CyberFamilies Program Evaluation

Summary Statement (2004-2005)

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A year ago CyberFamilies was a good idea. The programs aim was to provide financially challenged kinship and adoptive care households with a computer, internet access, and basic training in computer skills. CyberFamilies was founded on the belief that children without access to a computer are at an educational disadvantage. Empowering children to succeed in a technologically driven society was at the heart of the CyberFamilies mission. Like many budding not-for-profit programs the idea was more solid than the programs foundation. Over the past twelve-months, CyberFamilies has struggled and succeed on many levels, but most importantly it has built a solid foundation from which to grow.

The major struggle for in the development of the CyberFamilies program is its dependence upon the irregular and limited resources of volunteers.  The inherent time constraints for the program makes planning and economy of effort difficult to achieve. In spite of this inherent fault this program made a number of achievements during its first formal year of existence.

Many volunteer hours were used in the acquisition of and the refurbishment of donated computers. Several local businesses and individuals donated usable computers. In fact computers were donated since January 1, 2005 of this year and 33 have been refurbished. Another 37 unites will be picked up from Twin City Bank in the next 30 days. Some key changes at the physical program site were accomplished as well. A secure outside storage area has been prepared to store donated units awaiting refurbishment.  An unused room in the office building where the agency is located has been transformed into a Family Resource Center which is now complete with a fully functional computer lab with four stations and it also contains a loaning library. It’s planned that this room will be open for use by the general public, and in fact several free Basic Computer Classes will be started soon. These one-hour classes will be taught by volunteers and will be offered at various times on a regular basis through the week in order to accommodate most families.

Volunteers interpreting the CyberFamilies to individuals, agencies and organizations have given many hours.  Several articles have been written and sent out in the agency’s newsletter, which has a circulation of 750 land addresses and 175 e/mail addresses. The CyberFamilies will have a regular spot in this monthly publication and a page has been assigned to this program on the agency’s website. 

One successful outcome of this promotional effort has been the developing partnership with the Central Arkansas Adoption Coalition and the Pulaski County Department of Children and Family Services. Families Are Special has offered to provide a minimum of 25 pc systems through the CyberFamilies program to be placed with foster families in Pulaski County. These families will be invited to participate in the CyberFamilies for training, technical support and other program activities. The Central Arkansas Adoption Coalition will be expected to give CyberFamilies a mini grant of $250 to underweight the costs of parts to be used in the refurbishing of these units.

A significant amount of time was invested by volunteers in raising funds to generate financial support for the CyberFamilies program.  One such fundraising event, the Barbecue Bash, was a huge success. The event raised over $2000 and brought in a good amount of media coverage. The CyberFamilies program was spotlighted on Today’s THV, Channel 11. The coverage led to an influx of calls, inquiring about the program, one computer placed with a family and several donations. A note of special interest is his successful event was the Barbecue Bash was considered a huge a success because it was the brainchild of a 15-year old student and CyberFamilies member. Last year the student received a computer as part of the CyberFamilies program and was so inspired that he created the Barbecue Bash.  He organized the whole event, from the donations to the media coverage. He even spoke on-air with television reporters about the benefits of the CyberFamilies program.

One of the problems that hampered the development of the program over this past year has been the lack of consistent means of promoting the program to the target population. The agency has had to rely too much on word of mouth promotion. For example one school based mental health social worker was responsible for placing four units during the spring semester with families. Hopefully in the near future more time and attention can be devoted to promote this program.  CyberFamilies had a very successful year working with local business, acquiring old computer equipment, but reaching the target population and distributing computers has been a much more difficult task. The media coverage and the partnership with DCFS should help jump-start the distribution process. In the upcoming year, much more time, energy and resources will be dedicated to opening up more formal and informal distribution channels with in Central Arkansas.  These channels will include, but not limited to social service agencies, churches, school personnel and organizations that have direct contact with kinship and adoptive care households.

Over the past twelve-months so much of the focus has been on building a solid foundation for future growth that it was easy to get lost in the numbers—how many contacts were made, how many computers were acquired, etc… It was great for the few volunteers who put so much time and effort into the CyberFamilies program to see success at its most fundamental level. It was more then just a Barbecue Bash, but a chance to see what happens when children are empowered to succeed.

CyberFamilies is a new program in Arkansas and as such, it has experienced a number of growing pains over the past year. With a limited number of resources, a weaker program may have folded under the pressure of a program evaluation. However, the volunteers at CyberFamilies appear to be stronger, more focused and more determined to see their program succeed. They have already seen success on a small scale. With greater resources, CyberFamilies has the potential to grow into a large-scale success.

Over the past 12 months we collected data from new CyberFamilies regarding their computer usage. We mailed each new CyberFamily a Parent and Child Questionnaire and had an overall return rate of 53%. On average the families spend 12.8 hours per week using their computers. Each child averaged 3.4 hours per week pursuing educational endeavors and 2.8 hours per week for entertainment purposes. Eighty percent of the families had internet access. The majority of CyberFamilies stated that the computer was often a more convenient tool for communicating with outside agencies, such as schools, teachers, etc… Each CyberFamily made an average of 13.75 contacts per week using their computers. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed had some form of computer training and only 60% were interested in receiving more training.

A 100% of the parents surveyed believed that their children would be better prepared for future employment since owning a computer. Eighty percent stated that their children appeared to be more excited about doing homework assignments on the computer than with traditional textbooks. Despite noticing more of an interest in homework, there were mixed results concerning an actual improvement in grades—some parents reported seeing improvements, while the overall majority did not. No parent reported seeing a decline in academic performance. Interestingly enough, 75% of the children reported an improvement in their grades. One interesting finding was that the majority of parents reported helping their children less with homework assignments than they did before owning a computer.

Eighty percent of the children surveyed believed that they were better students since participating in the CyberFamilies program. One hundred percent of the children reported feeling more confident when completing homework assignments using a computer Seventy-five percent stated they preferred doing their homework on the computer as compared with paper and pencil assignments. The same percentage of children believed owning a computer was necessary for academic success. Eighty percent prefer reading and read more when reading assignments on the computer rather than from a typical textbook. Eighty percent of the children reported being more likely to do homework assignments when they could use a computer, and 75% reported spending more time on computer-involved homework assignments.

The children also use their computers to stay in contact with classmates, as well as with family members not living in the household. The children stated that the computer allowed them to stay in better contact with such family members. On average, children reported making weekly contact with family members living outside the home. Eighty percent of the children surveyed are interested in pursuing a career in computers and when asked what skills they had learned since owning a computer, the students reported typing and computer operations.      

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