Arizona Dept of Child Safety: Transforming Welfare with Tech

Technology has the power to innovate, but what isn’t talked about as much is its power to affect real change. That is exactly what the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) is hoping to convey via its overall digital strategy as a department. 

Formed to replace its predecessor organisation in 2014, DCS provides services and resources to strengthen families and ensure the safety and well-being of children. Over the past decade, DCS has evolved as an organisation and by 2023, it reduced the number of children in care to the state’s lowest level in 15 years. 

Part of this transformation can be attributed to the way the department has leveraged technology to improve outcomes for children and families across the state. 

Frank Sweeney, Chief Information Officer of the DCS, explains how the organisation is using technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform child welfare services and improve overall outcomes for families across the state of Arizona.

“We’re responsible for implementing IT solutions that support the department’s mission, whether that’s by ensuring our systems are secure, streamlining case management, or using data to make more informed decisions,” Frank explains. 

“At the end of the day, it’s not just about the tech—it’s about finding solutions that help our frontline staff do their jobs better and give families the support they need,” he adds. “I see myself as someone who’s here to help guide those efforts and bring out the best in the people I work with.”

Making technology the focus

DCS’s purpose is to protect Arizona’s most vulnerable children. It not only provides services to support families in need, but also investigates reports of child abuse and neglect, intervening when necessary to protect those at risk.

It also focuses on prevention by offering resources and programmes designed to help strengthen families and keep them in safe environments. 

“What makes DCS unique is that we’re not just dealing with the immediate issues; we’re looking at the long-term picture,” Frank says.

During his tenure with DCS, Frank has seen technology take a much more central role in how the department operates. 

“When I first started, technology was more of a back-office function,” he says. “Now, it’s integral to everything we do. From improving data sharing across agencies to enabling remote work and telecommunication, we’ve embraced tech as a key driver of efficiency and better outcomes.”

One of the largest shifts for DCS is how it uses data to support decision-making. Significantly, the department has moved from siloed data systems to a much more integrated approach, allowing its caseworkers to use more real-time insights to make faster and better decisions for the families it works with.

“On top of that, security has become a huge priority for us,” says Frank. “We’ve had to adopt stronger measures to protect sensitive data, especially as cyber threats have become more sophisticated. 

“The introduction of cloud technologies and the push toward automation has been a game changer for us too, helping streamline operations and allowing our teams to focus more on what really matters, which is supporting families.”

Navigating current digital trends

Currently, one of the largest and most significant trends impacting DCS in Arizona is the global continued shift towards digital transformation. Already, businesses and organisations around the world are relying on technology to bolster their services and their insights, in addition to improving customer experience.

For Frank, this technological progress is a double-edged sword. 

“Although it offers incredible opportunities to improve efficiency and outcomes, it also raises concerns around data security and privacy, especially given the sensitive nature of the information we handle,” he says.

“Our caseworkers need accurate, up-to-date information to make the best decisions for the kids and families they’re working with, so we’ve been focusing on improving data accessibility while making sure we maintain strong safeguards.”

One of the most significant challenges that DCS has faced is moving away from its legacy systems that weren’t built to handle today’s complex digital systems. Frank explains that its siloed data and outdated processes made it more challenging for the department’s workforce to gain a comprehensive understanding of each individual case.

“Balancing tight budgets with the increasing demand for services has required us to get creative about how we deploy technology and staff to maximise impact,” he explains, adding: “The shift to more modern, integrated systems has been essential but also complex. Balancing security concerns while migrating sensitive data to the cloud, ensuring smooth interoperability across systems, and maintaining constant availability for frontline workers, have all been key challenges we’ve had to navigate.”

Part of this change has inevitably been the AI boom. As the technology helps organisations digitise documents and automate routine tasks, it enables workers to focus on complex tasks and be more innovative.

To this end, DCS has used AI to analyse large sets of data to identify patterns that help prioritise cases or to flag potential risks early on. Whilst these processes are still in their early stages, the potential for AI to further streamline processes is exciting to the department, as Frank explains. 

