CarePortal celebrates five years of local community response to child welfare needs in Stephens County

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 15, 2020) -- Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) is pleased to celebrate five years of CarePortal presence in Stephens County. Since the pilot launched on Sept. 17, 2015, the local community has met 167 requests positively impacting the lives of 365 children and their families. The estimated value of goods and services donated is almost $35,000, making an economic impact of over $163,000. 

CarePortal is a collaborative partnership between Global Orphan Project, 111Project and OKDHS, and is an online platform sharing the needs of local children and families to a community of churches, allowing them to respond to needs in real-time. Child Welfare professionals identify the needs, focusing on child safety and permanency, and the 111Project organizes ministry partners and offers trainings that equip members to say yes to helping a family.
Keeping in mind the need for social distancing and public safety, a digital CarePortal Community Celebration will be held from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20 via Zoom. With over 65 children in the county in state custody as of Oct. 1, everyone has a role to play to support them and their families. To register for the event, visit www.111project.org/cplaunch.

"We are so thankful for this community stepping forward in a big way to support their local children and families," said Jami Majors, Program Administrator for Child Welfare Services Community Partnerships. "Over the last five years, our community partnership in Stephens County has resulted in even more families being served and gaining invaluable support systems to help them succeed. We are excited about this opportunity to grow and develop even more local partnerships."

"We always ask, 'What if we had more than enough' - more than enough resources so biological families can achieve not just reunification but restoration, more than enough people caring for and serving others so no one is alone, more than enough foster families so families are waiting on children instead of children waiting on families," said Chris Campbell, Executive Director of the 111Project. "We exist to mobilize the faith community so that the local church is not just aware of needs of children and families in crisis but are partnered with the state to see that those families have all the support that they need."

For OKDHS CarePortal questions, please contact Andrea.Stasyszen@okdhs.org. For church CarePortal questions, please contact the 111Project at info@111project.org.
  

###