Foster Kids Weren’t Allowed Phones. Here’s Why That Changed

Parenting in a Tech World · Oct 16, 2026 · 39m

For years, one Oregon foster care program kept kids and smartphones completely separate, until the kids themselves said a no-phone rule was reason enough to pick a different program. What that team learned about screen time, supervision, and teen mental health applies to every family, not just kids in foster care.

Ana Day is a licensed marital and family therapist who has spent 21 years at Oregon Community Programs, working her way from therapist to Executive Director of an agency serving foster youth and their families.

She walks host Adam Brooks through how OCP piloted Bark Phones with just…