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Youth & Family Services joins platform that connects those in need with community

Enid News & Eagle - 5/1/2021

May 1—ENID, Okla. — Youth and Family Services of North Central Oklahoma joined an online platform that connects the needs of children and families with local churches and community members who want to help.

YFS announced on Wednesday it joined the CarePortal network, which exists to "help vulnerable children and families" and gives community members and churches a real-time opportunity to respond, according to a press release from YFS.

Tree Perkins, director of development at YFS, said through CarePortal, churches and members of the community can help out by doing things such as connecting families with washers and dryers or providing quarters or laundromats, connecting children to incarcerated parents through phone calls and matching youth to adult mentors.

"It's things like that — it's beyond just shoes, and clothes, or groceries," Perkins said. "There's just a lot of different ways it's going to be able to benefit us ... and kids all over the community, and we also work with kids in the surrounding counties."

Perkins said a longtime supporter of YFS got involved with the CarePortal program, which was created in 2015 as a tool to mobilize churches in the U.S. to care for foster children and vulnerable families, and told YFS about it.

"When she called me, I said, 'Of course — sign us up,'" Perkins said.

Perkins said YFS will make requests through CarePortal, and all requests come from caseworkers at government welfare agencies or other child-serving organizations like YFS that CarePortal has approved to vet needs.

The requests will be sent to members of the network, and a follow-up email notification will be sent out once the request is met.

"Every single time a caseworker or clinician submits a request on behalf of a child in their community, CarePortal will let you know the purpose," the release said. "Your responses could help achieve goals like: preventing truancy, supporting young adults as they find work and learn independent living skills, learn coping skills and recover from trauma or support a youth aging out of foster care."

CarePortal is seeking community members who are willing to help meet the resource needs of vulnerable children and families served by YFS along with other families in the area, the release said. The network gives opportunities to make a difference, from mentoring to volunteering to shopping for school clothes or other needs.

Locally, Perkins said Emmanuel Enid is involved with it already, and that other churches can enroll by visiting www.111project.org/careportal.

YFS provides shelter, food, case management, therapy and access to a wide range of other programs that help youth achieve ongoing safety and stability, according to the release. The organization has provided 24,732 nights of safe shelter for youth and young adults in the area over the past 11 years.

Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kelci? Send an email to kelcim@enidnews.com.

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