Can We Get Personal? Yes!
As new CCWIS and the Family First Act accountability efforts demand, new systems must allow for you to tailor data collection, analysis and reporting to your state’s and county region’s personal strengths and challenges. Though some CCWIS products claim they have artificial intelligence or a supposed algorithm to solve your placement challenges, you cannot and should not assume that a predictive equation that “worked” in one location can generalize to every location. Services and resources differ from state to state, and even across your rural, suburban and urban communities. Response to treatment can differ among individuals. Your time, resources and efforts are valuable. And the VitalChild team believes that the technology you adopt should be guided by realistic, personalized predictive analytic recommendations that meet the contextual demands of your state and county regions’ unique populations.
Now for the secret no one tells you about… If your predictive analytics are not fed an adequate amount of high-quality data, the recommendations delivered will leave ample room for error putting the agency, staff and children at great risk. The quality and quantity of data collected and entered into your new system, could mean the difference between life and death. And to the VitalChild team, making avoidable mistakes in child welfare is not an option.
Plus, if we are going to go through the arduous process of personalizing predictive analytics for state and county child welfare agencies and staff, why would we stop at just risk and safety assessments used to determine placement decisions?
Being More Proactive and Preventative Focused
The New York Times recently highlighted an effort in Pennsylvania that mainly focused on warning signs to guide the decisions of removing a child from the home. Of course, safety is essential. But basing predictive analytics on strictly warning signs will only lead to creating alert systems.
If you are hoping your new technology can help you determine the best preventative approaches to help you avoid crises, new systems should avoid putting a heavy reliance on warning signs. A focus on being reactive, typically will fail to produce proactive efforts leading to preventing crises in the future. With CCWIS and the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) greatly reducing length of stays in group homes in the near future, however, more data is needed.
By utilizing VitalChild to build predictive recommendations on data documenting your agencies’ quality of care, effectiveness of treatment and successful outcomes, you will be able to better determine more fruitful preventative approaches. Thus, making better informed decisions to select placements as well as treatments which lead to more successful outcomes and less services needed. This is the difference between being reactive versus being more proactive and preventative. This is how VitalChild can help you make a measurable difference!
By having accurate information readily available to immediately start treatment and select the best intervention or placement, time and resources can be saved.