HHS wants states to use more predictive analytics in child welfare

The Department of Health and Human Services is offering state child welfare agencies $6 million to pilot predictive analytics to assess children’s risk of abuse and neglect in the child welfare system, the Administration for Children and Families announced last week. The artificial intelligence push is part of the administration’s agenda to modernize the child welfare system and address the shortage of foster homes across the U.S. Although the hope is that the tools improve decisionmaking in the system, they’ve also been the subject of critiques about surveillance and bias.