Independent Project Oversight Report (IPOR) Rating
-
- Satisfactory, no corrective action necessary.
Green -
- Caution, risks/issues exist. There may be a need for corrective action in the near future.
Yellow -
- Escalated for immediate corrective action. There is a significant risk to the health of the project.
Red -
- Not enough data is available to make a determination about the project health.
Blue -
No Report Available - Indicates that a Report is not available for publishing for the reporting period.
0530-211 Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES)
CWS-CARES will replace the legacy Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), and provide an enterprise, integrated solution to meet current and emerging business needs.
Project Details
| Agency / State Entity | Health and Human Services / Secretary for California Health and Human Services Agency |
|---|---|
| Total Cost | $1,711,011,443 |
| Last Approved Start Date | 07/01/2013 |
| Last Approved Finish Date | 04/28/2028 |
| Criticality Rating | High |
| IPOR Reporting Period | Overall IPOR Rating |
|---|---|
| 12/01/2024 - 12/31/2024 |
Yellow
|
Key Questions
Is the project on track to satisfy the customer's business objectives?Yes
Is the project on track to achieve the objectives in the approved timeframe?Uncertain
Is the project on track to achieve the objectives within the approved budget?Uncertain
| Project Overall Health | Comments |
|---|---|
|
Yellow
|
The Project Overall Health rating continues Yellow in December 2024 due to the current assessment of eight focus areas. -- Time, Cost, Quality, and Transition continue as Yellow. -- Governance, Scope, Resources, and Risks/Issues continue as Green. • The ACF CB responded to the FFY 2025 APDU submission, “the project remains in a non-CCWIS claiming status”, and will be re-assessed after a virtual project review in May 2025. • The ACF CB sent a letter summarizing their findings and recommendations from their July 2024 Technical Review. • The project schedule was re-baselined in July 2024. As of this period, most product milestones are on track with three reported at risk (Yellow). • System scope includes core product development, infrastructure, interfaces, shared services, data conversion, scenario testing, rework from user feedback and design blueprints. -- In October 2024, the project satisfied SPR 6 approval condition #1a, which required the project to elaborate Version 1 (V1) scope (Epics) into requirements (User Stories) by October 31, 2024. -- V1 reporting and V2 scope must be elaborated by February 28, 2025. • There are not any open high priority risks or issues at this time. • The planned V1 Pilot Tech/Op Solution was assessed by the project to not be viable. Alternatives are being researched with recommendations due to the Board of Directors in January 2025. |
| Focus Area/Rating | Comments |
|---|---|
Governance Green
|
The Governance rating continues Green in December 2024. The scope and character of authority for decision making is documented, with governance bodies meeting regularly. • The last approval document is SPR 6, approved in May 2023, and codified changes to the project’s delivery approach and resources. -- A new holistic design approach was approved in June 2024. -- The project schedule was re-baselined in July 2024. -- The Financial Analysis Worksheets (FAW) were updated in September 2024 to support a FY 2025-26 BCP. Total costs have not changed. • The ACF CB responded to the CDSS Advanced Planning Document Update (APDU) for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2025 on October 21, 2024. The FFY 2025 APDU was resubmitted to the ACF Children’s Bureau on September 16, 2024. The submission is intended to satisfy the FFY 2024 APDU approval conditions. -- The project remains in a non-CCWIS claiming status and will be reassessed after a virtual review is completed in May 2025. • The ACF sent correspondence articulating their findings and recommendations from the July 2024 Technical Assistance (TA) Monitoring Review. -- Although formal response is not needed, the state is encouraged to track evidence, discuss progress in monitoring calls, and document progress in Advance Planning Document (APD) submissions. • Five decisions were made via the Decision-Making