New Study Explores the Huge Impact of Helping Children in Need

By Tiffany King

Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Melissa Trussell recently completed a study for the Reg Murphy Center on a topic that merges both her passions for economics and child welfare. Her study entitled, Economic Impact of CarePortal Donations in Glynn County, focuses on how community donations through a digital platform have changed the course of children’s lives and positively made an economic impact in the area.

CarePortal is a tool that allows individuals, non-profits, and churches to partner with the Department of Family and Child Services (DFCS) to make donations to meet the needs of families and children in the child welfare system. When a caseworker identifies a family’s financial or physical need, a request is submitted in CarePortal, which then sends an email to a list of individuals and organizations who’ve signed up to be notified of different needs. In Glynn County, CarePortal is hosted by Hope 1312 Collective (Hope Collective). Hope Collective is a non-profit that serves as a liaison between the church, the community, and the child welfare system. They work to rewrite the story of child welfare by providing tangible hope for children in hard places and create lasting change in the lives of at-risk children in the community.

“One of the great tragedies of child welfare is when a child comes into foster care because of poverty. Poverty does not equal poor parenting, but because of different laws and policies, if a child doesn’t have a place to sleep or doesn’t have adequate refrigeration, then they have to bring the child into foster care,” Trussell said. “With CarePortal, when a DFCS investigator notices or comes across a physical need, that need can be met and these kids get to stay with their families.”

The idea for her research came during a meeting for Hope Collective. Members of the organization shared a monetary value of what they believed reflected the economic impact of CarePortal. What was shared was actually the value of the goods or services provided to meet needs. As an economist, Trussell knew that CarePortal probably had a much larger impact and reach beyond the value of donations. She started to think about the broader economic impact of one donation item that resulted in keeping a child with their biological family.

Trussell looked at how much is spent on foster care in the state of Georgia each year and its cost to taxpayers. According to her study, taxpayers bear the cost of providing living expenses, childcare expenses, and medical expenses for each child. Then, the trauma of being in foster care can also affect a child into adulthood such as a decrease in overall wellbeing, increased dependence on government assistance, and lost productivity in the labor market. Trussell multiplied these costs by the number of children kept out of foster care by a CarePortal donation, with the assumption that a child would have spent around one year in care. She found that CarePortal donations in fiscal year 2021 that prevented children from going into foster care, had an economic impact of $5,662,396.72 in Glynn County—saving taxpayers that cost.

Donations through CarePortal also provide support to maintain stable foster homes for children.

“We know that there is some significant economic benefit of maintaining stability in a foster home. If we can help that foster parent provide the physical things to be able to keep kids in their home, then we’re able to eliminate some of the negative impacts of the child having to jump from home to home,” Trussell said. “That’s one of the things that CarePortal does really well. It’s a tangible way for people to help children maintain relationships and not have the trauma of being ripped away from their current attachments.”

Through CarePortal’s ability to help foster care families remain stable, the platform had an impact of $42,055.20. In total, CarePortal had an economic impact of $5,704,451.92.

What surprised Trussell the most during her research was how much the state of Georgia spent in total on out-of-home care for children—more than $370,000,000.

“It’s expensive to raise a child, and the state of Georgia is raising all these children. There are so many inefficiencies in the system, where nationally, the average stint for a child in foster care is one to two years. In Georgia, that average is much higher, and in Glynn County, it’s even higher,” Trussell said. “In Glynn County, we have children staying in care for two to three years or more. That’s not only a huge economic impact, but that’s a lot of years the state of Georgia is paying for children to stay in care. When there is timely and appropriate adoption or reunification with the biological family, the child is off the state’s payroll sooner and is exposed to less trauma.”

Hope Collective not only hosts the CarePortal, but offers a variety of services for individuals and families. They recently found another way to help the community by creating a special scholarship for students at the College. The Hope 1312 Collective Scholarship benefits students impacted by the child welfare system. A $2,500 scholarship will be awarded to two students who were involved in child welfare, such as previously being in foster care, having a parent who was in foster care, or being a part of a family that fostered children. Recipients must be in good academic standing at the College and are pursuing a career in child welfare.

A Topic Close to Her Heart

This research topic is very important to Trussell because she herself is a foster care parent. She has not been in foster care herself, but since a young age she was interested in the injustice against children. As she got older, she became more knowledgeable about what it means to be a part of a child’s story who’s experienced such injustice. She always knew that she would adopt a child one day. Trussell was a foster parent for three years—her first experience being with a set of siblings. Their biological parents were struggling with addiction, but put in the work to gain their children back.

“They’re still with their dad and are doing great,” she said. “I hear from them and still get to be a part of their story. It was a beautiful moment of this is why we do this. As much as is broken in the system, my first experience went the way it was supposed to.”

CarePortal and Hope Collective didn’t exist when she became a foster parent, and she had to rely on a community of people who supported her. She shared that the night of her first placement, her friends were there within an hour with pajamas, toothbrushes, clothing, etc., for the children. After the siblings were reunited with their family, Trussell got a call about a baby boy needing a home—whom she later adopted. She called her friends and asked them, “Can I do this?” and they said yes.

“Their yes helped to equip me to say yes. That’s one of the important things about foster care—make sure you’re surrounded by a group of people who will support you,” she said. “It absolutely makes the difference in being able to say yes to kids when you have a community with you and helping to meet those needs. It means a lot to kids to tell them that these people who don’t even know you, love you enough to give you all these things.”

What CarePortal does now is what Trussell’s community did for her then, but in a more organized system with a wider reach. Having experienced the benefit of people rallying around her, she gives back, helping other children and families in need. CarePortal isn’t designed to create dependencies, she said, but it’s about meeting immediate, gap needs to keep a child with their biological or foster family.

At the College, Trussell received a lot of support. Aside from encouragement and offers to help any way possible, she was allowed to take time to attend court if needed during the fostering and adoption processes. She described how her work friends were among those cheering for her and her son on adoption day as they left the courthouse.

“It’s been a great place to work,” Trussell said. “I could not ask for a more supportive work community through our journey in foster care and adoption.”

Adopting her son was meant to be. Trussell shared that in the fifth grade, she played King Josiah in a church musical. Ever since then, the name “Josiah” stuck with her as an option for a future son.

“I always had Josiah as the top boy name. Then 20 years later, DFCS called me about a little boy named Josiah who needed a home,” Trussell said. “Through all the ups and downs, I said ‘God, he’s got my son’s name. That’s my baby.’”

To learn more about Dr. Melissa Trussell’s research, Economic Impact of CarePortal Donation in Glynn County, Georgia click, here.

For more information about Hope 1312 Collective, training services, and CarePortal, click here.