Child welfare predictive analytics systems

Florida Department of Children and Families received a records request from you on April 30, 2021, wherein you requested the following:

Pursuant to the Florida Sunshine Law, I hereby request the following records:

1) Contracts with any company, nonprofit, or other entity that currently provides software to the department that includes predictive analytics models for child welfare (i.e., models designed to identify home placement risk, abuse risk, human trafficking risk, etc.). This should include contracts for CCWIS or comparable systems that include predictive models as well as project descriptions for any models created in-house.

2) Data dictionaries for all child welfare predictive models used by the department, including those provided by outside entities as well as in-house models. Data dictionaries are documents commonly created for predictive models and databases. They describe the categories of data that are inputs (age, gender, etc.) and outputs (risk level, etc.) of predictive models. They are equivalent to headers on a spreadsheet, and do not include actual data.

3) A list of all memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and/or data sharing agreements with state or local agencies for the provision of data that is incorporated into the department's child welfare predictive models. Should the department not maintain a list of these MOUs, I will accept copies of the MOUs themselves.

4) Any differential impact assessments, validation studies, or comparable documents that describe the accuracy of child welfare predictive models used by the department. This should include any documents that describe common measures of predictive accuracy, such as area under the curve (AUC).

5) All department policies, employee manuals, and guidelines describing how employees can and/or should use child welfare predictive models.

6) All governance board, committee, or outside expert reviews assessing the efficacy of the department's proposed or current child welfare predictive models.

Should you have questions regarding any aspect of this request, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest. In the event you choose to impose fees, I request a detailed breakdown of the fees, including the hourly wage of each employ involved and an explanation justifying the employee hours required to fulfill the request.

Should you choose to reject this request or redact portions of it, I ask that you provide a detailed breakdown of the statutory exemptions and associated case law underlying your decision to withhold each/any portions from public review.

I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you very much for your help, and I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.
Your request was received and is being reviewed.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Floyd
Assistant General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Department of Children and Families
2415 North Monroe Street, Suite 100
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
Office: (850) 488-4119
Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com<mailto:Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any attachments thereto, constitute an "electronic communication" within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.A. §2510, and disclosure of these contents is limited to the recipient(s) intended by the sender of this message. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the information contained in this electronic message may be legally privileged and confidential, and is, in fact, intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed above. Confidentiality may, without limitation, be based upon the Lawyer-Client Privilege, the Work-Product Doctrine, or the Mediation Privilege (see Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947), §§ 44.405, 90.408, 90.502, 119.071, and 119.0714<tel:119.0714>, Fla. Stat.). It is not the intent of the author of this communication to voluntarily disclose any privileged information to any person who is not the intended recipient of this communication. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of its components is strictly prohibited. NOTICE REGARDING DESIGNATED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: The e-mail address from which this communication was sent is for correspondence only. It may have not been designated for service of documents and pleadings and any attempted service will be considered a nullity, unless the address has been specifically designated for service in a specific case. UNLESS PRIVILEGED, EXCLUDED, OR EXEMPTED, THIS COMMUNICATION AND ANY RESPONSE(S) MAY BE A PUBLIC RECORD SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 119, FLA. STAT.

I have received some of the records responsive to your request. After review they will be provided to you as a partial release.

I will follow up regarding the remaining responsive records. Thank you for your patience.

Elizabeth Floyd
Assistant General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Department of Children and Families
2415 North Monroe Street, Suite 100
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
Office: (850) 488-4119
Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com<mailto:Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any attachments thereto, constitute an “electronic communication” within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.A. §2510, and disclosure of these contents is limited to the recipient(s) intended by the sender of this message. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the information contained in this electronic message may be legally privileged and confidential, and is, in fact, intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed above. Confidentiality may, without limitation, be based upon the Lawyer-Client Privilege, the Work-Product Doctrine, or the Mediation Privilege (see Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947), §§ 44.405, 90.408, 90.502, 119.071, and 119.0714<tel:119.0714>, Fla. Stat.). It is not the intent of the author of this communication to voluntarily disclose any privileged information to any person who is not the intended recipient of this communication. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of its components is strictly prohibited. NOTICE REGARDING DESIGNATED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: The e-mail address from which this communication was sent is for correspondence only. It may have not been designated for service of documents and pleadings and any attempted service will be considered a nullity, unless the address has been specifically designated for service in a specific case. UNLESS PRIVILEGED, EXCLUDED, OR EXEMPTED, THIS COMMUNICATION AND ANY RESPONSE(S) MAY BE A PUBLIC RECORD SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 119, FLA. STAT.