Framework in December. -- 479: SafeMeasures reports to be delivered to users via CWS-CARES program versus project. -- 477: Timeline approved to satisfy Statistical Policy Directive No. 15. -- 476: Reduce costs to build Spanish forms to increase quantity to build within contractual limit. -- 475: Scale back participation of SMs, PDLs, and county SMEs in Milestone User Feedback for Milestones 8, 15, 19, and 20. -- 472: Remove contract management scope in building block 21.03 from CARES V1. • The Strategic Communications team continues to publish key communications for stakeholders. -- CARES Explorer – Volume 1, Issue 4 was published in December. -- CARES Compass – Volume 1, Issue 5 published in November 2024. Volume 2, Issue 1 is planned for January 2025. -- ACF Monthly Report on User Engagement & Adoption – commonly referred to as the ACF Metric Report, Issue No. 12 published in December. Includes summary of Core Constituent Survey No. 3. • Per an SPR 6 approval condition, the project is utilizing Earned Value Metrics (EVM) to monitor project health. The Total V1 Scope is measured in Function Point Equivalents (FPE). The FPE value of 88,568 reported for December is consistent with values reported since September 2024. |
Time Management Yellow
|
The Time Management Focus Area rating continues Yellow in December 2024. Performance in achieving the remediated and re-baselined project schedule is reported by the project to be on track. • PaaS SI schedule variance metrics shows the overall project is On Track at 55% (+2% from last month) complete, with 21 (+15) activities Overdue and 27 (+20) activities Behind Schedule. -- IPO notes that as of December 31, 67% of the total state business days planned for V1 work have elapsed. • Current sprint velocity may be insufficient to achieve the SPR 6 approved schedule. -- The user story completion rate for Sprint 24.13 was 132% which is an improvement over past sprints. For example, Sprint 24.12 was 25%, 24.11 was 94%, and 24.10 was 59% indicating the team may be underperforming relative to expectations. -- The velocity plan shows significant spikes are expected in the quantity of user stories to be completed beginning in March 2025, which if executed per plan should improve alignment between the PaaS SI work completion percentage and IPO elapsed days schedule performance measures. • As presented in the December Executive Dashboard, all product milestones and interfaces have been mapped to one of two EUST cycles. -- Of the 12 EUST2 milestones, 10 are SDLC complete (blue), 2 are on track (green). -- Of the 21 EUST3 milestones, 3 are SDLC complete (blue), 15 are on track (green), 3 are at risk (yellow). -- The 4 V1 Reporting milestones are planned to be tested in a separate EUST3 Reporting cycle. • A new Holistic Design Approach was approved by the Board of Directors (CWDA abstained) on June 10, and schedule re-baselined on July 3. -- Some of the Holistic Design activities for EUST 3 Milestones are reported as overdue and behind schedule, including for Case Mgmt. Group 3, Courts, Resource Mgmt., and Eligibility. -- The Schedule Mitigation Checkpoint #2, held on November 15, 2024 indicate the grouping of interdependent milestones based on functionality is improving delivery, and on track to support the planned Extended User Scenario Testing cycle 2 (EUST2) beginning in March 2025. -- The Schedule Mitigation Checkpoint #1, held on September 20, 2024, indicate the Holistic Design is achieving improved system design with blueprint documents. The level of effort for state responsibilities may be increasing. • As per an SPR approval condition, the Project is using EVM to gauge performance. The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) decreased to 0.994 in December, indicating the project is on schedule with a variance of less than 5% from the target of 1.0 and improving. |
| Cost & Contract Management Yellow
|
