Cultivating a Supportive Sphere: Designing Technology to Increase Social Support for Foster-Involved Youth

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel digital tool designed with trauma-informed principles to enhance social support for foster-involved youth, demonstrating positive effects in a pilot study.

Contribution

It introduces the first digital platform specifically aimed at increasing social support for foster-involved youth, developed through collaboration with the target population.

Findings

The app provided social support types often missing in foster care.

Participants reported positive experiences and perceived benefits.

The pilot showed measurable improvements in social support perceptions.

Abstract

Approximately 400,000 youth in the US are living in foster care due to experiences with abuse or neglect at home. For multiple reasons, these youth often don't receive adequate social support from those around them. Despite technology's potential, very little work has explored how these tools can provide more support to foster-involved youth. To begin to fill this gap, we worked with current and former foster-involved youth to develop the first digital tool that aims to increase social support for this population, creating a novel system in which users complete reflective check-ins in an online community setting. We then conducted a pilot study with 15 current and former foster-involved youth, comparing the effect of using the app for two weeks to two weeks of no intervention. We collected qualitative and quantitative data, which demonstrated that this type of interface can provide youth with types of social support that are often not provided by foster care services and other digital interventions. The paper details the motivation behind the app, the trauma-informed design process, and insights gained from this initial evaluation study. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations for designing digital tools that effectively provide social support to foster-involved youth.