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This study explores the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) use on rural child welfare practice using a technology‐in‐practice framework to derive the social structures that are instantiated by rural child welfare workers (CWWs) and to examine their agency as actors. ICT use was tracked, and interviews were conducted with rural CWWs who work with children and families to gain an understanding of and describe their day‐to‐day ICT use at the practice level. Findings demonstrate that CWWs enact social structures along four frames: bureaucratic structure, family centricity, ICT context and information–documentation culture. In terms of agency, CWWs not only are constrained by but also exert some influence on the social structures they enact through facilities (material resources), norms and interpretive schemes. These findings have implications for how ICT can be used to facilitate the CWW–client relationship and the need in rural areas for increased infrastructure to support CWWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A core value in social work is the importance of the worker-client relationship. Communication is a key factor in this relationship. The pandemic, marked by a dramatic, rapid increase in communication through information communication technology (ICT), has underscored both challenges and benefits for the worker-client relationship. Informed by communication theories, this paper provides a conceptual framework for examining ICT interactions between workers and clients at the generalist practice level. The review revealed four challenges (e.g., more permeable worker-client boundaries) and five benefits (e.g., increased opportunities for social presence). Factors to be considered in guiding tool selection are: (1) communication medium "bandwidth", (2) mutual directionality, (3) privacy and confidentiality, (4) message formality, and (5) complexity of message content. Implications for practice, education, and research emerged from this framework. For instance, increased methods of communication via technology can enhance social workers' social presence in relating to clients. However, social workers must know how and when to use which tools. Finally, evidence is needed regarding how ICT use affects the worker-client relationship. Moving forward, we recommend applying communication theories to guide research on the impact of ICT on the worker-client relationship with the goal of establishing best practices for ICT use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Child welfare workers primarily use email, text, and phone for communication. • Perceived comfort with a technology predicts use in the field. • Experience sampling method is useful for quantifying subjective experience. • Child welfare workers find the technology they use comfortable and useful. • Discomfort was most common talking with caregivers over the phone. This study explores information and communication technology (ICT) use among rural child welfare workers. The experience sampling method (ESM) was used to collect data at five random times a day for one week from ten welfare workers. Workers reported using email, text messaging, or phone almost exclusively in their day-to-day work lives. This study demonstrates the usefulness of ESM in capturing the nuances of technology use in the day-to-day work lives of child welfare workers. Results highlight the need for agencies to explore the use of new types of ICT that may improve efficiency and expand opportunities for client contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]