“It has been a game changer in identifying patterns and risks early on,” he says. “While it’s still developing, AI can help us spot trends in data that we might have missed and give caseworkers the insights they need to act more quickly,” he says.

He adds: “We’re exploring how to better leverage AI to enhance decision-making and predict outcomes, while ensuring we maintain ethical standards. Technology allows us to be proactive rather than reactive, which is crucial when time is of the essence. 

“We also regularly audit our systems to ensure that AI is being used as a tool for good-enhancing decision-making, not replacing the human judgement that is so critical in this work.

“All of this adds up to better outcomes for the children and families we serve. The key will be to evolve our AI usage responsibly, making sure it’s accurate, unbiased and aligned with our mission of serving children and families.”

Adopting a data-driven approach

DCS sees technology developments as having improved its services, which in turn has bolstered child safety within the state of Arizona. 

“Technology has fundamentally changed how we approach child safety,” Frank notes. “This is critical when we’re dealing with children in crisis, where every minute counts. We’ve improved our ability to track trends and spot early warning signs that can lead to preventive action. 

“By streamlining communication and providing secure access to case information from anywhere, we’ve made it easier for staff to collaborate across agencies, leading to better outcomes for the children and families we serve.”

Adopting a data-driven approach has helped DCS leverage strategies such as predictive analytics to better understand the needs of children and families and match them with the service most appropriate for them.

“Instead of relying on fragmented information, we now have integrated data systems that give us a fuller picture of each case,” Frank says. “This allows us to make better, faster decisions when it comes to placing children in safe environments or connecting families with the support they need. 

“The use of data has also helped us identify patterns of risk earlier, which means we can intervene sooner.”

A significant part of this data-led strategy is leveraging data analytics and digital tools to ensure those working within DCS are able to better understand where resources are needed most. Part of this sees the department tracking trends within its data to be more proactive in its outreach and securing digital channels to communicate with families to ensure they are being supported.

“This allows us to follow up more efficiently and keep families engaged, especially in rural or harder-to-reach areas,” Frank explains. 

Automating workflows to enhance processes

DCS’s partnership with leading technology company IBM has been an integral part of its digital transformation strategy. With its technology prowess, IBM has helped DCS advance its technology infrastructure by providing digital solutions.

“They have also helped us rethink how we use data and systems to improve outcomes for the children and families we serve,” Frank explains. “It’s not just a vendor relationship—it’s a collaboration that has allowed us to drive meaningful changes in how we operate.”

Data analytics is one area in which IBM’s technology has been invaluable to DCS, helping it integrate data from multiple sources and turn this into actionable insights. 

“This has improved everything from case management to decision making, enabling our caseworkers to access the right information at the right time,” Frank notes. 

He adds: “IBM has also helped us scale and develop our comprehensive child welfare information systems, making them more flexible and secure. This has been essential, especially as we continue to navigate remote work environments and the need for real-time access to data.

“With IBM’s support, we’ve been able to automate workflows and improve the efficiency of our operations while ensuring that data security and privacy remain a top priority.”

Keeping families as the heartbeat

Looking ahead, DCS is eager to continue to enhance its data integration efforts in its work across Arizona. According to Frank, its top priorities remain ensuring that its caseworkers and decision-makers are able to access real-time, comprehensive data across all systems.

“We want to make our caseworker’s jobs easier by continuing to streamline and automate workflows, giving them more time to focus on the families they’re working with, rather than being bogged down by administrative tasks,” he says. 

“We’re also focused on strengthening our cybersecurity framework, given the sensitivity of the information we handle. As we move more services to the cloud, ensuring that our systems are secure while remaining accessible is a major priority.”

For DCS, demonstrating impact is critical. When it comes to investing in technology, the department is planning to track a range of metrics, including improving its response times and case resolution rates to boost the quality of its services.

Frank says: “One of the ways we can do this is by using data analytics to provide clear, measurable results that show how tech is directly influencing child welfare outcomes. By sharing real-world examples, we can show how tools like AI, automation and enhanced data systems are making a tangible difference. 

“Ultimately, it’s about making sure that every investment we make in technology is driving us closer to our mission of protecting children and supporting families in the best way possible.”

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