CWDS
Stakeholder and Communications Management Plan

Executive Summary

Developing awareness of the business reasons for the agile approach,
Educating stakeholders about the implications of the agile approach for how digital services will replace the Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CWS/CMS) legacy system,
Demonstrating active and visible sponsorship for the Digital Services, and
Reinforcing messages to demonstrate success and continued improvement.

CWDS will employ the Prosci® Change Management Framework, which includes a structured process and set of tools, to conduct stakeholder management and communications activities. The Prosci Change Management Framework is centered on two key concepts: Change occurs at an individual level and the organization must create a structured process.

The CWDS approach to stakeholder management leverages the Prosci^® Change Management Process in conjunction with Agile and User Experience (UX) design principles to deliver a comprehensive set of activities to promote stakeholder awareness, involvement, adoption of the new digital services, and the associated re-engineered business processes.

Stakeholder Register
The CWDS Stakeholder Register is an internally maintained SharePoint list of identified stakeholders, their organizational affiliation, email contact information, and classification of each stakeholder into one or more stakeholder groups. The Stakeholder Register supports the project for communication efforts for general information about CWDS and for specific information about each digital service implementation.
Communication Channels

CWDS will use social media to augment existing communications channels to provide frequent information and transparency to various stakeholder groups, while still maintaining official communications channels. CWDS will establish a YouTube channel and create a video series aimed at public education of CWDS efforts to implement digital services to replace the Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CWS/CMS).
Stakeholder Group Messages

Communications will inform all stakeholders of the overall goals of the project, the risk of not changing, and the expected outcomes. CWDS will use a combination of regular reports, meetings, and specifically targeted communications with specific messages.

Introduction

Purpose

The Stakeholder & Communications Management Plan (SCM Plan) documents the formal stakeholder management and communications management processes for Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS). Stakeholder Management and Communications are two critical elements of organizational change management (OCM). OCM is the strategic and tactical framework for managing the effect of new business processes, changes in organizational structure, new products, new technical systems, and/or cultural changes across one or more stakeholder communities. This SCM Plan covers the strategic aspects of OCM for CWDS, which we define as:

Developing awareness of the business reasons for the agile approach,
Educating stakeholders about the implications of the agile approach for how digital services will replace the Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CWS/CMS) legacy system,
Demonstrating active and visible sponsorship for the Digital Services, and
Reinforcing messages to demonstrate success and continued improvement.

Prosci^®Change Mangement Framework

CWDS will employ the Prosci^® Change Management Framework, which includes a structured process and set of tools, to conduct stakeholder management and communications activities.

The Prosci Change Management Framework is centered on two key concepts:

ADKAR^®Individual Model of Change

Concept #1: Change occurs at an individual level.

All organizational change is dependent on stakeholders’ adoption of the new environment. The Prosci^® ADKAR^® model, which is a model for individual change, provides the structure to guide project stakeholder management and communications activities. The ADKAR^® model framework allows the project to target specific outcomes that enable stakeholders to successfully adopt a change. At a high level, each letter of ADKAR^® relates to a specific outcome, as described below:

Awareness – Understanding the need for the change and the risks of not changing
Desire – Determining the implications of the change (What’s In It For Me) and why resistance to the change might occur
Knowledge – Learning the skills and behaviors that will be required for the change
Ability – Demonstrating the skills and behaviors required for the change
Reinforcement – Supporting the change to ensure that it is sustained
Ability – Demonstrating the skills and behaviors required for the change
Reinforcement – Supporting the change to ensure that it is sustained

Prosci® Three-Phase Process

Concept #2: The organization must create a structured process to ensure that all stakeholders receive the support needed to progress through their individual changes.

CWDS will use the Prosci 3-Phase Change Management Process to guide stakeholder management and communications activities and ensure that OCM and Project Management processes are integrated to the highest degree possible. Change management, from a project perspective, describes the activities that the CWDS Team will perform to address the people side of the change and enable stakeholders to be successful in their new environment.

