Pennsylvania County's Family Screening Tool Allegedly Exhibited Discriminatory Effects

The Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST) is an AI system deployed by Allegheny County, Pennsylvania since 2016 to help child welfare workers decide whether to investigate neglect allegations. The tool calculates risk scores from 0 to 20 based on predicting the likelihood of child removal within two years, using data from multiple government databases including criminal justice and behavioral health records. An ACLU analysis found that the tool could result in 33% of Black households being labeled 'high risk' compared to only 20% of non-Black households. The system also flags households with people who have disabilities as higher risk due to its reliance on behavioral health databases. The Hackney family, who have developmental disabilities, had their 8-month-old daughter taken into foster care after bringing her to the hospital for dehydration, and suspect the AFST contributed to this decision. Their daughter has remained in foster care for over a year. The U.S. Justice Department is now investigating whether the county's use of the algorithm discriminates against people with disabilities. The tool is used by child welfare agencies in at least 26 states and has been deployed in at least 11 jurisdictions. The system's developers acknowledge making 'rather arbitrary' design decisions during development, and families cannot access their risk scores or challenge the algorithm's assessments.