Technology for connection

How do you help a young person who needs family find people ready to become one? We’ve been answering that question longer than almost anyone in child welfare, and we’re still looking for better answers.

Technology bridges

Connection technology links prospective parents with children and youth in foster care who need family, especially in cases where broader recruitment strategies are needed. Without it, a family in Vancouver, Washington, could live just across the bridge from Portland, Oregon, and still be invisible to Oregon caseworkers, and to the kids on their caseloads. A young person’s chance at family shouldn’t depend on which side of a river they live on.

We’ve been working on this problem since the 1970s, when solutions weren’t very technical: just typewritten profiles and photos shared by mail and at in-person gatherings. As new technologies emerged, our methods evolved. To date, we have built and managed a dozen digital platforms, including the national AdoptUSKids system. It lets families view youth profiles and caseworkers view family profiles, so they can begin conversations about potential matches.

Software development plus child welfare know-how

Building a connection platform for child welfare takes more than good software development, although that’s where it starts. It takes:

• A skilled development team that turns real-world needs into working systems.
• Expertise in human-centered design.
• A rigorous information security program to protect sensitive data.
• The ability to address related issues the platform touches, including engaging youth in what they want to share with potential families.
• An understanding of how child welfare systems work and differ from state to state.
• A service mindset and willingness to listen to what users need.
• A commitment to keep improving as technology evolves.

Our team includes software engineers, user experience designers, business analysts, project managers, quality assurance testers, and technical support staff, including professionals who have worked with state child welfare systems for decades.

What comes next

The evolving technology landscape brings both challenges and opportunities. Today’s internet is a riskier place for everyone, and youth in care are especially vulnerable. We’re exploring new ways to protect youth profiles, including a pilot that makes them available only to families approved to foster or adopt.

We’re also looking ahead to the next-generation platform. We believe new technologies, used thoughtfully, can foster more interaction among families, caseworkers, and youth, without flattening individuals into sets of characteristics. We’re working on a suite of ideas now, and we’re looking for partners to build them with us.