An algorithm that screens for child neglect raises concerns

[BOP]

I ran across this a while back and I don't know if I ever posted it.

Human problems require human solutions, as messy and imperfect as that can be.

Inside a cavernous stone fortress in downtown Pittsburgh, attorney Robin Frank defends parents at one of their lowest points—when they risk losing their children.

The job is never easy, but in the past she knew what she was up against when squaring off against child protective services in family court. Now, she worries she’s fighting something she can’t see: an opaque algorithm whose statistical calculations help social workers decide which families should be investigated in the first place.

“A lot of people don’t know that it’s even being used,” Frank said. “Families should have the right to have all of the information in their file.”

An algorithm that screens for child neglect raises concerns

“A lot of people don’t know that it’s even being used,” an attorney said.

fortune.com

 

[BOP]

This part in the article may be overlooked by anyone who isn't familiar with Southern California. Lancaster is a growing town in the High Desert, on the way to China Lake and points beyond. Lancaster is in the High Desert, and for decades, has been almost universally referred to as "San Bernardino's Welfare Dumping Ground." Personally, I don't know how true that is (or how it works, exactly), but ask nearly anyone who's been around the High Desert for any length of time, and they'll swear to it.

In the Mojave Desert city of Lancaster, U.S. Census shows 22% of the city’s child population is Black. In the first few months that social workers started using the tool, county data shows that Black children were the subject of nearly half of all the investigations flagged for additional scrutiny.