Today, October 8, the iSocial Foundation began the experimentation and evaluation phase of FLAPP!, the new app for teenagers and young people with emancipation and inclusion needs, developed by iSocial in collaboration with the Idea Foundation , the Sant Pere Claver Social Services Foundation, the Punt de Referencia Association, the School of Social Work of the University of Barcelona and the technology company Mass Factory.

This phase of experimentation and evaluation started with a workshop at the Coda2 center in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, in which 17 professionals (educators, psychologists, occupational therapists …) from the 6 entities involved in the pilot took part. Professionals have installed the Beta version of FLAPP! to their mobiles, and they have learned how to make it work and interconnect from it from their computers, using the FLAPP! web interface for professionals.

In the workshop the participating professionals have highlighted that FLAPP! was conceived before the outbreak of the Covid-19, but now the pandemic has become much more necessary to have the tools that FLAPP! will offer for remote care, on-line management, or document digitization.

According to Oriol Janer, director of the Dar-Chabab center and coordinator of FLAPP!: “This is the first contact of professionals with the application. Despite being aware that this is a first version, there was a good interaction right away and the impression that it can be a good tool is widespread. Everyone is looking forward to the reception for teenagers and young adults. At the same time, very interesting observations have already been made that will surely reinforce the first version 1.0 of the app that we anticipate will be operational in early 2021.”

This pilot will last 3 months, until the end of the year, during which 120 teenagers and young people and their educational references will use and experience the new application for smartphones. These are young teenagers between the ages of 16 and 23; who are both under guardianship and ex-guardianship; among which are both boys and girls; and which are cared for or hosted in 10 different centers and resources of the Catalan System of Care and Protection for Children and Adolescents, managed by 6 different social entities: the Idea Foundation (3 centers), the Sant Pere Claver Social Services Foundation 3 centers), the Punt de Referencia association (1 center); the Resilis Foundation (1 center); the Benallar Foundation (1 center); and the Alba Jussà Cooperative (1 center). These centers are located in the counties of Barcelonès, Vallès Oriental, Gironès and Pallars Jussà.

At the same time, during these three months, a research team from the School of Social Work of the University of Barcelona will carry out an evaluation of the impact of FLAPP! in the process of emancipation and social inclusion of the 120 participating adolescents and young people. FLAPP! includes five digital tools designed to facilitate this process of emancipation and inclusion in society, which were conceived and designed a year ago through a participatory process involving some young people who will now experience it, various educators and other professionals from the social entities that are members of the project, and technicians from the General Directorate of Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) of the Catalan Government.

FLAPP! it has also had the support of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Associació de Joves Extutelats de Catalunya (UJEC) and the La Caixa Foundation.