(a) (1) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the Child Welfare Services â 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 Californiaâs 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 stateâs Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) with a federally compliant Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS). (B) Replace the countiesâ external child welfare services systems with functionalities that are within the projectâs 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 partnersâ 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 Legislatureâs 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
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