Project: Smart Phone Web Application for Transition Age Foster Youth
Organization:The Alliance for Children’s Rights (Los Angeles)
Summary:
The Alliance for Children’s Rights, a L.A. based non-profit that provides free legal services to children in poverty and foster care, is seeking a developer to create a web application for smart phones that will act as a resource hub for youth aging out of the foster care system (ages 16-25). Many transitioning foster youth do not have regular access to email/computers, but most of them do have consistent access to a smart phone. Thus this web application, which would work in conjunction with The Alliance’s website, would allow youth to access vital information, opportunities and community via the smart phone app.
Much of the application would just be linking to places on line where this information is stored. It will act, in part, as a resource hub, pulling together all of the information and resources available to these youth and organizing it in one single location. There will be some interactive and more traditional app features, like maps/directions, push notifications and interactive graphics. Topics with drop down menus will include: Education, Housing, Health Care, Legal Rights, Community among others. The application will be very information-heavy & link, with some features.
This is a very compelling and vulnerable population; their statistics for success are dismally low, while rates of homelessness and incarceration are high. This application is an attempt to provide a compelling, cool, one-stop location for these youth to connect, find out about opportunities, contact advocates, and build community. Thus it needs to do the job while looking graphically compelling enough that it relates and speaks to them and makes them want to use it. The target population is urban foster youth in CA (ages 16-25), which is a heavily minority population. The budget will be at a non-profit/501(3)(c) charity level. Full scope of work document available.
Contact: Laura Hunt