14-05-2025
CarePortal aims to help social workers and families with launch in Preston County
KINGWOOD, (WBOY) — West Virginia has one of the highest rates of children in foster care in the country, and a new program that's being introduced to the state this year is hoping to lower those numbers.
On Tuesday, Preston County became the second county in the state to launch CarePortal, an online program that connects local churches to the real-time needs of vulnerable children and families, allowing the community to respond with tangible support. The program hopes to help prevent unnecessary foster care placement.
The West Virginia Department of Human Services and Chestnut Mountain Village collaborated to make the launch possible. So far in Preston County, there are five churches already signed up and ready to help. Dozens of community members came out to the Kingwood Community Center on Tuesday to learn how the program works.
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The request for help is first administered by a child welfare agency, a pregnancy resource center, a school, a school district or a non-profit. Then instantly, churches, businesses, community groups and individuals that have signed up to help will get an alert and can choose to fulfill the request.
'It's absolutely supporting social workers. Now, when social workers see those needs, they see a family that needs a bed or a dresser, they're trying to find community resources on their own, they may be picking up the phone and calling the local church anyhow, they're trying to find other resources, they're encouraging the family to go do it, so this is actually making their jobs easier,' Greg Clutter, Director of Chestnut Mountain Village said.
Currently, only social workers within the counties that have CarePortal can make requests, but Clutter said the goal is to have CarePortal across the entire state, joining 38 other states across the country that already use it.
Clutter said once requests are made, one church or organization can lead the request with others pitching in as well, and it's all tracked to make sure one request is not getting multiples of the same items.
In just three weeks, Monongalia County's CarePortal has helped 59 children. Clutter said the hope is for the next launch to be in Taylor and Upshur counties, one step closer to the mission of being available statewide.
To learn more about CarePortal, you can go here.
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