Algorithms, Humans, and Racial Disparities in Child Protection Systems: Evidence From the Allegheny Family Screening Tool
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Rittenhouse, Katherine
Putnam-Hornstein, Emily
Vaithianathan, Rhema
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Wiley
Abstract
Equity concerns are a primary constraint in the adoption of algorithms across various settings. We ask how providing decision-makers with a predictive risk model affects racial disparities in the context of the child protection system. We exploit the implementation of the Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST), a tool that aims to help child protection workers decide which allegations of maltreatment to screen in for investigation. We find that the AFST reduced disparities in screening decisions and home removal rates for referrals involving Black versus White children. An analysis of false positive and false negative rates suggests that this reduction in disparities was achieved while improving welfare among both Black and White children.
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4409 Social Work, 44 Human Society, Clinical Research, Violence Research, Pediatric Research Initiative, Prevention, Social Determinants of Health, Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research, Health Disparities, Women's Health, Basic Behavioral and Social Science, Behavioral and Social Science, Minority Health, Health Services, 1402 Applied Economics, 1605 Policy and Administration, 1606 Political Science, Economics, 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour, 3801 Applied economics, 4407 Policy and administration
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Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, ISSN: 0276-8739 (Print); 1520-6688 (Online), Wiley, 45(4), n/a-n/a. doi: 10.1002/pam.70121
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CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
© 2026 The Author(s). Journal of Policy Analysis and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for Public Policy and Management.
© 2026 The Author(s). Journal of Policy Analysis and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for Public Policy and Management.
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International