Prosci’s 3-Phase Change Management Process breaks these activities into three targeted project phases:

Phase 1 – Preparing for change – This phase involves action-items such as conducting readiness assessments, developing risk analyses, identifying anticipated resistance, preparing the team, and engaging with project sponsors.
Phase 2 – Managing change – This phase includes creating specific deliverables to support staff through change, including a communications plan, sponsor roadmap, coaching plan, training plan, and resistance management plan.
Phase 3 – Reinforcing change™ – The final phase involves collecting feedback, soliciting input from staff, auditing compliance, identifying gaps, and other targeted action-steps to ensure that the change is sustained.

For the deployment of Digital Services, using a structured process for OCM is critical because of the large number of affected stakeholders. The State (CDSS, including CFSD, CCL‑CR, ISD, and CWS/CMS M&O), all 58 California counties (including County Welfare Services, Licensing, and Probation staff), Tribes, and external stakeholders must adapt to the new system.

The CWDS Stakeholder Relations team will address OCM at the strategic level, primarily through executive sponsor activities and broad communications aimed at raising awareness (A), instilling desire (D) to use the new digital service—the “what’s in it for me (WIIFM)”, and reinforcement (R).

The CWDS Implementation Team will address OCM at the tactical level to help prepare each constituent group for new business processes, changes in organizational structure, new products, and new technical systems that will be required. These activities primarily further promote desire (D), impart knowledge (K) of how to change, and develop ability (A) to effectively use the new tools and processes in practice.

Effective transition to the new system also requires that each county/constituent group also plan and execute OCM activities on site in County Welfare and Probation offices in coordination with the Implementation vendors’ OCM efforts.

OCM Education for CWDS Team

CWDS is having our Organizational Change Management Consultants, as an Authorized Training Provider for Prosci courses, provide change management education for members of the CWDS team through the delivery of the following courses:

Roles and Responsibilities

Table 2.1 presents the stakeholders who have a role in the execution and management of the SCM Plan itself. It is not the comprehensive list of project stakeholders, who are captured in the Stakeholder Register described in Section 3.

Table 2.1 - Roles and Responsibilities

Role	Responsibilities
Service Managers (All Service Teams)	Identify stakeholders Identify communications needs Develop communications content relevant to their area of expertise with assistance from the Stakeholder Relations Team
Stakeholder Relations Team	Maintain stakeholder register Develop and edit website content Develop and implement social media campaign Develop CWDS video series Respond to inquiries to the CWDS Communications mailbox
Implementation Team	Assist in identification and classification of Stakeholders Develop as-is and to-be business processes Map end users to roles Oversee training of end users
OCM Consultants	Contribute to both Stakeholder Relations and Implementation Teams Conduct Prosci Change Management education

Stakeholder Management Approach

Stakeholder Register

The CWDS Stakeholder Register is an internally maintained SharePoint list of identified stakeholders, their organizational affiliation, email contact information, and classification of each stakeholder into one or more stakeholder groups. Because the Stakeholder Register contains personally identifiable information (PII), CWDS does not make it available on the public https://cwds.ca.gov website. The Stakeholder Register supports the project for communication efforts for general information about CWDS and for specific information about each digital service implementation.

The following table identifies individual stakeholder roles and stakeholder groups at a high level. CWDS will continue to add individual stakeholders to the register as they are identified, and may add additional stakeholder groups as a result of future analysis.

