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codeforamerica / welcome-packet-concept

Could we welcome every new child born in Somerville? Team Somerville brainstorming & questions.
MIT License
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How might we measure impact of Welcome Baby baskets? #6

Open marimuraki opened 9 years ago

marimuraki commented 9 years ago

What?

How?

costaleabo commented 9 years ago

I think there's value in the "universal card" concept we have discussed on multiple occasions. Not that it necessarily has to be a physical card that is scanned every time families interact with the City or a service provider, but that there is some way to log & track that activity.

I'm wondering if iBeacons could be of use here. From what I've heard, the general consensus is that most of the hard to reach families may not have access to the internet via computer, but almost all of them have cell phones with data capabilities. Would it be possible to set up an app and install iBeacons near some of the key places we would be interested in (schools, PIC, library, City Hall, Rec, doctor's offices, day cares etc.) that would ping families through the app to "check in"? That way we wouldn't need the families to be proactive in bringing along a card or seeking out an employee to register their visit.

You may even be able to build surveys into the app function to ask the reason for their visit to a particular place, what led them there etc. If you're gathering that data in real-time it may be possible to have added interventions. Say a family takes their young child to the library to check out a book recommended for that age group, but then end up back there the next day to return the book because it was too challenging for the child. If the right service provider gets that feedback, that family could potentially be connected to resources to evaluate their child's reading comprehension.

I would be particularly interested in seeing what differences exist between families that are given a welcome baby kit and those that are not. In my eyes, that would go a long way toward justifying the cost (or maybe even justifying the need for access to the state birth record data).

alexsoble commented 9 years ago

This concept is fascinating. I have a concern and a what-if:

_Concern_: I worry that the tech scope falls outside what we might lay the groundwork for this year. Building a mobile app would represent a large engineering commitment. A location-based system based on iBeacons would as well. Both together would be a much larger & more expensive project to maintain project than the teacher tool.

_What if?_: I wonder if we can capture the "universal card" concept through some kind of lower-tech solution. Maybe we can leverage one or more existing cards offered by institutions that serve Somerville families. Library cards, for example.

Cambridge uses the Library as the focal point for reaching out to families with Welcome Bags, and incentivizes them to visit the Library with free books. Could Library cards be provided along with Welcome Baskets and used to measure impact? Are there other Somerville services and institutions that we could work with to tackle these functions of understanding service usage, measuring impact, and gathering feedback? @costaleabo, I want your thoughts!

Also, welcome to the conversation on GitHub @costaleabo! :tada: :octocat: :+1: :tada: :octocat: :+1:

dtaylorq commented 9 years ago

It's long-range, but on a very low-tech level, in five years, we could survey parents of incoming kindergarteners (or pre-schoolers) on use of and knowledge of resources and compare those who did and did not receive welcome baskets and yearly outreach. OR if there is a big gift (more than a book, something your survey shows folks would really want, say donated by a local company) that you can only get if you stop in at a city location and then sign up for yearly welcome communications, then once a year with those gifts/communications you could include a brief survey similar to above that you compare with controls.

marimuraki commented 9 years ago

The Welcome Baby program by United Way Utah County uses the "Strengthening Families Model from Hawaii".

According to the program leader at United Way Utah County, the Strengthening Families Model: