If you’re new to delivering digital inclusion support, it can be difficult to decide how to allocate devices. Over the course of the past 4 years Digital Lifelines Scotland has gained insights into best practice around device allocation, and some of the considerations other organisations have taken.
This guide is not a rigid set of rules, rather a set of considerations to help you design an approach that fits your service and the people you support.
Core principles
Access first: The aim is to ensure people who use drugs can connect to the digital world. Devices are tools for inclusion, not rewards or handouts.
Trust matters: Giving a device is also giving a signal of belief and investment in someone’s future.
A hook, not a condition: Digital devices can help someone engage in wider holistic support, but support shouldn’t be a condition of them receiving a device.
Informed decisions: Practitioners are best placed to understand the wider context of someone’s life and the potential role of digital, in a framework agreed by the host organisation.
Devices are a finite resource, so some kind of criteria mean projects can have the greatest impact with the resource they have. This might include the following considerations:
Is this person currently, or do they have a history of, using drugs?
Are they digitally excluded – they don’t have a device or they have a basic non-digital/burner phone.
On balance, will a digital device improve their outcomes? (see further considerations below)
Further considerations
Device set-up designed around the person
Always consider needs of the person when setting up a device, there is no ‘one size fits all’.
Ask questions such as,
Ensure the person is aware of the basic controls for the device (turn on and off, volume, camera, charging etc)
Ask what apps would most benefit the person? (maybe your suggestions would help)
Ensure the initial privacy settings applied at set up reflect the needs of the person (be prepared to explain these to the person)
Building trust
Over the course of the Digital Lifelines Programme practitioners have reported that the simple act of giving someone a device has value beyond the cost of the device. It can symbolise an act of trust, strengthening the support relationship and longer-term engagement. (A device is worth £10 at cash converters and is priceless in their pocket)
Word-of-mouth
Projects have noted that word can spread quickly in the community, resulting in new faces emerging asking for a device. There is a fine balance between devices being used as an opportunity to engage someone in support and support being used as a condition of being given a device (the latter not being good practice). If a project finds that word has spread and new people are presenting for support/devices, the following may be helpful prompts:
How open is the person to engaging in the wider support you provide, or are they already accessing support from your service? Does this open up further opportunities?
Do you know enough about them to make an informed decision around potential risk of harm? Do you need to understand their circumstances a bit more before making a decision?
Does the cost of a cheap smartphone outweigh the potential benefits of making initial contact with someone who otherwise may not have approached your service?
If they take a device and disappear they may engage in the future if they’ve had a positive experience with your service.
Lost and stolen devices
Linked to the stigma faced by people who use drugs, this programme faced criticism from the beginning about devices being lost, stolen or sold. We suspected that the rate of this happening would be a lot lower than some people assumed. We recorded this data during the first few years of the programme and found that less than 10% of devices were lost, stolen or sold. We accept that this is a risk, as it is in any digital inclusion programme, and encourage projects to accept this risk too. Some projects have protocols for issuing a second device where appropriate.
Mitigations include:
Try and demonstrate the value of the device beyond the financial value as a pawn shop. Understanding the value of connection may help reduce the risk of the device being sold.
Have open conversations about selling devices and encouraging people to at least keep their sim card if they do sell a device.
Avoid any judgment or disappointment if a device is lost, stolen or sold as this could further stigmatise the person and affect their engagement with your service.
Protect the device at point of collection with a minimum of a secure pin, this will reduce the risk of the device being stolen.
Where possible provide a case for the phone to help reduce the risk of damage, if this is not possible, strongly suggest that they source a case themselves.
Risk assessment
The use of digital is not without risk, and this is something that practitioners will want to consider when deciding on device allocation. This is explored in more detail in our section on manging risk, but we recognise that practitioners are best placed to understand the risk of digital harms in the wider context of that person’s life. Our own views about the digital harms can cloud our judgment - taking a risk assessment approach can help us be more objective.
Records
Keeping a simple record of allocated devices is essential in understanding how your limited resources are being used, and whether someone has already received a device (not to preclude them for a further device but to understand the context). This will also assist in any fund/impact reporting you need to complete.