The federal requirement is for a single system that manages all child welfare services in each state. This system in California is the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS). This system meets Federal, State and County reporting and case management requirements including: Adoptions and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), and Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR).

Current direction from the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) regarding enforcement of the single-system rule does not permit the import of data into the CWS/CMS database. Data entry must be directly into the SACWIS system. One-direction downloads from the CWS/CMS are permitted.

No. CWS/CMS does not capture all of the information requested on the FC23 form. Probation staff are still required to complete and submit the FC23.

CWS/CMS Application Training is provided to Probation Departments by the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice (RCFFP). To request training, please call (530) 757-8646 or e-mail the RCFFP at lpuno@ucde.ucdavis.edu.

A CWS/CMS curriculum has been created for probation staff based on the directives for implementation provided by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). The curriculum includes:

• Introduction to CWS/CMS
• Client Services
• Non-CWD case creation
• Contacts
• Health and Education Notebook
• Placement
• Migrating SOC158 data to the main application
• System Administration

The CWS/CMS Office has located all application-related training material on its website. Getting to it has been secured so that access is controlled. If you are responsible for training in your county Probation Department, please contact the CWS/CMS Customer Relations Team at CWS_CustRel@osi.ca.gov to obtain a generic password that is specific to your county. It will also be useful for you to identify the System Support Consultant for your county for future reference (http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/countyinfo/county_contacts/SSC_list.asp).

With access to the Online Training Center area of the CWS/CMS website, a large range of tools become available to the county probation department:

• New User Curriculum
• Scenario Manager Download
• STAR
• User Guides
• Business Objects Curriculum
• Online Release Notes (Describes new code releases)

The Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice (RCFFP) and the CWS/CMS Office have several resources to assist Probation Departments with initial and on-going training needs. They include:

• RCFFP Webinars - Webinars are available at:
  http://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/resource/library/ch_details.asp?record=48


• RCFFP Webinars provide probation users with valuable training on:
  
  
  • Business Planning and Processes for CWS/CMS Implementation
  • Connectivity for CWS/CMS
  • CWS/CMS Overview for Juvenile Probation Placement
  
  
• CWS/CMS Office PowerPoints - These presentations are available on the CWS/CMS website on the Probation Access page. Each PowerPoint provides instructions on a specific topic area.
  
  
  • Getting Started with CWS/CMS assists departments through the issues that will promote integration of the CWS/CMS into your department's individual circumstances. The presentation includes a comprehensive list of technical and business considerations that each department will want to consider as pre-training planning proceeds. Successful training depends on each department making some fundamental business decisions prior to training. The content of this PowerPoint, along with the "Overview" training provided by the RCFFP give Probation Department managers and planning staff a good basis for approaching the rollout of the CWS/CMS application.
  
  
  • Office Setup in CWS/CMS is a basic overview of decisions and actions required to set up your virtual office within the CWS/CMS application. It will assist with the creation of staff privileges and authorities; assignment structures; and caseloads.


• STAR (Statewide Training Application Resource) - This is a web-based, self-directed application training tool, complete with a user's guide. Trainees are able to learn the application systematically and at their own pace, or to revisit particular areas of the application at will. The tool was designed in cooperation with county users.
  
  (Note to Probation Department Users: STAR presents CWS/CMS curriculum, including some that will not be implemented by Probation Departments, such as Court and Case Plan. Each county must determine which curriculum is pertinent to its business processes.)

Business Objects is an ad hoc reporting tool that is used by many, but not all, counties. County Probation Departments that wish to use the tool and require training can go to http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/Training2/training/registration.asp for more information.

Your agency or the child welfare department in your county may already use BO for ad hoc reporting, and may be prepared to generate reports for your office. Training Support staff at the CWS/CMS Office are available to answer further questions on this subject. Please call Theresa Howell at (916) 263-0397.

Many probation counties have worked closely with their CWS counterparts to set up their offices in CWS/CMS. This is a good place to check first. Additionally, the CWS/CMS Office has created two helpful documents that will guide you through setting up an office:

• Office Setup in CWS/CMS (PowerPoint presentation) at:
  http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/projects/probation/docs/34060_Probation_Access_Office_Setup.pdf
• CWS/CMS Office Setup Best Practices (Word document) at:
  http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/Training2/training/guides/CWS_application/resource_mgmt/091505_OfficeSetUpBestPractices.doc

If further information on office setup is needed, please contact your county's Customer Relations Unit, System Support Consultant (SSC) by locating them at:
http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/countyinfo/county_contacts/SSC_list.asp

The CWS/CMS application has different levels of authority privileges that work to maintain security of CWS/CMS information. A user's access to information is contingent upon the level of authority and privileges assigned to the user's logon ID and password. A county system administrator assigns authorities and privileges to staff persons, allowing them access to specific CWS/CMS Application Icons that have specific functionality according to the user's job responsibilities.

The CWS/CMS Office has created a Powerpoint presentation on Office Setup that explains authorities and privileges. The Powerpoint is available at:
http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/projects/probation/docs/34060_Probation_Access_Office_Setup.pdf

Each probation department must determine how they will be using the functionality in the CWS/CMS that gives a case either "sealed" or "sensitive" status. The sealed functionality may be of limited utility in the context of a probation department.

When a case has been "sealed" in the CWS/CMS, it will not display when a client search is completed. Only a county employee with sealed privilege will receive the sealed case as a search result. Typically each county will assign very few individual employees the sealed privilege.

