SUMMARY:

The Digital Literacy & Devices Taskforce convened on April 5, 2022. The meeting included representatives from multiple sectors interested in resolving the digital divide in the Los Angeles County region.

The purpose of the Digital Literacy & Devices Taskforce is to host discussions to assess the needs and opportunities to provide ongoing culturally relevant and age-appropriate training at scale for underserved and disadvantaged people.

The meeting was led by Amy Cortina Mathias, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, UNITE LA and Paulina Chavez, Senior Director, Programs & Special Projects, EveryoneOn.

Updates were given on the work occurring between taskforce meetings, including conversation with California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and the Los Angeles Public Library on identifying whose members might qualify for services, and the submission of public comments on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) California Advanced Services Fund Adoption Account.

Taskforce members then had a discussion on digital navigator program best practices led by Paulina Chavez.

Edwin Rodarte, Senior Librarian at L.A. Public Library, spoke about how libraries can provide digital literacy as an outreach model. Their Cybernauts program that helped residents via phone and via chat. They are in the process of furthering developing existing curriculum and creating new curriculum. They eventually want to have one-on-one video chats. It varies by location, but support is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.

Britney Chine, Program Manager at Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) spoke about the Digital Navigator Community Health Worker program where participants can learn how to access resources on the internet, access to laptops, low-cost digital devices. They are using a “train-the-trainer” program to reach more community members.

Liliana Arreola, Project Director at CSULA, spoke about the CollegeCorps program that recruits college-level individual, partner them with Community Based Organization in the Southeast Cities of Los Angeles County.

Taskforce members shared that knowing what exists is helpful, that’s the easiest way to support programs and sharing with community of what is available. Other Taskforce members noted that resume writing workshops were helpful to community members navigating job sites.

Resources

• California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) California Advanced Services Fund Adoption Account: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/internet-and-phone/california-advanced-services-fund/casf-adoption-account and https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/internet-and-phone/california-advanced-services-fund/casf-public-housing-account
• L.A. Public Library’s Cybernauts program: https://lapl.org/cybernauts
• Digital Literacy at BIDMC: https://www.digitalpsych.org/learn.html and https://skills.digitalpsych.org/
• Starry and Microsoft team up to expand low-cost broadband access in public housing: https://starry.com/blog/news/starry-and-microsoft-team-up-to-expand-low-cost-broadband-access-in-public-housing
• Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund: https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund
• Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA: https://beta.ada.gov/web-guidance/
• CollegeCorp Program information: https://www.californiavolunteers.ca.gov/californiansforall-college-corps/
• LA County Dept of Mental Resources: https://dmh.lacounty.gov/resources/ and https://dmh.lacounty.gov/our-services/ee/resources/
• The WebAIM Million – The 2022 report on the accessibility of the top 1,000,000 home pages: https://webaim.org/projects/million/
• Microsoft Office Accessibility Center – On this page, find resources for people with disabilities and find out how to make your content accessible for all. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/office-accessibility-center-resources-for-people-with-disabilities-ecab0fcf-d143-4fe8-a2ff-6cd596bddc6d?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

Updated: Apr 12