CareSource, a mission-driven Medicaid plan serving more than 450,000 Georgians, recently amplified its commitment to removing barriers to prosperity through its $1.5 million partnership with CarePortal, a digital platform that connects local government agencies, schools, pregnancy centers and more with churches, businesses and individuals who are willing to help meet the needs of vulnerable children and their families.   

As a result of this partnership, the CarePortal network in Georgia can expand to include an additional 700 organizations that have the capability of reaching an additional 6,000 vulnerable children. These organizations will now be able to access and use CarePortal free of licensing fees and other costs associated with becoming an implementing partner. Ultimately, they will be able to unite efforts and consolidate resources that are needed to generate healthy outcomes for vulnerable children and families, in real-time.  

“We are thrilled about our partnership with CarePortal to provide preventative solutions that create meaningful change for families,” said Bobby Cagle, executive director of child welfare at CareSource Georgia. “As a managed care organization, we will be more connected with in-state experts and stakeholders to help support the needs of families and prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences that often lead to children entering the foster care system.”  

Each year in Georgia, nearly 125,000 hotline calls of suspected neglect or abuse are reported. Approximately 11,000-12,000 children are in foster care annually, with 125,000 children being served in various way by the Georgia Child Welfare system, according to Promise686, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing church communities to care for vulnerable children. 

“The compounding trauma from these disruptions are truly devastating for these children and their families,” said Patrick Neff, Georgia state director at CarePortal and of Promise686, an implementing partner for the CarePortal network. “We truly believe that our partnership with CareSource will create the synergy we need to grow both wider and deeper over the next few years.” 

As the exclusive managed care partner of CarePortal, CareSource will cover licensing fees and other costs associated with becoming a CarePortal implementing partner. At the heart of this partnership is the joint commitment to removing the systematic barriers to improving child welfare by facilitating and enhancing connection among CarePortal’s robust network. 

In Georgia, CarePortal will strive to add an estimated 700 new churches to its network with the hope of impacting more than 6,000 children. “This partnership will increase our economic impact to over $5 million, which will be invested into the most vulnerable communities in Georgian,” said Neff.  “We are honored to partner with CareSource, which shares our vision that it is our duty and privilege to care for the most vulnerable in our reach.” 

“Thanks to CareSource, we are able to implement and expand the reach and effectiveness of our network across the country,” said Adrien Lewis, founder and president of CarePortal. “An investment of this nature is unprecedented in terms of scale and impact. As a result, we will be able to provide services and resources to thousands of families and prevent vulnerable children from unnecessarily entering the foster care system.” 

The CarePortal partnership is one example of how CareSource intends to move the needle on this critical issue in Georgia. The CareSource’s Child Welfare Advisory Board will continue to establish and expand CareSource initiatives in the child welfare and juvenile justice space and develop programming to prevent at-risk children and families from encountering those systems.