dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer came to Morgantown on Thursday to join with Chad Clutter, director of Chestnut Mountain Village, social workers and members of churches across Monongalia County to celebrate the launch of CarePortal – the first launch in West Virginia.
“It’s a celebration for Mon county. It’s a celebration for all of West Virginia,” Clutter told the group gathered at the Hotel Morgan.
CarePortal describes itself as “a care-sharing technology platform that brings the needs of children and families in crisis to the attention of local churches and community members who want to help. By bridging the gap between child-serving agencies and community responders, CarePortal enables real-time, meaningful support that strengthens families and prevents unnecessary foster care placements.”
After an initial launch in Mon County in November, CarePortal went live on Thursday, with 14 local churches participating.
BreeAnna Cunningham, with Mon County CPS, and Jane McCracken, CarePortal ambassador with Chestnut Mountain Village, demonstrated how it works on a big screen in the back of the room. A social worker will learn of a family’s material need – maybe furniture, clothing, home repairs, utility bills. The worker enters the need into the system via the portal website or app.
Cunningham went through an example where a mom trying to reunify her family needs a bed four her daughter because hers was destroyed in a fire. After she entered the information, an alert went out and phones of people who are participating dinged all across the room.
McKracken then responded on the app, pledging to meet the need, and that response appeared on the screen.
CarePortal is already active in 37 states. It reports that its platform has met 135,575 requests, served 358,943 children, and generated an estimated $133.9 million in economic impact. Some areas across the nation have seen a 60% decrease in kids entering foster care.
Clutter explained how the Mon County pilot project got launched. It began in 2023 with him and four others who looked at the foster care problem and thought about what they could do to support families before they broke down and the state had to get involved. And what if they could support foster families to keep them from quitting.
They did a four-month community assessment to see what resources are out there and what churches wanted to get involved. They believed there was more than enough resources and willing people out there. “But nobody was connected, so there was no way for people to know what they needed to do.”
That led to contact with CarePortal. Chestnut Mountain Village became the implementing partner. The CMA Church of Morgantown and Chestnut Ridge Church were the first two churches to sign on for the pilot program in November.
Locally, along with the two churches, DOHS’ Bureau of Social Services and Bureau of Family Services, Compass Women’s Center on Don Knotts Boulevard and the DOHS Mon County Family Support Center teamed up.
“Those are connections and problems solved by neighbors helping neighbors, not through government,” Clutter said. They can reunify a family or keep one together.
Mayer said DOHS sees the needs and problems of the child welfare system. “It becomes increasingly clear that initiatives like this are going to be the solution,” CarePortal is an innovative platform that connects families to help they need.
“By responding swiftly to needs posted in CarePortal, community members can prevent crises from escalating, ensuring that children remain safe in their nurturing environment,” he said. And along with meeting material needs, the portal community can offer emotional and social support – relationships that provide mentorship and guidance.
“Other states that have done this have seen phenomenal outcomes,” he said.
Mon County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristin Antolini said, “I really see this as a game changer for our children and our families here in Monongalia County.”
She came into the attorney’s office from a background as guardian ad litem where she represented hundreds of children, she said. Those kids’ their social workers are also often their parents, and the kids have needs beyond what the state can provide.
With this, a worker will be able to put those needs into the portal have have the need met. “When you fulfill an economic request, you are letting someone know that they are valued, they are cared for, that they are important.”
CMA Pastor Roy Baker said he had foster brothers growing up, and he knows fostering is tough at times.
“To know that you have a support system behind you is tremendously motivating to people who might step up and be heroes in our state, to take up the role of fostering,” he said.
The next step for CarePortal, Clutter is, is the launch of the Preston County pilot program on May 13. And from there, it could spread across the state.
