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Bill would fund Care Portal technology to link families in crisis with community responders
Summary
A bill from Rep. Ray Rauer would fund expansion of Care Portal, a care‑sharing technology that connects child‑serving professionals’ requests to local churches, nonprofits and other community responders. The committee adopted the author’s amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus package.
Representative Ray Rauer introduced House File 1824 on behalf of Care Portal, a nonprofit platform that lets child‑serving professionals post vetted requests for families in crisis and share them with local churches, businesses and community groups. The committee adopted the author's A1 amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion.
The bill as presented seeks one‑time and ongoing state funding to scale Care Portal’s operations in Minnesota. "HF 18 24 allocates funding to connect children and families in crisis with community organizations, non profits, churches and individuals through care sharing technology," Rep. Ray Rauer said. She told the committee the funding would help make quick connections when families face hardship such as financial strain, housing instability or emergencies.
Tim Heroff, Minnesota area director for Care Portal, told the committee the platform lets caseworkers submit requests into a web portal; Care Portal then shares those requests with a network of volunteers and community groups. "All requests are vetted and approved by supervisory staff within the requesting agency before being sent out to the community," Heroff said. He said Care Portal began in Minnesota in Olmsted County and has expanded into Anoka, Hennepin and parts of Ramsey County. Heroff said Care Portal has served more than 3,200 Minnesota children and reported more than $1.3 million in economic impact.
According to the author’s presentation, HF 1824 would request $300,000 in state funding for fiscal year 2025 and $500,000 for fiscal years 2026 and 2027; Care Portal would cover roughly 30% of the expansion costs through private contributions. The bill would fund staff and onboarding so county child‑welfare staff (the requesting agencies) and community responders (churches, nonprofits and volunteers) can be signed up on the portal. Counties selected for expansion, the author said, would be those with the highest numbers and rates per 1,000 of children in out‑of‑home care as measured in Minnesota Department of Human Services data.
Rep. McDonald asked about private fundraising sources; Heroff said Care Portal solicits private donations and identified the Sauer Family Foundation in Saint Paul as a contributor, and estimated roughly $175,000 raised in private donations this year.
Committee action: the committee adopted the author's A1 amendment and the chair moved that House File 1824, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in the committee omnibus bill. No formal roll‑call vote tally was recorded in the transcript.
If approved, the bill would expand Care Portal’s county footprint from the four counties where it already operates to roughly 20 counties over the next two years, according to the author's packet.
Members deferred further deliberation by laying the file over for potential inclusion in the omnibus process.
