Complicating matters is that one state may use more than one system, or modify an existing system.
Some states use the same model for different purposes.
Moreover, there also exists a clear lack of consensus in the field as to what one should consider when assessing risk. It is not possible to make highly accurate predictions of risk with existing instruments. Moreover, we are concerned that many agencies are adopting risk-assessment instruments in lieu of addressing fundamental problems in existing child protection systems, such as the excessive number of inexperienced or incompetent workers and the lack of adequate resources. In fact, use of inadequately designed or researched risk-assessment instruments may result in poorer decisions, because workers will rely on mechanical rules and procedures instead of trying to develop greater clinical experience. But if there is one thing many of these assessment tools have in common, it is that they almost invariably define poverty conditions as indicating neglect on the part of parents.