Allegheny County Department of Human Services Predictive Algorithm for Child Welfare

Dear Ms. Goodman,

The Pennsylvania Right-To-Know Law applies to the judiciary only with respect to financial records. Compliance is governed by Rule 509 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration (Pa.R.J.A.). Financial records are defined as any account, contract, invoice or equivalent dealing with the receipt or disbursement of funds appropriated to the system; or acquisition, use or disposal of services, supplies, materials, equipment or property secured through funds appropriated to the system.

Please be advised that your requests are not for financial records of the Court and consequently are denied.

Please note that to the extent that some of the requests in one paragraph (any ... contract documents relating to the development and implementation of the program) might, under some circumstances, be considered financial records, no such records are in the possession of the Fifth Judicial District. Your request was send to the Feedback email of the Fifth Judicial District (the Court). The Allegheny County Department of Human Services is not part of the Fifth Judicial District and the Fifth Judicial District does not maintain or possess the records of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.

Please note that within fifteen (15) business days from the mailing of this denial, you have the right to appeal this determination to President Judge Jeffrey A. Manning who will make a determination on your request. Please note that such remedy need not be exhausted before other relief is sought.

Christopher H. Connors
Chief Deputy Court Administrator
Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania
Administrative Office
437 Grant Street, Suite 300
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-6000

412.350.6939
412.350.3930 (fax)

On April 5, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, I hereby request the following records:
All correspondence, contracts, studies, and other records relating to the design and implementation of the Allegheny Family Screening Tool that uses a predictive algorithm to prioritize intervention in potential neglect and abuse cases.
This tool is discussed in these publications:
- Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Predictive Risk Modeling in Child Welfare in Allegheny County: the Allegheny Family Screening Tool. 2016.
- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/can-big-data-save-these-children/
- Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Request for Proposals. Evaluation of a Predictive Risk Modeling Tool for Improving the Decisions of Child Welfare Workers. December 2015.
I am requesting the following records related to the above program:
* Any correspondence and contract documents relating to the development and implementation of the program.
* Records that show how the County's Integrated Data System is used in the program, including records that identify how risk factors are generated and the weights that are given to various risk factors.
* Any software and algorithms developed for the implementation of the program. I'm particularly interested in any algorithms that have a public policy outcome, such as providing guidance on a policy or an assessment of an individual. More generally, I would like any software that was developed by or with, given to, used by, purchased or licensed to this agency for implementation of the above referenced program. This would include original source code, any compiled binaries (also known as executables), spreadsheets, program scripts, and other digital materials used to calculate any data in the above program. It would also include the input training data for machine learning algorithms. Collectively, these responsive materials will be referred to as "the software" in the following paragraphs.
* All instructional materials, presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other guidance on the use of "the software." This includes any notes taking during meetings that discussed the use of the software, any explanations (whether internally or externally generated) of how the software works, and any other document that has been used to help explain the use of "the software" to any party, including internal documentation, public relations materials, and executive summaries. This also includes any description of input and output data fields that will aid in understanding the type of information that is submitted to the software, and that is produced by the software.
* A copy of any privacy impact assessments, use policies, standard operating procedures, data retention policies, legal opinions, warranties, non-disclosure agreements, contracts, liability waivers, insurance agreements, Requests for Proposals, Responses to Requests for Proposal, Memorandums of Understanding, Letters of Interest, usage policies, or informal agreements that reference "the software" or otherwise guide it use or the relationship between this agency and the provider or developer of the software.
* A copy of any funding opportunity announcements, requests for proposals, grant applications and grantor status/progress reports, reports to legislative bodies, annual reports that mention the use of the Software, as well as audit records, including but not limited to security audits of the software, misuse reports, and reports to oversight bodies.
* A copy of any validation or ethical review studies conducted with respect to the program or with respect to any software or algorithms used in connection with the program, and a copy of any records pertaining to inquiries for the need of validation studies or ethical reviews, or discussion of potential or actual validation studies or ethical reviews. By "validation study," I mean any study designed to assess how accurate the program is in predicting what it is supposed to predict, or to assess whether the program may err in the direction of either under- or overestimating likelihoods or predicted outcomes, or may produce any results that are biased or unexpected in any way. By "ethical review," I mean a review of how the design and/or implementation of the predictive algorithm conforms with ethical standards of fairness and privacy.
* For the aspects of the software that require an input, for example, to compute a value, we request a copy of the five most recent sets of data that were used for input, as well as the five most recent outputs of the software, in whatever their native format is. If these inputs or outputs include exempt information, we ask that you exempt only that information which is specifically exempted from law, and provide the other material.
* If any of the records requested are protected by a nondisclosure agreement, I request that you provide documentation of that agreement.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Ellen P. Goodman
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