Funder
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau.
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
7-2015
Publication Title
The Lincy Institute Issue Brief Social Services
Publisher
The Lincy Institute
Publisher Location
Las Vegas, NV
Issue
3
First page number:
1
Last page number:
12
Abstract
Key Findings:
Youth participants reported satisfaction with services and positive feelings about the smartphone.
The youth participants felt that the smartphone gave them a “voice” and control over the people with whom they wanted to talk.
Certain phone restrictions developed by project leadership were unenforceable.
Youth had certain expectations about the phone and its use but when the phone did not work or was “locked” (e.g., for data overuse) it created friction between the youth and their service provider.
Service-providers report that the phones help to create a sense of normalcy for the youth. Youth “were able to be normal kids ... they were able to do the things with those phones, that their classmates, that their peers ... do with those phones.”
Some caregivers felt that the phones usurped their parental authority and that the expectations for how the youth would (or would not) use the phone was not realistic.
Keywords
Foster care; Foster children; Technology; Smartphones
Disciplines
Science and Technology Studies | Social Welfare | Social Work
File Format
File Size
2.172 KB
Language
English
Repository Citation
Denby Brinson, R.,
Gomez, E.,
Alford, K. A.
(2015).
Becoming "Smart" about Relationship Building: Foster Care Youth and the Use of Technology.
The Lincy Institute Issue Brief Social Services(3),
1-12.
Available at:
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/lincy_publications/19
COinS