Capacity to serve all children in foster care grows 

TULSA – In the heart of where the Tulsa community fell apart in 1921, local church pastors, Oklahoma Human Services staff and members of the community squeezed into the Rusty Crane in the Greenwood District seven years ago with the desire to see the community unified.  

Since that meeting in January of 2016, Tulsa churches have served over 10,000 children using CarePortal, a growing connection technology that drives action for local children and families in crisis. 

CarePortal, managed by the 111Project, allows agency partners – like Oklahoma Human Services Child Welfare – to submit vetted needs to the community and local churches to serve families in crisis. 

“CarePortal makes a difference in the lives of the families in our communities through not only meeting needs but by offering hope to those we serve,” OKDHS Tulsa County District Director Matt Baccus said. “It is a true blessing to have people who are committed to generously supporting others with no expectation of return and who honor our DHS teams for the amazing work they do.” 

CarePortal was officially launched in January of 2016 in Tulsa County. In that first month, seven requests were made, and 10 children were served. In January of 2023, 120 requests were made, and 241 children were served in Tulsa County. 

As of June 1, Tulsa County has 1,017 children in foster care, according to monthly numbers released by the OKDHS.  

“No state agency, non-profit, or well-meaning organization by itself can completely meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens, that is our children,” OKDHS Region 5 Deputy Director David Clifton said. “CarePortal is an example of what happens when there is a laser focused, mission orientated effort to better the lives of those we collectively serve. CarePortal has truly enriched the lives of those who have been helped by their gratitude and kindness.” 

111Project Regional Manager Bree Cruz said almost 3,000 children were served in the past year. 

“At any given time in this last year, there’s only been about 1,000 children in state custody in Tulsa County,” she said. “So, we’re serving more kids than we’ve got in care, which is awesome.” 

Not only does CarePortal allow churches to help children in care, but also strengthen families and prevent children from entering into the foster care system.  

111Project is a not-for-profit 501c3 with the mission to mobilize the local church so every child has family. The organization’s initial goal is to mobilize 1,000 churches across Oklahoma that can serve at least one family a month on CarePortal and recruit and support a foster family every year.   

If 1,000 out of the 6,200 churches in Oklahoma commit to recruit and support one foster family a year, and serve one family a month on CarePortal, the state will move closer to having more than enough help for children and families in crisis. 

“There’s going to be a day very soon, where we’re going to be able to serve every single child that comes through the child welfare system, anywhere in the state of Oklahoma,” 111Project Executive Director Chris Campbell said. “That reality is coming very, very soon. And that’s really, really exciting.” 

The capacity is being approached to serve all children in care, Campbell said.  

Cruz has been involved with CarePortal since 2016 and said seeing Tulsa County churches serve 10,000 children has been overwhelming.  

“I don’t take Tulsa’s history lightly,” she said. “I’m very aware of our dark history. And I’m also really proud of how we are making it right. Slowly but surely.” 

Churches really own the day-to-day service of their neighbors, which has been transformational within the Tulsa community, she said.  

“There’s a tangible difference in communities in Tulsa,” she said. “From South Tulsa to North Tulsa there’s more unity, and biblical good compassion, like an authentic compassion. I think we’re enough of a small town where we still want to take care of each other. And I feel like CarePortal gives a great opportunity to do that without having to question if it’s right or good.” 

Cruz said there is transformation in the community and in the churches involved.  

“We want to see transformation in these families that are living in crisis, but we’re also seeing discipleship transformation and sanctification transformation within every single church, as they engage in the mess as we get into the trenches,” she said. “It requires such faithful obedience from our church partners, to continue to plug into this very messy, beautiful thing that we are inviting them into.” 

City Church was a founding church when CarePortal launched in 2016. Lead Pastor Matt Nelson said that being involved with foster care has aligned City Church with the heart of God.  

“Following the scriptural mandate to care for the most vulnerable, the marginalized, and those who can’t fight for themselves has opened the hearts of our people to the love of God in a truly tangible way,” he said. 

Nelson said the church lived blissfully unaware of the foster care crisis in Tulsa and the State of Oklahoma. Once their eyes were opened to the needs within their community, they couldn’t sit back and do nothing, he said.  

“We also truly believed that if the church stepped into its calling to care for the orphan and families in need, we could see radical transformation in our city and state,” he said. “The vision of seeing more families waiting on children than children waiting on families wasn’t just some unattainable dream but was possible if the church was willing to step up. This vision kept us motivated to continue fighting for these children and families.” 

Nelson said OKDHS and the church were working towards the same goal for years, but worked as if they were playing for different teams.  

“CarePortal has now created the space for the church and DHS to collaborate and join the same team,” Nelson said. 

CarePortal is launched in 46 Oklahoma counties including Adair, Atoka, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Cleveland, Choctaw, Comanche, Craig, Creek, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Haskell, Hughes, Kingfisher, Latimer, LeFlore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Mayes, McClain, McIntosh, Nowata, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, Woods and Woodward.     

Each county requires a certain number of churches to enroll before CarePortal can be launched. The upcoming launch is in Marshall County on July 13.  

Nelson said it’s not IF the church is called to help the orphan and the most vulnerable, but simply WHERE.  

“We realize that every county represents churches that are engaged and families and children who will be forever transformed,” he said. “If one child is reunified with their family or finds their forever-family, then all our efforts and investment have been worth it. 

Anyone interested in supporting the mission of mobilizing the local church can donate at 111project.org/donate. 

“I will also say that as a pastor you know you can’t do everything, so you have to choose which ministries and organizations to invest in,” Nelson said. “I truly believe the money our church has given towards 111Project and CarePortal has had the greatest return on our investment. We know it is going to good soil that will reap an incredible harvest.” 

 Any churches or individuals interested in learning more or getting involved can visit 111project.org. 

“We are seeing the reality that every child in the child welfare system can have more than enough support through this process and program of CarePortal,” Campbell said.