BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Humanity and Greene County at Their Best

CATSKILL - It isn’t the reason they do it but the Greene County Department of Social Services is #1 in the country in something called a CHAD.

Bureaucracies love acronyms. CHAD means “County Health Assessment Dashboard” which has to do with a non-profit organization named Justice for Orphans and their associated CarePortal.

Justice For Orphans, according to their website, was founded in 2012 by Sandra Flach and Mary Slager.

“These adoptive and foster moms were wrecked by the global orphan crisis and the national foster care crisis—and the church’s lack of response to it,” their website states.
“On a mission to rally the Church, the duo jumped into advocacy work and began hosting annual adoption and foster care conferences.

“In 2018, with a strong desire to equip local churches and community members to care for children in crisis throughout the Capital Region, JFO became the implementing organization for CarePortal in Upstate New York.

“CarePortal is a technology tool equipping churches, child welfare agencies, businesses and individuals to engage and take action by meeting the tangible needs of families in their own communities.

“JFO manages the CarePortal in Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, and Schenectady counties. Since 2018, more than 3,000 local children have been served through our CarePortal network,” their website states.

There is much more to the story but in terms of Greene County and their activity in the program, Flach was in the house, last week, for a presentation to the county legislature.

As part of her offering, Flach shared one story among a growing number about humanity at its best, as well as CarePortal facts and figures.

The way it functions  is this: agency workers identify children and families in need and enter requests into the online CarePortal. 

Churches and communities see these needs and, with the click of a button, are connected to the family. Bing, bing, boom, problem solved.

Case in point. A couple of weeks ago a message went out to, “Help Preserve a Kinship Placement,” identifying it as a “critical need.”

The message was clear stating, “three young children ages 6, 4 and 2 were removed from the care and custody of their biological parents” struggling with addiction issues. 

“A paternal grandmother has stepped up and is willing to take the children during this difficult time,” the message states.

“The grandmother is seeking provisions to ensure continuation of care in her home and is in need of a toddler bed.

“This request is being entered as Urgent to ensure that the children have a safe space to sleep,” the message stated.

The urgent request was answered within 24 hours by the Asbury United Methodist Church, one of several local churches linked to CarePortal.

They are joined by Gospel Community Church, Lighthouse Church and Medway Congregational Christian Church.

Also in the fold are the Catskill United Methodist Church, Second Reformed Church, Mountaintop Parish and Rock Solid Church.

Nationwide, the CarePortal data shows 331,157 children have been served with an economic impact of $122,251,842, including !5,832 kids in New York State with an economic impact of $4,491,768.

There have been 11,086 children served in the Capital Region (with JFO based in Ravena) and 560 in Greene County, responding to 254 requests, meeting 89.12 percent of the requests with a $177,196 financial impact.

It is the 89.12 percent success rate that ranks Greene County as #1 in the United States, which is, at the least, a team effort.

“This all happened because the churches have been so embracing of the CarePortal program and our work to help get out the word,” county Department of Social Services Commissioner Kira Pospesel says.

“We would love to see more churches come online to continue to serve these children who are truly in need,” Pospesel says.

In addition to beds and bedding, items that are regularly requested include clothing, kitchen table and chairs, car seats, baby gates, couches, dressers, food, camp fee and cribs and mattresses.

Participation costs zero dollars for the county, an expense picked up by the State, recognizing the program value, Pospesel says, noting Greene County signed up with CarePortal in October, 2021.