Your request was created in the Florida DCF Public Records Portal to provide you with responsive records to your request. If you are prompted, please create a password. The user name is the email address above. If you have difficulties accessing the records please let us know. Thank you.

Elizabeth Floyd
Assistant General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Department of Children and Families
2415 North Monroe Street, Suite 100
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
Office: (850) 488-4119
Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com<mailto:Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any attachments thereto, constitute an “electronic communication” within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.A. §2510, and disclosure of these contents is limited to the recipient(s) intended by the sender of this message. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the information contained in this electronic message may be legally privileged and confidential, and is, in fact, intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed above. Confidentiality may, without limitation, be based upon the Lawyer-Client Privilege, the Work-Product Doctrine, or the Mediation Privilege (see Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947), §§ 44.405, 90.408, 90.502, 119.071, and 119.0714<tel:119.0714>, Fla. Stat.). It is not the intent of the author of this communication to voluntarily disclose any privileged information to any person who is not the intended recipient of this communication. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of its components is strictly prohibited. NOTICE REGARDING DESIGNATED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: The e-mail address from which this communication was sent is for correspondence only. It may have not been designated for service of documents and pleadings and any attempted service will be considered a nullity, unless the address has been specifically designated for service in a specific case. UNLESS PRIVILEGED, EXCLUDED, OR EXEMPTED, THIS COMMUNICATION AND ANY RESPONSE(S) MAY BE A PUBLIC RECORD SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 119, FLA. STAT.

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of June 16, 2021, Reference # P052645-061621
Dear Mr. Feathers,
Florida Department of Children and Families received a public records request from you. You requested the following: Pursuant to the Florida Sunshine Law, I hereby request the following records:
1) Contracts with any company, nonprofit, or other entity that currently provides software to the department that includes predictive analytics models for child welfare (i.e., models designed to identify home placement risk, abuse risk, human trafficking risk, etc.). This should include contracts for CCWIS or comparable systems that include predictive models as well as project descriptions for any models created in-house.
2) Data dictionaries for all child welfare predictive models used by the department, including those provided by outside entities as well as in-house models. Data dictionaries are documents commonly created for predictive models and databases. They describe the categories of data that are inputs (age, gender, etc.) and outputs (risk level, etc.) of predictive models. They are equivalent to headers on a spreadsheet, and do not include actual data.
3) A list of all memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and/or data sharing agreements with state or local agencies for the provision of data that is incorporated into the department's child welfare predictive models. Should the department not maintain a list of these MOUs, I will accept copies of the MOUs themselves.
4) Any differential impact assessments, validation studies, or comparable documents that describe the accuracy of child welfare predictive models used by the department. This should include any documents that describe common measures of predictive accuracy, such as area under the curve (AUC).
5) All department policies, employee manuals, and guidelines describing how employees can and/or should use child welfare predictive models.
6) All governance board, committee, or outside expert reviews assessing the efficacy of the department's proposed or current child welfare predictive models.
Should you have questions regarding any aspect of this request, please don't hesitate to contact me.
I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest. In the event you choose to impose fees, I request a detailed breakdown of the fees, including the hourly wage of each employ involved and an explanation justifying the employee hours required to fulfill the request.
Should you choose to reject this request or redact portions of it, I ask that you provide a detailed breakdown of the statutory exemptions and associated case law underlying your decision to withhold each/any portions from public review.
I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you very much for your help, and I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
The Office of Technology Services searched the DCF memoranda of Agreement Collection (MAC) and one result came back. The entire LJ987 contract files are attached. Additionally, the Office of Technology Services search also turned up contract LJ980, both files of which are attached. There is also a data sharing agreement attached which was identified as something that may be related to this request. There are no other responsive records to your request.
These records have been released to the Florida DCF Public Records Center.  Please log in to access the records.
Thank you for your patience in awaiting this information.
Sincerely,

