CWS-CARES Public Library

Current State - Context

In the current CWS/CMS system, addresses are not validated when they are entered. This can cause problems if there are errors, or if the address does not exist. 

New CWS-CARES Feature 

​In CARES V1, users will enter the address, search, and then select the correct one from a validated list. The goal of validating addresses as they are entered is to eliminate errors and duplicates, and to ensure that addresses exist. Address data will come from a tool called Smarty Streets.​

Note: Product features and screens are subject to change; we may make adjustments based on feedback.​

Originally published in the CWS-CARES Explorer.

Data conversion is the technical process of moving data from one format to another so that it becomes compatible with CARES V1. This ensures that historical data from legacy systems, including CWS/CMS, CARES-Live, which includes CANS data, and other selected systems will be available to use in CARES V1. Data conversion follows an incremental development process that is driven by the overall Product Roadmap. This means that historical data from CWS/CMS, CARES-Live, and other systems will move over to CARES V1 on a milestone-by-milestone basis. An analysis is performed at each milestone to determine what data will transfer over to CARES V1. The team collaborates to ensure the data is of high quality and transfers it over to the CARES Data Infrastructure (CDI) data conversion staging area for initial testing. Once the milestone has been completed, the data conversion team then transfers the historical data from the staging area to CARES V1, for additional testing and validation. The end result of this effort is near 100% availability of the historical data from the legacy systems mentioned above in a single new source of truth: CARES V1. 

Milestone Design

• Identify which elements from CWS/CMS, CARES-LIVE, and selected external systems should be converted.
• Address any data quality concerns (e.g., incomplete or incompatible records) for the elements being converted.
• Transfer the historical data to a data conversion staging area within CDI, and test to make sure everything transferred as expected.

Milestone Development

• Transfer the historical data from the staging area to CARES V1, and test to make sure everything transferred as expected.

Originally published in the CWS-CARES Explorer.

CWS-CARES is grouped into Service Areas. A service area is a type of service offered by CWS-CARES related to child welfare program and practices. Intake is the initial entry point into Child Welfare Services and includes processes to:

• Screen: capture Hotline requests, gather initial incident, person, and allegation information, and support decision-making to investigate or refer to preventative services or community-based connections.
• Investigate: conduct interviews, make in-person contacts, gather records and consult/collaborate with Tribes, resources, formal and informal supports for the purpose of making a comprehensive and informed evaluation of child safety and risk.
• Refer: offer referrals to preventative and supportive services within the community, and/or help the client identify resources within their own network.

CARES V1 supports improvement of many processes and additionally seeks to mitigate numerous pain points identified by county constituents in the current system. 
CARES V1 standardizes processes within the parameters of state and federal policy (guidelines, regulations, codes, laws), while allowing flexibility and autonomy where appropriate for the variance in local practice culture among the 58 counties. 
CARES V1 guides and supports staff in the steps necessary to determine the purpose for a call, redirect the call appropriately, and reduce unnecessary information gathering on families. Additional pathways at screening (beyond the documentation of a child abuse and neglect report) also assist users in documenting and redirecting the work performed at the hotline level. 
CARES V1 provides helper text and core practice guidance, adapts screens to the type of call, decreases superfluous information gathering, and improves the integrity of the information collected. 

Originally published in the CWS-CARES Explorer.

The CWS-CARES project team is partnering with Evident Change to build the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Interface. Today, workers complete the following assessments using Evident Change’s Web SDM:

• Hotline Assessments at Intake
• Both Safety and Risk Assessments (in home, substitute, and congregate care provider) during Investigations
• Reunification/Risk Reassessment in Case Management

At go-live, workers will have a seamless integration from CARES V1 to Evident Change using Single Sign On (SSO). To prevent duplicate entry, CARES will automatically pre-fill incident, person, and allegation information where possible and Evident Change will automatically populate assessment information and decisions in CARES. Interface development was recently completed by CWS-CARES and Evident Change, and the team is in the process of full End-to-End testing through August 2024. 

Originally published in the CWS-CARES Explorer.

The Karuk Tribe and the Yurok Tribe participate in CWS-CARES through their Title IV-E Agreements with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to establish comprehensive child welfare programs. 

The Karuk Tribe is located in the northwestern corner of present-day California, in Humboldt and Siskiyou counties. The Karuk Tribe is one of the largest Indian Tribes in California. They have a population of 4,800 enrolled members. 
The Yurok Tribe is located in the  northwestern corner of present-day California stretching from Trinidad in the south to Crescent City in the north, spanning Trinity, Del Norte, and Humboldt Counties. They have a population of 6,567 members in the United States and its territories. 

Originally published in the CWS-CARES Explorer.