Child welfare predictive analytics systems
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | April 30, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act, 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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act, 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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
From: Department of Health and Human Services
On behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (“Department”), I am acknowledging your above-referenced request. The Department will produce the requested records to the extent that such records are “public records” as defined by the Freedom of Access Act (“FOAA””). To the extent that such records are confidential, otherwise protected from disclosure, not in the possession or custody of the Department or otherwise outside the scope of FOAA, however, the Department denies your request to inspect, copy or abstract such records.
The Department will strive to make public records available to you as soon as possible. Pursuant to FOAA, however, the Department requires a reasonable period to ascertain which of its records, or parts thereof, relate to your request, identify which records are subject to public inspection or copying, and determine which records, or portions thereof, are confidential, otherwise protected from disclosure, or otherwise outside the scope of FOAA. Also pursuant to FOAA, the Department will schedule inspection, translation and copying of responsive records to occur so as to not delay or inconvenience its regular activities. You may inspect public records, without charge for copying, if it is feasible to separate or prevent the disclosure of any confidential information contained in the records but otherwise you may be charged for retrieving, compiling, translation, and copying of responsive public records. Finally, within a reasonable period of time, the Department will provide you with a good faith, non-binding estimate of the time and cost of producing the requested records.
Kevin C. Wells
General Counsel
Department of Health and Human Services
109 Capitol Street, SHS 11
Augusta ME 04333
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized agent of the intended recipient then please immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy/delete all copies of the original message. Any review, use, copying, forwarding, disclosure, or distribution of this e-mail message by other than the intended recipient or authorized agent is strictly prohibited.
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~WRD0482
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Health and Human Services
In response to your request, please be advised that the Department has no records which are responsive to your request. More specifically, please be advised that the Department does not use any predictive analytics models in Child Welfare or any other service and therefore has are no current service, contracts, or internal process in place for any type of Child Welfare predictive analytics.
Kevin C. Wells
General Counsel
Department of Health and Human Services
109 Capitol Street, SHS 11
Augusta ME 04333
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized agent of the intended recipient then please immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy/delete all copies of the original message. Any review, use, copying, forwarding, disclosure, or distribution of this e-mail message by other than the intended recipient or authorized agent is strictly prohibited.
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