Office of the General Counsel
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center. (https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=nZGH0ylxadMp5hTpNkeAFli3hic1CLpRspZZQ86kiDFdWl1qwDUS4UL9PPMUbklVNtq7t0sPwwtqLHSWLpKT1NRu-2B4LzLMNau4ZAmRE0itYG-2FlWenRgQZ-2F7vmHKfd2tA98VA_zXqym5d-2BMyZN4iaIwgsau397PEP7cyYEYnWWQkDFuYsoeMJ3O7zEo9vCdpq9o18Z-2B-2BfXVk51n9wbgrLz4JQenSB9m1U6Fgu4NviVmA5eb6k6ZrJnu50IsKmuiPFk6-2B8jiU3BXdkHIhskBJ1Is5cNcFBcH5Tr0yhh-2BEw-2BeJGkl7n30zIFQMM5ppTN6Hcb4u-2F7-2B6l1CWtRAnvXZhXvv0wGJs4tiuZpMohrgL-2FSE5fB-2BdkWynbTy6XD-2Fo-2BkVu4eD2oUapd6b3OkUbbOsv64l8rtOfK9ue8HCYPnQUtl508176yIo8eUiFjvfAzS8fVCaTCH-2FwsggfQZzadV-2BhhQx9GDnUCUMsObXZjmLdhkSe3HSHFNs-2BTsSuTVJHP-2BIp-2BoMLDkJoOxTM9rMaH5CINgQ1fWrA-3D-3D)

Hello,

Unfortunately your email was not recognized and has not been routed accordingly.  Please be advised that if you wish to submit a new request or check on the status of an already submitted request, you should visit the Description: TO: "Public Records Center (Florida DCF)"[fldcfs@mycusthelp.net]

Department of Children and Families
SL Office
Building 1, Room 202
1317 Winewood Boulevard
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700
June 16, 2021
This is a follow up to a previous request:
Hello,
Would it be possible to send the documents via email attachment? I'm having trouble logging into the portal on all browsers.
Thank you!
Todd
View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
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MuckRock News
DEPT MR 111827
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PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
---
On June 16, 2021:
Subject: Public Records Request :: P052645-061621

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

Please see the attached. Thank you.

Elizabeth Floyd
Assistant General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Department of Children and Families
2415 North Monroe Street, Suite 100
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
Office: (850) 488-4119
Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com<mailto:Elizabeth.Floyd@myflfamilies.com>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any attachments thereto, constitute an “electronic communication” within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C.A. §2510, and disclosure of these contents is limited to the recipient(s) intended by the sender of this message. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the information contained in this electronic message may be legally privileged and confidential, and is, in fact, intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed above. Confidentiality may, without limitation, be based upon the Lawyer-Client Privilege, the Work-Product Doctrine, or the Mediation Privilege (see Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947), §§ 44.405, 90.408, 90.502, 119.071, and 119.0714<tel:119.0714>, Fla. Stat.). It is not the intent of the author of this communication to voluntarily disclose any privileged information to any person who is not the intended recipient of this communication. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of its components is strictly prohibited. NOTICE REGARDING DESIGNATED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: The e-mail address from which this communication was sent is for correspondence only. It may have not been designated for service of documents and pleadings and any attempted service will be considered a nullity, unless the address has been specifically designated for service in a specific case. UNLESS PRIVILEGED, EXCLUDED, OR EXEMPTED, THIS COMMUNICATION AND ANY RESPONSE(S) MAY BE A PUBLIC RECORD SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 119, FLA. STAT.