One hundred and ninety ACS managers, supervisors, and caseworkers volunteered to use the laptops in the pilot test. Of those 190, 135 caseworkers and supervisors from the William Street and Staten Island field offices participated in the assessment. All part received training prior to deployment and all received the same model and configuration of laptop. Prior to receiving the laptops, the volunteers also received a survey to establish a baseline concerning their attitudes and work practices against which to compare a similar post test survey’s results. They did not, however, receive special instructions on how to employ the devices in their work.

The pilot design included two boroughs, with the expectation that different geographical and transportation characteristics might result in different use patterns. Manhattan field workers would face different obstacles when trying to use the laptop among high-rise buildings. In addition, population density and prevalence of public transportation for CPS work in Manhattan were likely to present different problems, compared to Staten Island’s more suburban landscape and more common use of cars by CPS staff.

The pilot participants in both field offices all volunteered and were assigned their laptops for the duration of the pilot period. Prior to receiving a laptop computer, each participant attended a three-hour orientation and training session, which introduced them to the device and provided training on connecting to the ACS and CONNECTIONS networks (copies of training manuals can be obtained by contacting ACS). In addition to the practical training, caseworkers were encouraged to contact the ACS help desk in case they experienced any problems with their device. To ensure comparability of data and work conditions, supervisors and managers whose caseworkers were issued a laptop were instructed not to modify any policies or work practices during the pilot period.