Participants were issued a post-pilot survey at the end of the testing period. We asked participants to what extent using a laptop made a difference in CPS work compared to not having the laptop. Five different areas were examined: (1) timeliness of documentation, (2) ability to do work in court, (3) ability to access case information, (4) communication with supervisors, and (5) service to clients. Respondents were asked to rate the difference on a five-point scale 1 being much worse, 3 being about the same, and 5 being much better.

Overall, most caseworkers reported the use of laptops improved their work in terms of timeliness and accessing information, with a very few reporting it as negative. A smaller proportion reported no difference. Tables 4 and 5 below show the percentages.

Table 4 - Perceived Change Timeliness and Work Impacts

	Much worse (n)	Somewhat worse (n)	About the same (n)	Somewhat better (n)	Much better (n)
	Overall (both field offices)
Timeliness of documentation	1 % (1)	0 % (0)	32 % (30)	48 % (45)	19 % (18)
Ability to access case information	2 % (2)	1 % (1)	19 % (18)	45 % (42)	33 % (31)
Communication with supervisors	0 % (0)	1 % (1)	66 % (61)	20 % (19)	13 % (12)
Service to clients	2 % (2)	0 % (0)	69 % (65)	17 % (16)	12 % (11)
Ability to do work in court	3 % (3)	3 % (3)	44 % (40)	28 % (25)	21 % (19)

About two-thirds of participants in both field offices reported their timeliness of documentation to have been somewhat better to much better using the laptop. Over three-fourths of participants in both field offices reported the ability to access case information as being somewhat to much better using the laptop. Conversely, participants did not perceive having the laptop made much of a difference in communicating with supervisors and service to clients (66 % and 69 % respectively). Some participants during workshops said that they did receive new case assignments while in the field by checking their email and CONNECTIONS accounts. Supervisors would put all information in CONNECTIONS that was needed to continue the investigation. However, many caseworkers said that they would still get cell phone calls from their supervisors about new cases in the field, and they would use the cell phone more frequently for this.

The ability to do work in court received mixed ratings. With an almost equal percentage thinking it was about the same (44 %) as those perceiving having a laptop was better (49 %). We decided to break this down by field office (see Table 5 below).

Table 5 - Perceived Ability to Do Work in Court by Field Office

	Much worse (n)	Somewhat worse (n)	About the same (n)	Somewhat better (n)	Much better (n)
	Manhattan Staten Island
Ability to do work in court	2 % (1)	0 % (0)	40 % (17)	28 % (12)	30 % (13)
	Manhattan Staten Island
	4 % (2)	6 % (3)	49 % (23)	28 % (13)	13 % (6)

Staten Island testers reported less of a positive impact in doing work at court than did Manhattan. In our workshops, we heard that the court houses in Staten Island did not receive a good signal, that cases workers “just need a place to go” emphasizing that the caseworkers wait in the same room as the families and needed a private space to do work on the laptop.