As this technology proliferates, ethical issues of equal access and client confidentiality must be explored. Technology can also be used to facilitate risk assessment, which has always been more of a subjective art than a rigorous science, despite breakthroughs in criteria-based assessment and emphasis on outcome measurement. Neural networks can be used to calibrate risk assessments to a much finer degree of accuracy by assigning risk scores on an algorithmic curve. Variables are weighted based on previous outcomes and used to predict future outcomes. Cases can be ordered by risk score on a single outcome or a composite of outcomes.
Scores change daily according to both client and service provider input.
Red flags on changes in risk level trigger action on the part of case managers and service providers. The presentation will demonstrate a case management software package already in use by Volunteers of America and a risk assessment software package under consideration by three state child welfare agencies. The company pioneering this software development is staffed with social workers, MBA s, and computer engineers.