2023 California Code › Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC › DIVISION 9 - PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES › PART 4 - SERVICES FOR THE CARE OF CHILDREN › CHAPTER 5 - State Child Welfare Services › Section 16501.9.

16501.9. (a) (1) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the Child Welfare Services – California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES), also known as the Child Welfare Services-New System (CWS-NS), is the most important system in the state for child welfare services staff to verify the safety and well-being of California’s children. It is the intent of the Legislature that the system shall meet the following objectives, which are intended to align with, and not materially differ from, the scope approved in the most recent Special Project Report:
(A) Replace the state’s Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) with a federally compliant Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS).
(B) Replace the counties’ external child welfare services systems with functionalities that are within the project’s approved scope, and streamline the design and configuration of county and state forms and reports during the development and implementation of each product milestone.
(C) Develop and implement application programming interfaces and other integrations within the approved project scope to exchange data critical for child welfare services between applicable federal, state, local, and other partners’ information technology (IT) systems.
(D) Improve the accuracy, availability, completeness, and timeliness of all data, documentation, and information needed by child welfare services staff, while reducing duplicative or manual data entry to the extent possible.
(E) Facilitate better communication and collaboration between child welfare services staff and other critical partners such as community organizations, multidisciplinary teams, and service providers.
(F) Incorporate relevant end-user feedback into product design, development, and implementation, to the extent possible, without significant increases in the total CWS-CARES IT project cost, schedule, and scope.
(G) Transition county and tribal users from CWS/CMS to CWS-CARES through effective engagement activities and stakeholder communications that drive user adoption.
(H) Maximize system availability and performance through service level agreements to avoid potential disruptions to child welfare services program operations.
(I) Minimize any potential risks to children and their families associated with CWS-CARES IT project development and implementation, and CWS-CARES maintenance and operations thereafter.
(J) Limit any additional delays to CWS-CARES IT project design, development, and implementation that could lead to federal noncompliance penalties, the potential loss of federal funding, or both.
(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that the successful completion of the CWS-CARES IT project shall be defined as the implementation of a federally compliant CCWIS that meets the Legislature’s objectives for the system, as established in paragraph (1). To the extent possible, project completion shall be accomplished within the baseline cost, schedule, and scope approved in the most recent Special Project Report. Any significant deviation from the project baseline in the most recent Special Project Report, excluding the refinement of product and project scope, may be considered as the basis for legislative action to achieve the objectives established in the most recent Special Project Report. Potential legislative action may include actions the Legislature may take to oversee or modify the project in order for it to be completed on time or within the existing budget without potential noncompliance with the CCWIS.
(b) (1) The Legislature further finds and declares that this project requires significant engagement with the end user throughout the life of the system, including the county human services agencies and child welfare services and probation staff.
(2) The State Department of Social Services and the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration (OTSI), in collaboration with the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), shall seek resources to enable the necessary level of engagement by the counties in the development and implementation of the CWS-CARES IT project and the maintenance and operations of CWS-CARES to prevent the disruption of services to at-risk families and children. This shall include, but not be limited to, timely and expeditious execution of contracts and contract amendments for participation in this effort, effective monitoring and evaluation of the CWS-CARES IT project, and implementation of any necessary mitigation strategies for risks and issues that arise in the development and implementation of the CWS-CARES IT project, or maintenance and operations of CWS-CARES thereafter.
(3) The department and OTSI shall provide a voting seat for a CWDA representative on all governance bodies of CWS-CARES, and shall support and provide necessary accommodation for the stationing of county representatives at the project site.
(c) (1) The Legislature further finds and declares that the CWS-CARES IT project requires ongoing oversight by the Legislature, the Department of Technology (CDT), and the Department of Finance (DOF). The Legislature intends that project oversight activities focus on the project making satisfactory progress towards its completion, including full achievement of the system objectives, as described in subdivision (a).
(2) The department and OTSI shall convene monthly meetings with the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), legislative staff, CDT, DOF, CWDA, and other relevant parties to review project status reports. All reports shall be provided at least three business days before the monthly meeting. Monthly meetings shall continue until the CDT approves the postimplementation evaluation report for the CWS-CARES IT project.
(3) The department and OTSI shall submit monthly project status reports to the Legislature and other relevant stakeholders, including CWDA, regarding efforts to develop and implement CWS-CARES. The reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(A) An update on progress made towards successful completion of the project, as described in subdivision (a), including the status of product milestone development and implementation. Updates on the status of product milestones shall include the project’s progress on any data conversion, hardening, and testing that is associated with each milestone.
(B) The status of the project’s incorporation of end-user feedback, to the extent possible within the baseline cost, schedule, and scope approved in the most recent Special Project Report, during product discovery, milestone testing, scenario testing, and validation sprints. For major product and project decisions, reports shall include relevant documentation, showing consideration of end-user feedback, decisions made by the project about incorporation of the feedback, and the project’s justification for its decisions.
(C) An update on progress made towards user adoption of the system. Reports shall include relevant information about the status of current and upcoming end-user communications, stakeholder engagements, and training efforts.
(D) Any amendment to existing and any newly executed vendor contracts for the project, including the contract or amendment’s purpose, total cost, and term.
(E) A current list of project issues and risks. Reports shall highlight any high-level issues or risks that may do one or more of the following:
(i) Jeopardize the project’s successful completion.
(ii) Negatively impact county child welfare programs.
(iii) Result in a significant deviation from the baseline project cost, schedule, and scope in the most recent Special Project Report.
(F) Project performance related to scope, schedule, and budget, in accordance with the methodology developed with the independent advisor.
(4) (A) The department and OTSI, in coordination with the CDT and CWDA, shall schedule annual development progress demonstrations to provide an opportunity for the CWS-CARES IT project to demonstrate that they are making satisfactory progress towards project completion. Satisfactory progress shall include all of the following:
(i) The completion of planned product milestones, including all planned data conversion, hardening, and testing, without significant deviation from the baseline project cost, schedule, and scope in the most recent Special Project Report.
(ii) The incorporation of relevant end-user feedback into product design, development, and implementation, to the extent possible, without significant increases in the total CWS-CARES baseline project cost, schedule, and scope in the most recent Special Project Report.
(iii) Demonstrable progress made towards user adoption, consistent with the project’s strategic plan for user engagement, communication, and adoption, including clearly defined processes that measure and report on stakeholder engagements with the project, including, for example, stakeholder impact assessments.
(B) All parties responsible for oversight of the project, including the LAO, shall be permitted to attend the demonstration.
(d) The existing CWS/CMS operations and functionality shall be maintained at a level that is at least commensurate with its December 2015 status and shall not be decommissioned prior to the full statewide implementation of the CWS-CARES in all counties. For purposes of this subdivision, “full statewide implementation” means after all existing CWS/CMS core system functionality has been replaced in CWS-CARES and has been implemented in all 58 counties for a minimum of six months with no significant defects outstanding.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 43, Sec. 74. (AB 120) Effective July 10, 2023.)