ACF Awards $6 Million to 10 Jurisdictions to Advance Use of Predictive Risk Modeling in Child Welfare

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is awarding $6 million in grant funding to 10 child welfare jurisdictions to pilot new technology aimed at improving child safety and caseworker decision-making. Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Muscogee Creek Nation, and the District of Columbia are being awarded roughly $600,000 each to help with the implementation of predictive analytics, emerging technology infrastructure that helps transform case management data into actionable insights.

“The most important investment we can make in child welfare begins with data that can help us achieve a home for every child,” said ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams. “Predictive analytics, and similar technology tools in child welfare, will better equip caseworkers to make difficult decisions with more complete information, so they can ensure the best outcomes for children.”

The $6 million in grant funding to these 10 jurisdictions supports President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s Executive Order on Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, pioneered by First Lady Melania Trump, which specifically directs ACF to expand states’ use of technology solutions, including predictive analytics, to improve outcomes for children and families.

Technology tools, such as predictive analytics, also support ACF’s A Home for Every Child initiative, which aims to improve the ratio of foster homes to children in need of care, by helping to keep families together when it is safe to do so. These tools can help to identify low-risk families who can be safely prevented from entering the child welfare system. Simultaneously, using predictive analytics to flag high-risk cases that require immediate attention can also ensure children who truly need placement receive it quickly.

“When Ohio joined the A Home for Every Child initiative, we knew we had to start thinking differently,” said Ohio Department of Children and Youth Director Kara Wente. “This grant gives us the opportunity to do exactly that, and we are grateful for the partnership of Assistant Secretary Adams and ACF. Our children service workers have incredibly hard jobs, making decisions about the unthinkable—whether a child can safely remain with their family or must be removed from their home to keep them safe.” She continued, “Our responsibility is to help make those decisions easier. By putting the right data and information at their fingertips, we can help our case workers identify risks sooner, connect families to the right supports faster, and ultimately make better decisions for children.”

The one-time grant funding will specifically support jurisdictions as they:  

• Develop and implement predictive risk models tailored to local data and needs 
• Train staff on responsible use of predictive analytics tools 
• Establish governance structures and quality assurance processes 
• Engage communities and stakeholders in implementation 
• Evaluate outcomes and share lessons learned from the field 

“Thanks to the Administration for Children and Families, this award is a moment of real celebration for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and for every family our Children and Family Services Administration serves. The Predictive Analytics Demonstration Grant represents a ground-breaking opportunity,” said Muscogee Nation Children and Family Services Administration Director Michelle Bender, MSW. “Pairing a culturally calibrated predictive tool, designed specifically for our people, allows us to combine data-informed prevention with culturally grounded, effective intervention. This is what tribal sovereignty in child welfare looks like in practice: our own data, our own values, and our own solutions. We're proud to lead this work on behalf of Mvskoke families.”

ACF looks forward to working with these 10 child welfare jurisdictions as they pilot new technology and establish best practices for child welfare systems across the nation.