There is a lesser "sensitive" status that will return results to all workers. Actual access to the case will still be limited to a worker for whom the sensitive privilege has been granted by the county system administrator. Sensitive privilege is typically more widely distributed than sealed privilege.

When an existing case is sealed in CWS/CMS, it still exists in the database, though there are severe restrictions, managed by county system administrators, on who may access it.

National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) information is reported bi-annually on a federal fiscal year to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Data collection for the first bi-annual report began on October 1, 2010 and ended on March 31, 2011. The first data extraction will occur on May 1st, 2011 and be submitted to ACF by May 15, 2011.

On a quarterly basis the California Department of Social Service (CDSS), Child Welfare Data Analysis Bureau (CWDAB) sends the counties a National Youth in Transition Data (NYTD) Quality Assurance (QA) report. This report contains county-specific records of youth who received ILP services during the most recent six-month period, or foster care youth reaching age 17 during the NYTD report period. All of these youth are potentially eligible for federal NYTD reporting, and therefore subject to mandatory data quality standards. In this QA report, data elements that appear to be missing, inconsistent, or incorrect are highlighted and are to be reviewed or corrected by the county if needed.

The reports are shared with counties each quarter, starting July 2010. Data corrections need to be entered into CWS/CMS prior to the date of data extraction from CWS/CMS. For example, if the reporting period is from October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011, then the review and corrections are due by April 30, 2011.

National Youth in Transition Data (NYTD) Quality Assurance (QA) reports are sent to counties quarterly in January, April, July, and October.

The National Youth in Transition Data (NYTD) Quality Assurance (QA) Report is sent from the California Department of Social Service (CDSS), Child Welfare Data Analysis Bureau (CWDAB) to the CWS Agency County Directors, ILP Coordinators, County SPOCs and Chief Probation Officers.

Five (5) users can be assigned to one SBC (Server Based Computing) security token.

For SBC Token problems, contact the Probation Help Desk (also known as the Boulder IBM Help Desk). They are available from 6:00AM to 6:00PM, Monday through Friday. When calling the Help Desk, please identify yourself as a "probation user". The Probation Help Desk can be reached at:

• Telephone: 1-800-428-8268
• Voicemail: 1-800-428-8268 and select Option "2"

Your county's Probation Single Point of Contact (SPOC) grants access to the County Logon area. Your Probation SPOC is listed on the CWS/CMS website under County Info > County Contacts ( http://www.hwcws.cahwnet.gov/countyinfo/county_contacts/default.asp). Select your county and the Probation Contact Info button to locate your Probation SPOC.

Title IV-E is the portion of the federal Social Security Act that makes federal money available to states for foster care and adoption programs. Title IV-E provides funding for administrative activities as they relate to foster care or the potential need for foster care. Funding is awarded by formula as an open-ended entitlement grant. Title IV-E is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

There are two types of Title IV-E funding accessed by Probation, Administrative and Maintenance.

Established in 1980 by Public Law 96-272, Title IV-E provides federal reimbursement for two types of foster care expenses:

• Maintenance costs - Generally submitted by the County Social Services Department for payments made to group homes and foster parents.


• Administrative costs - Payment to welfare and probation departments that are vested with the legal responsibility for children in foster care which includes:
  
  
  • Services and activities that reduce or eliminate the need to remove a child from his/her home;
  • Services and activities that reunify a child with his/her family, or creates a permanent plan for the child;
  • Administrative costs may be claimed for activities related to cases where a child is considered a reasonable candidate for foster care.

Note: Reasonable candidate determination should not be confused with the term Eligibility Determination. Eligibility Determination is made by the County Welfare Department when a child is being placed in foster care. This function determines whether the child is eligible for federal financial participation in the costs of out of home care.

A Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between probation departments and county departments of social service, pursuant to Division 29 of the California Department of Social Services Manual of Policies and Procedures, establish the basis for title IV-E claiming. The MOU must specify the services and placement activities performed by Probation Departments for wards in out of home foster care.

County welfare and probation departments must adhere to California Department of Social Services (CDSS) instructions in All County Letter (ACL) 04-32, 07-48 (or any other ACL) related to claiming instructions including County Fiscal Letters, along with published federal guidelines. County welfare and probation departments are subject to audits from the: Bureau of State Audits, federal audits conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), annual single state agency audits, and or audits conducted by Administration for Children and Families under (Title IV-E Reviews).

Currently, CDSS is conducting fiscal monitoring reviews in an effort to comply with 45 CFR Part 92.40 (monitoring and reporting program performance). County welfare and probation departments are held accountable and subject to penalties and or disallowances when improperly claiming Title IV-E administrative funds.

No funds are directly available to probation departments through the APD or CAPE processes at this time.

In California, the Department of Social Services (CDSS) is designated to claim federal Title IV-E funds and required to develop a state plan and regulations for that funding. California's state plan designates implementation at the local level through the counties' Social Services Agencies. Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with county Welfare Departments, Probation Departments are reimbursed for Title IV-E eligible services and activities.

At this time we are not aware of "if and how" penalties will be assessed. When we know more we will update the Regional User Groups and this website.

Probation Departments began inputting data directly into the CWS/CMS system beginning October 2010. This meets the SACWIS requirement.

Note: CDSS recognizes the importance of the issue of dual data entry and a probation system interface with the state's case management system. We will continue to monitor and participate in discussions generated by the ACF's request for comments on a SACWIS redesign which was initiated in July 2010.

For more information please refer to the Chief Probation Officers of California website at: www.CPOC.org and click on the "Fiscal" Tab and choose "Title IV-E" on the drop down menu.