The future of contact, digital poverty and the need to keep children connected to their families
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype are being used to help children in care stay in contact with their families during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory have undertaken a studies on how children in care are being kept in contact with families during these times.
The study also offers insights into how digital communication might be incorporated into contact arrangements beyond the pandemic. It also considered how how agencies have been responding to new challenges posed by lockdown.
Challenges to remote contact by digital means include:
- Digital poverty - not having the equipment or knowledge to access remote communications
- Video calls with young children and infants pose greater challenges, as well as some older children with disabilities
- Some children disliking having this contact in their ‘safe space’.
Lisa Harker, director of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, said: “Digital poverty or inexperience with technologies has been a barrier on both sides though, some carers and families said they had struggled to manage without computers, smart phones or WiFi, or the confidence to master new platforms.”