Table 2.1 - Stakeholder Identification Matrix

Organization	Stakeholder or Stakeholder Group	Internal/ External
CDSS	Sponsor/Sponsor Coalition (Executives) CWDS Team Child and Family Services Division (CFSD) Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) Information Systems Division (ISD) Administration Division (ADM) Legal Division (LGL) Welfare to Work Division Federal Reporting and Quality Assurance Training Providers	External/ Internal
OSI	Executives CWDS Team SAWS Project Team Training Providers	Internal
County Welfare Director’s Association (CWDA)	CWDS Team (Executive Liaison)	Internal
Sovereign Nations	CWDS Team (Tribal Consultant) California Tribes Care Providers (IV-E Tribes)	Internal
Contractors[1]	CWDS Team	Internal
Other State of California Entities	Department of General Services California Technology Agency (CalTech) Department of Finance Bureau of State Audits State Data Center Legislature (Legislators, Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), Legislative Staff) Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Health and Human Services Agency Department of Child Support Services Office of Child Support Enforcement Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Department of Public Health (CDPH) Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Employment Development Department Ombudsman Department of Developmental Services Department of Education	External
Federal Government	United States Department of Health and Human Services – Administration for Children and Families Department of Justice Social Security Administration	External
Advocacies and Associations	Foster Parent Association Group Home Association Community Based Organizations Care Providers[2] Child Advocates[3]	External
Counties	County Welfare Directors Child Welfare Services (CWS) Workers Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) Probation Workers Eligibility Workers Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) Consortia[4] Licensing Workers Courts County Information Systems Organizations (County, Child Welfare, Probation) Board of Supervisors California State Association of Counties County Health and Human Services Organizations Mental Health Public Health Nurses Child Support County Counsel Social Worker Labor Unions	External/ Internal
CPS Recipients	Foster Youth	External
Research Contractors	U.C. Berkeley Children’s Research Center Sphere U.C. Davis	External
Training Providers	Regional Training Academies California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC)	External
Confidential Data Release – Approval Organizations	CDSS Data Protection Committee CHHS Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects CHHS Institutional Review Boards	External

[1] Includes the agile development vendors, implementation vendors, IPOC, IV&V, OCM Support Services, Technical Support Services - Interfaces, Enterprise Systems Engineer Support Services, Information Technology Service Management Support Services, Information Management Support Services, Technical Writing Support Services, Legal Support Services, Project Management Quality Assurance Support Services), and Cost Estimation Support Services

[2] Includes Adoptions, Group Homes, Shelters, Foster Family Association, Guardian, Relative/Non Related Family Member, Emergency Shelter Home, Foster Family Homes, Resource Family Home, Resource Family Assessment

[3] Includes Youth Law Center, Child Abuse Prevention Councils, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Stuart Foundation

[4] Includes Consortium-IV (C-IV), CalWORKs Information Network (CalWIN), and Los Angeles Eligibility Automated Determination, Evaluation, and Reporting System (LEADER)

Stakeholder Identification Process

Digital Service Managers and Product Owners are responsible for identifying stakeholders who are consumers of their digital service. Each Digital Service team has a designated point of contact for maintaining the Stakeholder Register.

Communications Management Approach

Communications Channels & Target Audiences

Social Media Campaigns: CWDS will use social media to augment existing communications channels to provide frequent information and transparency to various stakeholder groups, while still maintaining official communications channels. The table below shows how CWDS may use social media platforms to reach a variety of audiences.

Audience	Platforms	Content
Vendors	Twitter, LinkedIn	Requests for Proposals/Offers Vendor pool open enrollment opportunities Contract award announcements
Counties	Twitter, Facebook	County participation in software development activities Advertising for participation in stakeholder events Information about implementation timeline and activities
End Users: Child Welfare, Probation, & Licensing Workers Service Providers Advocate Groups Youth & Families	Twitter, Facebook	Information about training and tutorial resources Notification of digital services upgrades and enhancements Tips and tricks for digital services Requests for feedback
Potential Employees	Twitter, LinkedIn	Advertising open positions Recruiting events

Video Content Production: CWDS will establish a YouTube channel and create a video series aimed at public education of CWDS efforts to implement digital services to replace the Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CWS/CMS). Video content may include the following:

Promotional videos on CWDS efforts
Education on agile development concepts
Instructional videos on how to participate and provide feedback to CWDS
Sprint reviews that showcase the software being developed by the CWDS digital service teams
Informational videos on what to expect when digital services are rolled out to the counties
How-to tutorials for end users learning to use the new digital services

Messages to be Developed for Stakeholder Groups

Communications will inform all stakeholders of the overall goals of the project, the risk of not changing, and the expected outcomes. CWDS will use a combination of regular reports, meetings, and specifically targeted communications with specific messages. Communications will also target specific audiences focused by the recipient group type and their specific need for information.

