Jax Wechsler

Project background:

This work was done for the NSW department of Family and Community Services (FACS)  whilst free-lancing for FutureGov. FACS  and SMS Management & Technology organised a two day workshop with various FACS staff, and associated NGOs  to understand how technology could be used to improve the experiences of young people in care as part of the Safe Home for Life program.

Project brief:

The group I co-facilitated worked on the following: How might we use technology to improve the experience of young people when they leave care at aged 18?

Activities and deliverables:

Over a two day period we explored the problem space and prototyped some ideas. As part of this process we developed a service idea of a ‘digital suitcase’ which  case workers,  carers and the young person could add to over time. This ‘digital suitcase’ would be given to the young person to equip them on their life journey during and after leaving care. We got participants to make different components of the suitcase using craft materials. Some examples respondents made included; eHealth record, video messages from loved ones and carers, life-skill-building games, a virtual ‘important document’ wallet. We identified the different actors that would contribute to the suitcase, things that needed to be considered (for example moderation of content /privacy) as well as some design principles for the platform. Using the same process, and a paper document wallet, we got participants to document the information that case workers would need to collect to better support young people when they are preparing to leave care.

This service concept is currently being prototyped by TACSI and FutureGov.
(I am working on another FACS initiative).