The Cost & Contract Management rating continues Yellow in December 2024 due to the ACF stating in its response to the FFY 2025 APDU submission, “the project remains in a non-CCWIS claiming status”, and will be re-assessed after a virtual project review in May 2025. • The ACF responded to the FFY 2025 APDU submission on October 21, 2024. -- The ACF conveyed the project remains in a non-CCWIS claiming status, meaning that it is currently not receiving federal funding. The ACF will reassess in May 2025 after a virtual review. • The Total Project Costs approved with SPR 6 are $1,711,011,443 with One-Time Costs of $1,228,909,579, Continuing Costs of $301,567,793, and Future Operations Costs of $180,534,071. -- Cumulative Actual One-Time Expenditures as of December are reported as $406,699,600 – 25% less than the $521,656,741 Cumulative Actual One-Time Budget. -- At the December 19 Board meeting, it was reported Current Year Actual Expenditures for FY 2024-25 are $26,526,027, and projected annual expenditures are $180,309,094, which is 14% less than the $210,787,509 planned annual budget. This project clarified decrease in projected costs is due to finalization of WOAs vs projected costs. • The FY 2024-25 budget included BBL and TBL defining “satisfactory progress” towards product milestones, and “may be augmented up to a maximum of $26,035,000 for project activities related to the implementation and data infrastructure contracts upon approval by the Department of Finance, in consultation with the Department of Technology”. • As per an approval condition, the Project is using EVM to gauge performance. -- The CPI of 1.210 in December validates the underspending reported in the PSR. The variance from the target 1.0 continues greater than 10% but is less than the peak CPI of 1.378 in August. • The SPR 6 approved Financial Analysis Worksheets (FAW) were based on renegotiating the primary vendor contracts. -- The renegotiated Platform as a Service (PaaS) System Integrator (SI) contract amendment was executed in September 2023, increasing the total contract value from $63,781,313 to $290,768,079. The total encumbrance is $273,514,765. Current Actual Expenditure is $101,221,177. -- The renegotiated Product Value Services (PVS) contract amendment was executed in September 2023, increasing the total contract value from $26,931,840 to $80,239,017. Current Actual Expenditure is $53,512,783. -- The renegotiated CARES Data Infrastructure (CDI) contract amendment was executed in March 2024, increasing the total contract value from $35,007,305 to $132,338,965. Current Actual Expenditure is $43,547,545. -- Contract amendment negotiations for Implementation Services are on hold. |
| Scope Management Green
|
The Scope Management rating continues as Green in December 2024. • In the December 2024 functional requirements update, V1 scope consists of 4,405 (-54 from baseline) User Stories, 461 (+8) Epics, and 129 (-1) Building Blocks, and 37 Product milestones for Salesforce application service areas and shared services, forms, and interfaces. -- 1,684 (38.23%) of the V1 stories are reported in a "Done" status, which is 31 more than the October 2024 baseline. -- Rework milestone includes 1,037 Stories (23.54% of all V1 stories), of which 326 Stories are Done (31%). The project clarified that not all rework/spinoff stories are essential for V1, and a reconciliation effort is planned. -- The CDT expects the total number of stories will continue to fluctuate as V1 SDLC and user feedback activities progress. • The project continues development on functional blueprints as part of the Holistic Design approach for EUST3 milestones. -- Courts Processing (Milestones 16, 17, 18) includes 263 blueprints with 94 done. -- Financial Management (Milestones 23, 23.1, 23.2, 24) includes 1 blueprint in progress. -- Finish a Case (Milestones 10, 10.1, 11, 13) includes 221 blueprint in progress with 3 done. -- Eligibility (Milestones 19, 20, 20.1, 21) includes 12 blueprints in progress -- Ongoing Case Work (Milestones 6.1, 7, 7.1, 9) includes 238 blueprints with 56 done. -- RFA (Milestones 26, 26.1, 27, 28) includes 116 blueprints in progress. -- Other blueprints not categorized to a holistic design group include 44 in progress with 38 of them done. • All previously developed user interface component are undergoing a ‘reskinning’ effort using the Salesforce Lightning Web Component Framework. -- PaaS SI has reported that all user interface screens for EUST2 milestones is complete. • Analysis of external systems was completed in October 2024. -- Of the total 1214 external systems, 410 are in scope for V1, and 142 are partially in scope for V1. The project is currently collaborating with counties to identify discrepancies. |