Following are some examples of the types of messages that will be segmented by stakeholder group:

Stakeholder Group Audience	Strategic Messages (Comms Team)	Tactical Messages (Implementation Team)
Executive Sponsors	Business reasons for agile development approach Benefits to constituents Policy/legislative changes Progress toward planned goals and objectives	Deployment schedule and details CWDS points of contact for each constituent group
County Child Welfare Workers	Why we are moving to agile and a dev/ops delivery method What they can expect from this change at a high level	Information about process and procedural changes as a result of new digital services System functionality details Role changes Help resources
Information Systems Workers	Why we are moving to agile and a dev/ops delivery method What they can expect from this change at a high level	System architecture requirements Hardware and software specifications System performance parameters Change control process Technical help resources

When confidential project related documentation (e.g., Budget Change Proposals, Requests for Proposals/Offers, solicitation documentation) is finalized and published as a public document, CWDS will share it with all impacted stakeholders in a timely manner.

Communication Event Matrix

The following table is a summary of regular meetings either hosted by CWDS or in which CWDS (either CWS/CMS legacy or CWS-NS Digital Services), are a regular agenda item, or may have an opportunity to participate in. CWDS does not coordinate all of these meetings and is an invited guest for many of them.

Legend for the Meeting Format:

I = In person
W = Web meeting / webinar
C = Audio conference call

Meeting	Frequency / Timing	Description of Meeting or CWDS Contribution	Audience / Attendees	Format	Owner or Chair
Meetings coordinated by CWDS
CWDS All Staff Meeting	Biweekly	Project Director update and Service Team report-out	All CWDS Team Members	I, W, C	CWDS Comms
CWDS Service Team Sprint Planning	Biweekly (each sprint)	Teams review user stories in backlog to select assignments for the sprint	Service Team Members & interested parties	I, W, C	Service Team Scrum Masters
CWDS Service Team Sprint Review	Biweekly (each sprint)	Team presents products developed in sprint along with any impediments	Service Manager, Product Owner, Service Team Members, & interested parties	I, W, C	Service Managers
Quarterly Legislative Briefing	Quarterly	CWDS Executives discuss the project vision and strategy, progress to date, where we are headed, and lessons learned on shifting to an agile development framework	California Legislature Joint Health & Human Services Budget Subcommittee & interested parties	I	Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
Quarterly Stakeholder Forum	Quarterly	CWDS hosts to provide the information provided to the Legislature and provide more details to stakeholders	All CWDS stakeholders invited	I, W, C	Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
Governance Bodies
CWS Oversight Committee (OSC)	Monthly / 2^nd Wed	Project Accomplishments, Issues, Plans, Status of the project	CWS Oversight Committee members, identified CDSS staff, CWS/CMS M&O	I, W, C	CFSD Deputy Director and County Welfare Director
CWS Policy Impact Advisory Committee (PIAC)	Monthly / 1^st Wed	Project Accomplishments, Issues, Plans, Status of the project	CWS Program Advisory Stakeholders, CDSS, County, CWDS Representatives	I, W, C	CYP Branch Chief and County Welfare Director
CWS Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)	Monday / 2^nd Tues	Project Accomplishments, Issues, Plans, Status of the project	CWS Technical Advisory Stakeholders, IBM, OSI CIO, CDSS CIO CWS/CMS M&O, CWDS Representatives	I, W, C	County Tech Director and CWDS Project Director
Meetings coordinated through CWDA
CWDS Children’s Ops	Monthly 2^nd Wed P.M.	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	CDSS, County Welfare Directors, CWDS CWDA Representatives	I, W, C	CWDA Appointed Chairperson
CWDA Children’s Committee	Monthly 2^nd Thurs A.M.	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	County Welfare Directors, CWDS CWDA Representatives	I, W, C	CWDA Appointed Chairperson
