we are sharing two attachments detailing the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Role Based Training Curriculum and next steps.

The attached document outlines the updated Instructor-Led Training (ILT) curriculum for CARES V1, featuring in-person and virtual sessions tailored for county, state, and specialized program staff. The curriculum is broken down into distinct courses—ranging from 1 to 6 hours in duration—covering critical business areas such as Screenings & Referrals, Placement, Case Management Services, Courts, Eligibility, Adoptions, Prevention Services (FFPSA), Resource Family Approval, Financial Management, Admin Console, and Probation. Each module provides targeted learning objectives, role-specific alignment, and course maps to prepare staff for CARES V1.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this role-based structure ensures that staff members receive training tailored directly to the functions and workflows they will use in CARES V1.

To support your preparation, we are also sharing a Self-Paced Learning Release Plan for Salesforce Enablement, the built-in tool that allows staff to create, assign, and track interactive training in CWS-CARES. This plan outlines the upcoming on-demand courses and their scheduled release dates for the Production Simulation (Prod Sim) environment. Additional courses may be added as development progresses to provide even more learning opportunities.

Implementation Meeting Update & Train-the-Trainer (TTT) Prep

Based on organization feedback to improve efficiency and time spent in meetings, the Biweekly Implementation Meetings have been canceled. Implementation related updates will continue to be shared in existing forums such as the Monthly Org Readiness Meetings, OCM Advisory Workgroup, TIPS, the County Advisory Committee - CAC (to be added to the CAC meeting series please email cwscaresprodsimcac@otsi.ca.gov), and Stakeholder Briefings as currently scheduled.

To prepare for Train-the-Trainer (TTT) from June 15 through mid-August, ensure that your trainers understand the schedule of activities and plan accordingly, and remind staff to complete their foundational, self-paced online Salesforce Enablement training before they attend the TTT sessions.

 

Action Required

Please contact OTSICWDSTraining@otsi.ca.gov if you have any questions regarding the curriculum or scheduling.

CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

In this Weekly Digest:

• CWS-CARES Training Strategy: Progress Update & Next Steps 
• The May 2026 Progress and Engagement Summary is Now Available  
• CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 Recap | Registration Open for Stakeholder Briefing #8 
• Introducing the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight! 

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CWS-CARES Training Strategy: Progress Update & Next Steps 

Following the May 13, 2026 communication regarding the draft Training Schedule, Customer Relations distributed an update on May 22, 2026 on the CWS-CARES training strategy, current activities, and next steps. The update outlines timelines for Train-the-Trainer (TTT) and End-User Instructor-Led Training, as well as a summary of what has been completed and what is currently in progress to support county readiness ahead of the CWS-CARES Version 1 (CARES V1) Go-Live. 

The email highlights: 

• Train-the-Trainer (TTT): June 15 – August 14, 2026 
• End-User Instructor-Led Training: August 3 – October 9, 2026 
• Role Based Training Curriculum: Currently being designed for different user roles, with completion planned for mid-June prior to TTT 
• County Training Coordination:  One-on-one meetings with county training coordinators are underway to build tailored training plans, with final schedule reconciliation due by June 8, 2026 

For full details, refer to the email sent by Customer Relations on Thursday, May 22, 2026 at 9:35 PM PST with the subject: CWS-CARES Training Strategy: Progress Update & Next Steps – May 22, 2026. 

Please contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov with any questions.

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The May 2026 Progress and Engagement Summary is Now Available  

The CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summaries provide a concise overview of the collaborative efforts and achievements of CWS-CARES.  CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summary | May 2026 features engagement analytics for the April 2026 reporting period across the following subject areas:  

• Project Communications  
• Communication Effectiveness Survey #3 Results 
• County Participation in Prototype and Build Reviews  
• Forms and Data  
• External Systems, Interfaces, and Analytics  
• Implementation, OCM, and Training Activities  
• Production Simulation 

 View all CWS-CARES Progress and Engagement Summaries on the CWDS website: CWS_CARES_Progress_and_Engagement_Updates.  

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CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 Recap | Registration Open for Stakeholder Briefing #8 

CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 – May 27, 2026: 

Thank you to everyone who attended CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #7 on Wednesday, May 27, 2026! We were pleased to have 626 participants across 48 counties and over 4 partner organizations join the session live. We received 167 questions during the session, which we are working to answer and share with you as soon as possible. 

The session recording is now available on the Stakeholder Webinar Materials | Child Welfare Digital Services page under Stakeholder Briefing #7.

Please log in with your county or organization email address to view the recording. An accessible PDF of the presentation slides and a summary of the session Q&A will be available in the coming weeks in the same location. 

CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 – June 24, 2026: 

Registration is now open for the next CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing! We encourage you to attend Stakeholder Briefing #8 on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. Register now. Note: A separate calendar invitation will not be sent by the CWS-CARES Project. Please manually add the .ics attachment in the registration confirmation email to your calendar. 

All stakeholders impacted by the changes to CWS-CARES are welcome to attend. Updates will include: 

• Project Status Update 
• Preparing for Production Simulation 
• Production Simulation Demo 
• Training 
• Organizational Change Management (OCM) 

View the full agenda on the CWS-CARES Stakeholder Briefing #8 Registration page. We hope to see you on June 24, 2026! 

Please contact Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov with any questions.

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Introducing the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight! 

