This tool is not supporting families

In June 2026, I spoke about the Allegheny Family Screening Tool after seeing families in Allegheny County treated badly when they were already under pressure. Some parents start on good footing, but without enough support things get out of hand. Then the system reads the situation like risk instead of need.

A CPS worker may only see the score and the report in front of them. The family sees the bigger story: missed work, childcare falling through, food running short, and nobody helping before the crisis. The goal should be supporting families, and I do not think this tool does that by itself.

Citation: (Stapleton et. al, 2022)