CWDA IT Committee	Monthly 2^nd Thurs A.M.	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	County IT Directors, CWDS Representatives	I, W, C	CWDA Appointed Chairperson
CWDA Fiscal Meeting	Monthly	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	County Fiscal Offices	I, W, C	CWDA Appointed Chairperson
CWDA Children's Regionals	Monthly Northern: 3^rd Wed Bay Area: 3^rd Friday Central Valley: 4^th Thurs Mountain Valley: 3^rd Wed Southern: Scheduled by Chair	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing, policy and program recommendations	County Representatives for the region with Child Welfare Program/Policy Analysts, CWDS System Support Consultants (SSCs)	I, W, C	Regional Chairperson
CWS Regional User Group (RUG) Meetings	Monthly Northern: 4^th Thurs Bay Area: 1^st Thurs Central Valley: 4^th Fri Los Angeles: Scheduled by Chair Mountain Valley: 3^rd Wed Southern: 3^rd Thurs	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	CWS SPOCs, Probation SPOCs, Users, Regional Training Academies, IBM, CWDS SSCs, CWDS Service Managers, CWDS Comms Representative	I, W, C	Regional Chairperson
Regional User Group Chair Meetings	Monthly 4^th Wed	Discuss common themes across regions	Regional Chairpersons, CWDS Project Director	I, C	CWDS Project Director
Probation Related Meetings
California Probation Officers of California - CPOC	Monthly	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation, CWDS Representatives (?)	I, W, C	CPOC Appointed Chairperson
California Probation Officers of California - Juvenile Services Committee	Monthly	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation, CWDS Representatives (?)	I, W, C	CPOC Appointed Chairperson
Probation Advisory Committee	Monthly	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation, Probation Regional Training Academies, CWDS Representatives (?)	I, W, C	CWDS CWS M&O (?), CWDS Probation County Consultant
Northern CA Placement Committee meeting (NCPC)	Monthly 4^th Thurs	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation Officers and Managers, CDSS CFSD, CDSS CCLD, CWDS Representatives (?)	I, W?, C?	Sacramento County Probation
Probation Forum Call	Monthly 4^th Thurs	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation Officers and Managers, CDSS, CWDS CMS M&O (?)	I, W?, C	??
Central CA Placement Committee meeting (CCPC)	Quarterly TBD	Project status, accomplishments, plans, and general information sharing	Probation Officers and Managers, CDSS CFSD, CDSS CCLD, CWDS Representatives (?)	I, W?, C?	Fresno County Probation
Training-Related Meetings
Statewide Training Directors’ Strategic Planning Meeting	Monthly		CDSS, CalSWEC, Regional Training Academies, Inter University Consortium, LA DCFS, CWDA/County Champions	?	CalSWEC, CDSS
Curriculum Development Committee	Monthly		CDSS, CalSWEC, Regional Training Academies, Counties, CWDA	?	CalSWEC, CDSS
Statewide Training and Education Committee	Monthly	Develops and/or recommends standards for statewide public child welfare training and coordinates their implementation	CDSS, CalSWEC, Regional Training Academies, Counties, Community reps	?	CalSWEC, CDSS
Other Meetings at which CWDS may have an opportunity to provide an update
County Mental Health Director’s Association	Monthly	?	CDSS, DHCS, County Mental Health Directors	?	?
Continuum of Care Reform Program Committee	Bi-monthly	Develop the revised services and supports for Group Home and FFA’s with recommendations for Legislative reporting	Child Welfare Services, Probation, Youth, Tribes, Foster Care Providers, Advocates, Legislative Staff	?	?
State Interagency Coordinating Council (Early Start)	Quarterly	Advises and assists CDSS in the implementation of the coordinated early intervention system	CDSS (CFSD, CCLD), DDS, EDD, ADP, CBOs	?	?
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Workgroup	Quarterly	?	CDSS, Tribal reps, Counties	?	?
California Association of Adoption Agencies	Quarterly	?	CDSS, public and private adoption agencies	?	?
State Youth Council/YEPP	Quarterly	?	CDSS, CWDA, Youth reps from 8 counties	?	?