SERIES INTRO: Rethinking Risk and Rebuilding Trust: A Domestic Abuse–Informed Response to Predictive Analytics in Child Welfare
By David Mandel, CEO and Founder, and Ruth Reymundo Mandel, Chief Business Development Officer and Credible Expert, Safe & Together Institute
Predictive analytics have been touted as the future of child welfare: faster, more consistent, and less biased. But for those of us working at the intersection of domestic abuse and child protection, that promise raises alarms. These concerns are echoed in conversations about technological advances and child protection work between academics, practitioners, and policy makers (see CW360° Spring 2025).
Instead of correcting systemic poor practices, silos, and injustice, predictive models often replicate and even amplify those problems via the “illusion of non-bias,” especially for survivors of domestic abuse and their children. Algorithms built from historical data sources often miss or completely overlook the pattern-based behaviors of perpetrators, penalize protective efforts by survivors, and further entrench inaccuracies related to gender, race, and class.
We’re introducing a blog series that explores how the Safe & Together Model offers a powerful, behaviorally centered alternative to data compared to predictive risk decision-making. Grounded in years of cross-sector implementation, evaluation, practitioner experience, and survivor insight, the Model provides a transparent, fact-based framework that strengthens professional judgment, surfaces protective efforts, and refocuses child welfare practice on what matters most: the safety, stability, and nurturance of children.
Each post in this series offers a deeper dive into a key issue in predictive analytics and contrasts it with Safe & Together’s evidence-informed approach:
Rewriting the Algorithm: How a Pattern-Based Approach Offers a Human-Centered Alternative to Risk Prediction in Child Welfare
Beyond the Risk Score: Elevating Survivor Strengths and Restoring Professional Judgment
Transparent Tools, Positive Outcomes: Building Accountability Into Decision-Making
Together, these blogs argue for a human-centered, domestic abuse–informed future for child welfare practice—one grounded in partnership, accountability, and justice and one that supports professional development, fosters change, and avoids automation’s most dangerous pitfalls.
