Home l Back Page l FasiFriends l ResourceCenter l

What is Cyber Families?

Cyber families is a program which is designed and targeted to give adoptive and kinship families through out Arkansas access to computers. Its goal is to enrich educational achievement and to raise their self-esteem. It is well known that children in foster care lag behind their peers in educational performance because of the instability and depravation in their history.

Cyber families is modeled after a program developed in South Carolina under the direction of Judge William R. Byars, Jr., Director of Children’s Law Center.

Vision

To nurture children placed with Arkansas families from foster or institutionalized care. To help them identify and build on skills and assets.

Mission Statement

Cyber families is dedicated to the nourishing of academic achievement, promoting the development of each child’s computer skills, contributing to the development of a systemic network of social support and fostering the independent growth of each placed from foster or institutionalize care or on the verge of entering into the custody of the State of Arkansas.

Aims and Goals

· Advancing a child’s computer skills

· Accomplishing positive role modeling

· Assisting with academic and social growth

· The computer coaches will be not be a substitute parent, rather they will be a teammate with the child in the child’s development of computer skills.

Networking:

Families Helping Families

As the Cyber families program grows, the child and the family will gain access through networking throughout Arkansas with other families with similar values, interests and goals.

The concept of a large community working in harmony is a vision foreseen within Cyber families.

Objectives

To collect donated recyclable computers
To utilize volunteers to refurbish these computers
To place these units with families raising adopted or kinship children
To provide trained volunteers to serve as Coaches and provide some technical support to the families.

Pilot Program

Where do we start in developing a Pilot Program?

Recruit State Leadership Team
Identify and securing cooperation of partnering businesses and corporate agencies
Obtain sponsor(s)
Set-up Organizational meetings
Explore piggyback with AR to adopt SC’s prison-based computer repair program
Prepare development computer coach form training
Purchase Computer Buddy software
Evaluate Results of Pilot

Needs of these at risk children

Current studies reveal that Foster children are:

· Highly likely to be one to two years behind in school

· Less likely to graduate from high school

· Apt to have a six-month lag in emotional development per move while in previous care

· Delayed educationally and successfully by frequent moves to new school with new friends

· Are usually on the wrong side of the digital divide – computer literacy

Most of these children are from abusive or neglected backgrounds. Experience has demonstrated that a child from such backgrounds have higher probability of attachment fears, and are less likely to be able to reach out to others and/or accept help offered from others.

The majority of these children don’t have home based access to today’s most powerful teaching tool – the Internet. The key to providing this tool to our Arkansas children lies in a cooperative effort among Arkansas’ communities. These assets are a new family, churches, neighborhoods, schools, and local business. Local business teams can help by providing coaching, leadership, recyclable assets, and financial support.

**************

How you can help us make this program a reality for Arkansas children and families?

1) Give your time:

To be a Computer Coach requires only one (1) hour per week
To help us secure donated PCs
To help us identify families needing computers
To serve on the Steering Committee

2) Speak to your family, friends, coworkers, church and others about this program.

***************

2200 Main Street

Little Rock, AR 72114

(501) 758-9184

Web site: arkansasadopttoday.org