We are excited to introduce a new feature to the Weekly Digest – the CWS-CARES Functionality Spotlight! Based on your feedback, each week we will highlight a CWS-CARES functionality to help you prepare for and navigate CWS-CARES, from FAQs and system functionality to tools and job aids. Be on the lookout for a new resource featured each week! 

This Week’s Functionality Spotlight: Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program 

This week, we are spotlighting the Kin-GAP Program. On February 25, 2026, CWS-CARES shared a demonstration of Kin-GAP functionality with CalSAWS, showing how social workers can track data across the Case Management, Courts, and Placement sections in CWS-CARES, and how that data flows through FCED to the CalSAWS Eligibility Worker. The Kin-GAP scenario was also made available to EUST 3 testers on March 23, 2026, and will be provided to Production Simulation users as a training resource. 

To learn more, visit the Kin-GAP Demo Highlights the Link Between CWS-CARES & CalSAWS | Child Welfare Digital Services page.  

Have a question?  

Send it to Customer Relations at CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov and we will be happy to help. 

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Share Your Feedback and Subscribe

Thank you for following our progress! Share your feedback on this CWS-CARES Weekly Digest here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Feedback Form. Subscribe to future issues here: CWS-CARES Weekly Digest Subscription Form.

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Action Required:  We request that all CWS-CARES Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) and Implementation Coordinators coordinate and distribute the CWS-CARES Weekly Digest to all staff impacted by CWS-CARES, at their discretion.

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

The CARES-Live team has scheduled monthly Infrastructure maintenance for Thursday, May 28, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. During this scheduled maintenance, the CARES-Live team will deploy infrastructure updates, remove CANS duplicate records, and apply security patches that have no impact on the CARES-Live application functionality or user experience.

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.

CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, Tribe Leadership, Probation Leadership, and State Leadership:

We are providing an important update regarding an adjustment to the CWS-CARES Production Simulation schedule and kickoff for access to converted data.  

During our final technical setup and validation phase yesterday, issues were uncovered related to data conversion and user access. To allow time to address these issues, the converted data deployment originally targeted for May 26, 2026, will now occur on June 8, 2026.  

The Production Simulation Converted Data Kickoffs currently scheduled on May 26^th and May 27th will be rescheduled to June 8^th and June 9^th to align with when the environment is officially released to the counties and organizations.  

We are actively working to resolve these validation items and fully expect to maintain our July 6^th timeline for the rollout of Production Simulation to all users. Please continue to use the current environment for now. Note that the SDM and Case Management Assessment interfaces will be available in that environment.

Action Required

No action required.

All SPOCs and Technical Contacts:

May 20, 2026 UPDATE: IBM has developed and successfully tested a fix to resolve the issue introduced with Release R9.6.1. IBM will implement CWS/CMS R9.6.2 on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 6:00 PM. There is no outage associated with this release. IBM expects the R9.6.2 MSI file to be available in the afternoon on Thursday, May 21, 2026.

R9.6.2 is an optional release for Co-Existent Counties; however, IBM strongly recommends pushing out the R9.6.2 code as soon as possible to the workstations that are currently running R9.6.1.

IBM will push out R9.6.2 to the Dedicated Counties on the evening of Thursday, May 21, 2026.

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This message is to inform you that an issue introduced in CWS/CMS Release R9.6.1, implemented on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, is causing an APP29956 error message impacting the JV‑101 and JV‑110 forms. The issue occurred due to updates made to another form in R9.6.1, which unintentionally affected JV‑101 and JV‑110.

There is currently no workaround for this issue. IBM is actively analyzing the issue and working to identify a fix. We will provide an update as soon as more information is available.

At this time, we recommend that any counties that have not yet installed R9.6.1 pause deployment until further notice.

Action Required

No action needed.
 

We do recommend postponing the installation of R9.6.1 if you have not yet installed it.

CARES SPOCs, Implementation Coordinators, OCM Coordinators, County Leadership, and State Leadership:

We recognize that forms development has been a significant concern for counties, so we are excited to share a major update that will drastically reduce county time building forms and ease the pressure on county teams.  

The CWS-CARES project is currently finalizing a work order with one of our vendors to provide dedicated resources to build the top-prioritized 2,400 county CWS/CMS forms. This ensures that county forms in CWS/CMS are developed for testing in CWS-CARES Production Simulation prior to Code Freeze on July 31, 2026. 

Below are the details on how the two types of county forms will be handled: 

• County Forms Maintained in CWS/CMS: Our project vendor will begin developing the top-prioritized 2,400 county forms that are currently stored within the legacy CWS/CMS system. The project is providing resources to develop these specific forms.  

• County Forms Maintained Outside of CWS/CMS: Please note that the vendor-led development applies only to county forms stored in CWS/CMS. It does not include county forms stored in external or local systems. Counties will remain responsible for developing and updating any forms housed in their own external systems. Forms may be built within the CARES 102 environment. Once built, forms may be published to the Production Simulation environment to test and validate. 

Additional guidance, timelines, and instructions will be shared with county form authors soon. 

We know how much of a priority — and a concern — forms have been for county teams, which is why we are incredibly pleased to share this news. Thank you for your continued partnership, dedication, and invaluable feedback as we work together to build CWS-CARES . 

Action Required

No action required.

All Pilot County RFA Implementation Coordinators and SPOCs:

The CWS-CARES team has scheduled maintenance activity for the CWS-CARES production environment for Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 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. However, document related functionality 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.