🏛️ Agency Essential Reading for Disaster Relief Agencies

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Estimated read time: 8 minutes

Overview

This article outlines the guiding principles, eligibility requirements, requesting options, and commitments involved in CarePortal's Disaster Relief partnership. If your organization is considering joining CarePortal as a Disaster Relief requesting Agency, this is your essential guide. Let's get started!

Intended audience

Requesting Agency Partners

Guiding principles for partnership

Disaster Relief Agreement

CarePortal leadership will determine when conditions exist in a specific area that warrant CarePortal Disaster Relief access. When these areas are identified, approved requesting Agencies and organizations are given up to six months free access (or through the disaster relief period) to make requests through CarePortal for their clients in the affected area.

Collaboration is critical

No single organization can do this work alone. It takes cross-sector collaboration to achieve real, sustainable, and system-wide change.

CarePortal is ecumenically minded

CarePortal promotes unity in and among the Church and seeks to build a network across denominational, ethnic, and socio-economic lines. While CarePortal is open to the support of organizations with other worldviews, The Global Orphan Project exists to help Bible-believing Christian churches care for vulnerable children and families in their own communities. CarePortal was developed as a ministry tool to help accomplish the mission of meeting needs, making personal connections, and establishing meaningful relationships within and beyond the community of Christ-following believers.

CarePortal serves anyone in crisis

Jesus cast the widest net of love, tearing down cultural biases and promoting radical, personal generosity and concern for those in need. With that example, CarePortal brings together diverse constituents — government agencies, Churches, businesses, schools, and other ministries — to support people in crisis regardless of race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, political leanings, etc. If we find that any of our partners are discriminating against the individuals they are meant to serve unconditionally, they will be removed from the network.

Eligibility requirements

Disaster Relief requesting Agencies using CarePortal must be established organizations within one or more of these sectors:

Government
Healthcare
Non-Profit
Public Sector
Child Serving Organization (can be private)

Disaster Relief requesting Agencies must also:

Highly value community engagement
Desire to collaborate with local ministry partners that facilitate CarePortal (Implementing Partners)
Have the willingness and capacity to make and approve requests through CarePortal for high-impact physical items or services that a local Church could provide to a vulnerable adult or family your organization is serving. These requests would not require a background check by your Agency but may require the family needing assistance to sign a release of information. (Churches may require background checks for their own responders.)

Requesting options

Upon enrollment, you'll be asked to select the option that best fits your operational protocols for identifying and approving new requests.

Option 1: Worker > Supervisor and Agency Rep

Worker submits a request (online or via mobile app)
"Supervisor email address" required in the request form
Review email sent to the Supervisor and Agency Rep
Supervisor or Agency Rep can select the link to edit, approve, or decline the request
Request sent to Churches; confirmation email sent to Worker, Supervisor, and Agency Rep
Responses sent to Worker

Option 2: Worker > Agency Rep

Worker submits a request (online or via mobile app)
Review the email sent to the Agency Rep for that Agency and the county
Agency Rep selects the link to edit, approve, or decline the request
Request sent to Churches; confirmation email sent to Worker and Agency Rep
Responses sent to Worker

Option 3: Agency Rep

Request information collected from the Worker by the Agency Rep
Agency Rep submits a request with login access
Request sent to Churches; confirmation email sent to the Agency Rep
Responses sent to Agency Rep

Commitments of partnership

Requesting Agency Workers identify the needs of individuals and families affected by a specified natural disaster, then go to CarePortal.org or the CarePortal mobile app to submit a request for help that is approved and immediately sent to local Churches.

One of the following purpose statements must be assigned to each request:

Support an Emergency Worker
Alleviate Food/Essentials Insecurity
Stabilize Housing Insecurity

Requesting Agencies commit to

Protect the Trust, which is established by where requests come from and how they are vetted. All Agency Workers selected to access and submit requests to CarePortal must be authorized in the following ways:

Qualified — through education and/or experience, to discern needs and serve children and families in crisis with first-hand knowledge of the stated needs (never entering a request on another's behalf)
Approved — by the leadership of the requesting Agency, including verification of all qualifications for the safe and trustworthy connection to children and families
Trained — in all required Requesting Agency Training and ready to accept accountability to ensure that each request is promptly closed once it has been met

All requests entered by Agency Workers and/or Reps must be appropriate, as defined by:

Specific — to the well-being or case plan goals for the children and families involved, and will not contain a petition for ongoing financial support
Accurate — including a description without confidential information, and individually-added needs with realistically assigned values
Conflict-free — meaning the need is not related to a need of the Agency Worker entering the request, a member of their family, and they have no personal financial interest in the request

Requesting Agencies also commit to:

Designate appropriate staff (Agency Admin + Representative) to oversee the use and training of workers, and collaborate with local CarePortal Network Leaders
Provide any publicly available data that may assist in educating and recruiting Churches
Establish a policy for communication by workers to clients regarding confidentiality before releasing family information to the Church member willing to help (if applicable)
Make appropriate requests through CarePortal at the frequency agreed upon in each county
Monitor and engage responses in a timely manner
Collaborate with the local Implementing Partner by attending Active Community gatherings and training events as needed or requested
Follow the payment schedule agreed to with the local Area Director

Specific to Tiers 2 & 3:

Implement background checks and other processes/training necessary to clear volunteers to help once they've responded
Participate in training Church volunteers, similar to training other Agency volunteers

CarePortal commits to

As a platform, CarePortal is used by various Implementing Partners that provide local support to Agencies, Churches, and community partners. Through this partnership, CarePortal provides:

Access

CarePortal website, mobile app, and other technology in support of the platform
Unlimited user access to submit an agreed-upon number of requests
Connection of Agency partners to Churches and their members, on a volunteer basis, to serve children and families in need of assistance

Training

Support to the requesting Agency by providing live platform training to staff
Online resources and in-person experiential training opportunities
Convening of local Active Community gatherings for Agency staff participation

Support

Systematic reporting and metrics to track impact and cost avoidance
Opportunities for requesting Agency leadership to collaborate and communicate with local and state CarePortal leadership
Technical support team

Get started with CarePortal Disaster Relief — a CarePortal representative will contact you to discuss details.

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