Estimated read time: 5 minutes
Overview
This article explains the characteristics of CarePortal requests that tend to receive more responses from community and Church Responders. Caseworkers should consider all of these factors for each of their requests so they're advocating safely and effectively for the family and children in need — and representing their Agency in a professional way.
Intended audience
Included in this article
- No names, contact information, or sensitive details
- Advocate for the family
- Include answers to potential questions
- Use realistic time and value estimates
- Focus on the essentials
- Core Agency training video
- Troubleshooting common problems & errors
No names, contact information, or sensitive details
Requests entered into CarePortal are publicly available for anyone to access. This means information shared about the family and children in need must be kept to only the necessary details — like why the requested items will make an impact and specific strengths of the family. Details or parts of the family's story that might be embarrassing to them or jeopardize their safety must be kept out of requests.
The caseworker's contact information should also be kept out of request descriptions. When an approved responder makes a commitment to help through the CarePortal platform, they'll automatically receive the caseworker's contact information (and vice versa). If they're not an approved responder with this level of access, they'll be directed to work with someone in their area who does have this approval.
Important! If sensitive information appears in a request's public description, a Regional Manager may edit the description to remove it and will contact the relevant Agency Reps to discuss how to prevent this in the future.
Advocate for the family
The description field for a request is essential. CarePortal has found that too little detail about the family or child in need leads to a significantly lower response rate, so the platform requires a minimum of 50 characters for this field. Caseworkers should highlight the family's strengths and the hurdles they've overcome. It helps to show confidence in how the family will benefit directly if the request is met, and why. When caseworkers take the time to write something genuine and explain why they personally want to see a particular family receive help, responders can sense that and will often rally around that family as well.
Include answers to potential questions
Caseworkers should put themselves in the shoes of a responder who only knows what's being shared about a family, and ask what questions might remain unanswered. Adding those answers to the request description helps give responders a head start on understanding exactly how they can help.
For example: Would a responder need to know sizes for the needed items? How has the Agency invested in helping the family already? Is there a plan to help the family avoid the same circumstance next month?
Use realistic time and value estimates
CarePortal requests are not guaranteed to receive responses, so caseworkers should not stop looking for the needed items or services from other potential providers. It's also important that requests are not entered with a critical urgency level unnecessarily, since the platform treats these requests differently. Value estimates should reflect what the items genuinely require someone to invest — the CarePortal platform allows responders to commit funding for certain requests, and what they can commit is directly affected by the estimated value assigned to each item.
Focus on the essentials
Requests that include a long list of small items can feel overwhelming and more complex than they really are. Likewise, request descriptions that don't match the items added to the request can lead to confusion. When caseworkers focus on the main needs that present the biggest barriers or would have the highest impact on the family, responders will have a clear understanding of how they can help — with less chance of being overwhelmed by the fuller picture of the family's need.
Families do have other needs beyond what's listed. Responders are often eager to look for smaller needs as a way to follow up with families they serve — but putting everything on the request can actually lead to lower response rates.
Click here to download the five tips as a PDF one-pager
Core Agency training video
This video provides foundational training on how the CarePortal platform works for Agency Workers.
Tip: As CarePortal continually improves, you may notice some differences between the animations in the training videos and your live dashboard. Email training@careportal.org with any questions in the meantime.
Troubleshooting common problems & errors
The platform is preventing workers or Reps from entering a new request
This is often due to one of two issues:
- The zip code of the family is not within an approved county for your Agency and cannot be selected
- Your Agency has already reached the county's monthly request limit (if one has been established)
An open request's public link or page shows a response, but the worker wasn't notified
CarePortal will only notify the worker who submitted the request when a local Church responds directly. If a response is made by a Community Responder, the platform redirects that response to specially-trained local Churches that can steward the available resources and serve the family.
To alert the worker, one of these Churches must Take the Lead and commit to the available resources from the Community Responder. Once this step is completed, the worker will be notified that a local Church is ready to assist.
A request was entered and approved with confidential family information or caseworker contact information
In these cases, CarePortal advises the Regional Manager to cancel the request (Flag: verify with SME — the "How to Submit a Request" article says to edit the description instead of canceling; confirm which is current guidance) and contact the relevant Agency Reps to discuss how to prevent this in the future. This is a serious matter that may require retraining to protect the dignity and identity of vulnerable families.
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