| Resources Green
|
The Resources rating remains Green in December 2024. • The approved FY 2024-25 project budget allocates 123 positions. • The project’s overall position vacancy percentage reduced to 10% with 4 hires; and achieving the Project’s goal of 10%. -- Director of Product departed project in November. Recruitment is in progress and an appointment to the position is anticipated in January. -- Director of Customer Relations retired in December. • Total Vendor resources increased to 467 staff, including: -- PaaS SI – 265 (+1 from last month) -- CDI – 120 (+16) -- PVS – 58 (-4) -- Implementation – 45 (-1) -- QA/Testing – 11 (no change) • State and Vendor Resources have the tools and time necessary to complete tasks as assigned; and demonstrate a detailed-level of understanding to fulfill their assigned roles. |
| Quality Yellow
|
The Quality rating continues as Yellow in December 2024. • In the December scope update, there are 809 ‘rework’ user stories which are tagged to EUST 2 Milestone Spinoff Building Blocks. -- DMF 471: Only essential rework User Stories are in scope for Extended User Scenario Testing cycle 2 (EUST 2). -- DMF 475: User Feedback is currently in progress for Milestones 8, 15, 19 and 20; and there may be additional rework to be identified from this effort. -- Per PaaS SIT, State QA agreement, build/test activities are complete, all EUST2 test scripts to be delivered by 12/31/2024. • RI-279 (High) based on IPO observation, is in progress to address the lack of detailed plan to harden, scenario test, and validate V1 scope prior to Go-Live. -- Revised action plan to include Create Executive Summary with links/paragraph to related items; and Need detailed test plan for EUST 4 (PMO to determine). -- The State continues to lead the coordination of EUST 2 planning weekly forum with multiple vendor and state teams. -- The remediated schedule now includes an additional EUST 4 cycle and time to test and validate product and interface milestones to support V1 Go-Live in October 2026. • As of December, 3042 (+228 from last month) have been opened in System Integration Test (SIT) and 1727 (+340) bugs in QA. • As of December, there are a total of 213 (+69 from last month) Open Bugs with 5 critical, 43 high, 149 medium, and 16 low. -- 11 open bugs are Fixed, in Joint Review. -- 146 open bugs are Development Fixes (aka Build Defects). • The project continues to monitor and prioritize Technical Debt for V1 with 8 issues documented sized at 36 story points. |
| Risk And Issues Green
|
The Risks and Issues rating remains Green in December 2024. The administration and management of risks and issues is mature with all items recorded and updated in the Risk-Issue Jira Backlog. • There are a total of 21 open project-level risks and issues being tracked by the CWS-CARES team, with 0 High priority risks or issues open. • Count of active Issues and Risks: -- 11 issues: 0 High, 9 Medium, 2 Low -- 10 risks: 0 High, 3 Medium, 7 Low |
| Transition Readiness Yellow
|
The Transition Readiness rating continues as Yellow in December 2024. • The project presented V1 Pilot planning findings to the Board of Directors in July 2024 recommending not to move forward with the Tech/Op solution and no viable alternative to meet CWDA expectations. -- A brief update on V1 Pilot planning was provided at the December 19, 2024, Board of Directors meeting. The project team is currently focusing on further review of the proposed solution for a Two Systems of Record production Pilot – Non-Pilot counties work in CWS/CMS while Pilot counties work in CARES -- In November, the team clarified to the Board that three alternatives are considered, and recommendation will be brought forward in December. -- Four alternatives were presented to the ELT in October 2024, with all assessed as costly. -- No update to the Board in September. -- In August, the project presented two alternatives being researched. • All Go-Live implementation readiness tasks with counties are on track. -- Master Implementation Plan – 31% complete; V12 began November 2024. -- Rollout Contingency Plan – 98% complete; Due June 30, 2025. -- Pilot Plan – 0% complete; dependent on Board direction (see Pilot status above). -- Sandbox Strategy – 99% complete; finalizing level of effort and costs. -- Training Plan Iteration 3 – 0%; begins December 2024 • Training Materials Development for EUST 2 are due 2/24/25 -- Milestone 3 Screening 60% -- Milestone 4 Investigations Engagement 40% -- Milestone 5 Investigations Determination 40% -- Milestone 6 Case Management Engagement 25% -- Milestone 8 Placement 10% -- Milestone 15 Court Hearing Framework 0% -- Milestone 19 Request Determination 0% -- Milestone 20 Redetermine Eligibility 0% • There are a total of 144 (+9 from last month) RFA user accounts, of which 125 are Active, and 19 Pending Registration. -- Beginning in February 2024, only Fresno, Placer, and Santa Clara are using the RFA Application process. -- 434 (+19 from prior month) Cumulative Total Applications received, and 729 (+41) Total Applications Adjudicated. |
| Conditions For Approval Green
|
The SPR 6 Approval Letter stipulates the project must adhere to the following conditions (abridged language below): 1. Complete an elaboration of the Product Backlog to further clarify program needs and establish the inventory of functions and features required to complete the project. -- a) Satisfied – V1 product scope (Epics) must be elaborated into requirements (Stories) not later than October 31, 2024. As per CDT request, the project is also providing: 1. Tabular data that demonstrates completion progress and adjustments in total stories by milestone in future Project Status Report (PSR) and Quarterly Project Report (QPR) submissions to the CDT, commencing with the PSR due in December 2024. 2. The PSR and QPR reports include tabular data specifically on the details and progress of the "Rework" milestone stories to include identification of the original source milestone (e.g., 157 Rework milestone stories are sourced from "Milestone 03: Screening"). -- b) In Progress – V1 reporting and V2 Epics must be elaborated into Stories not later than February 28, 2025. 2. Conduct annual Development Progress Demonstration for stakeholders and CDT during the first quarter of each Calendar year. -- Satisfied. The annual demonstration was held on April 4, 2024. 3. Commence Earned Value Management (EVM) reporting in the monthly Project Status Reports (PSR) and Quarterly Project Reports (QPR) submissions beginning in October 2023. -- Satisfied. The Project began reporting EVM in October 2023. The Project continues to refine the approach and calculations using Function Point Equivalents. 4. Provide a Board of Directors-approved V1 Pilot Plan to the CDT upon completion of the SPR 6 Major Milestone in September 2023. -- Satisfied. The Project Director obtained Board of Directors approval on September 28, 2023, for the initial Pilot Plan version to satisfy the CDT SPR 6 approval condition. -- Board approval is conditional stipulating that all future iterations be brought back for Board approval. 5. The Independent Advisor (IA) consultant must assess the efficacy of the project’s constituent engagement, communications, and adoption model and provide a report that includes improvement recommendations to project leadership, the CalHHS and the CDT not later than March 31, 2024. -- Satisfied. Per IPO request, the findings and recommendations were presented to executive stakeholders on June 3, 2024. 6. Provide an updated Vendor Management Plan that includes a revised Work Order Authorization (WOA) process that aligns with the PaaS SI and PVS vendor contract amendments described in SPR 6 before the amendments are executed. -- Satisfied. The CDT IPO team reviewed the new WOA Management Plan with updated WOA templates in August 2023. -- Per IPO request, the WOA Management Plan was updated in October 2023 to include recurring activities, deliverables, and org readiness details for Implementation WOAs. 7. The CWS-CARES project must submit a new SPR if one or more of the following occurs: a) Estimated One-Time Cost increases by $15 million. b) Estimated Project End Date extends by three months. c) Product scope or requirements vary by 10 percent. d) Service Delivery Lifecycle (SDLC) undergoes major changes, as determined by the CDT. -- Condition has not been triggered |
| Corrective Action Green
|
Not currently applicable |
Currently unavailable
2025-01-23 - Release-8