Cultivating brighter futures for at-risk youth through community mentorship.
Mobile App Concept
Client
The Delta Project—an organization focused on the rehabilitation and mentorship of young men at the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center.
Challenge
Design a solution to assist in the rehabilitation process of the young men after exiting the juvenile justice system.
My desk research covered the controversial and complex United States criminal justice system, the circumstances that contribute to juvenile incarceration, and developmental psychology as it relates to delinquency. Here are the spark notes.
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The incarceration rate in the United States is significantly higher than in the rest of the world.
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Incarceration negatively affects professional opportunities for those re-entering the workforce.
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Juvenile incarceration can lead to adult incarceration, which has more severe consequences.
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Juvenile incarceration negatively affects educational performance and graduation rates.
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Incarcerated individuals are often economically disadvantaged and incarceration contributes to poverty post-release.
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Incarceration can separate families and become an inter-generational, problem.
As a secondary measure, I conducted interviews with some of the adults that understand my users best, most notably, Cole Williams.
Ken Miguel-Cipriano
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Urban Innovation + Social Impact Specialist, Youth Mentor
Donna St. John
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Professor (KCAD) Developmental Psychology Expert
Cole Williams
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Narrative Change Agent, Delta Project Co-Founder
Joel Van Kuiken
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Copywriter, Delta Project Co-Founder
Cole is a social worker and motivational speaker who has shaped his identity around fatherhood, and is an active member of a variety of organizations dedicated to the growth of young men.
When offering guidance to the young men, many of them come to him for assistance in getting their license, accessing birth certificates, and other activities that come with the increased responsibility of young-adulthood. Beyond the general intimidation one might feel in doing those things for the first time, these young men often lack access to adults they can trust to ask questions.
In his experience, the most important factor in successful rehabilitation is a reliable support system.
In an effort to augment the support system needed for successful rehabilitation, I designed Cultivate.
Cultivate is an app that provides resources contributed by community members that answer questions these young men may have about the next steps in their lives.
Resources are organized by category commonly associated with coming of age.
Categories cover topics such as applying to schools, financial literacy, understanding government and voting, basic life skills, professional etiquette, and transportation options.
Cultivate aims to reduce intimidation around these activities by providing articles and videos detailing how to tackle many of the challenges the user may face along the way.
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Articles are structured with section summaries skim reading, making for the most efficient information gathering for the user.
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Each resource presents the opportunity to connect for further discussion or mentorship.
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Videos include clickable links, enabling the user to jump to any point that is specifically relevant to them.
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Contributors film using their phones in a vertical format for ease of viewing.
If a resource particularly resonates with an individual, they can message the creator within the app for greater detail.
They can also directly message the Cultivate team, enabling Cultivate to tailor the content to the user base in the most relevant and effective way.
This concept was inspired by the Delta Project.