What am I allowed to spend my pocket money on? Can staff simply enter my room? Do I really have to be back in the residential group at 8 pm? The everyday lives of children and young people in residential care are characterized by power imbalances. A digital tool is intended to help safeguard young people's rights and strengthen their participation. The project is funded by the Aktion Mensch Foundation.
The children's rights app "Justy" aims to be a digital guide, advisor and complaints office for young people living in residential youth care facilities. Prof. Dr. Nicole Knuth from the Faculty of Applied Social Studies at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and her team are supporting the Diakonie Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe project. "We developed the idea early on with the NRW Youth Welfare Ombudsman's Office," reports Prof. Knuth. The aim is to create a freely accessible app for all those affected in the facilities.
FH team conducts qualitative surveys
Nicole Knuth and her team at Fachhochschule Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts are now starting qualitative interviews in six Diakonie facilities. The key question: How should an app be designed so that it can help young people in the facilities to know and assert their rights? "We also involve the professionals in the facilities," emphasizes the social scientist. The project can only succeed if the app is also accepted by educators. "It's important to take the educational work into account. At the same time, however, the focus is on the rights of children and young people," says Prof. Knuth.
After the first workshops on the app, it is already clear that those affected are not just interested in learning about their rights. They also want chat functions to exchange information with other young people or external help centers, or interactive elements to virtually furnish their own room with augmented reality, for example.
"After evaluating our research, we hope to have an initial test version ready next year, which we can take to the facilities and further develop the app in consultation with users," says Nicole Knuth. "Under no circumstances should the app replace personal contact and trusting interaction within the facilities," emphasizes Tim Rietzke, Head of Family and Young People at Diakonisches Werk Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe. "However, we want to meet the wishes of young people and offer them an additional digital medium." The Aktion Mensch Foundation is funding the project with 940,000 euros. The technical implementation is being carried out by beemo GmbH Münster. In the future, the app will be made available to all interested institutions nationwide.