Season 7 Episode 5: AI in Child Protection: Can Technology Make Social Work Safer?

Artificial intelligence is already in social work and child protection, and its use is deepening. The question is: How safe, effective, and equitable is it? 

In this episode, David and Ruth talk with Dr. LaSharia Turner and Dr. Helen Fischle from Alabama A&M University about what ethical, human-centered, AI-driven tech should look like in social work education and frontline practice.

As agencies face workforce shortages, austerity, high caseloads, and increasing complexity, technology is being introduced as a solution. But can AI actually support domestic violence–informed practice when child safety is on the line? Or does it risk automating bias, victim-blaming, erasing survivor context, and shifting responsibility away from systems and perpetrators as parents?

We explore:

• What “human-centered” AI really means in child welfare
• The risks of predictive tools and automation
• Why social workers must have a seat at the technology table
• How to prevent tech from increasing survivor and worker burden
• The future of ethical innovation in high-stakes systems

If you work in child protection, domestic violence services, family courts, behavioral health, or policy, this conversation is for you.

Technology should enhance professional judgment—not replace it.

Send us Fan Mail

Now available! Mapping the Perpetrator’s Pattern: A Practitioner’s Tool for Improving Assessment, Intervention, and Outcomes The web-based Perpetrator Pattern Mapping Tool is a virtual practice tool for improving assessment, intervention, and outcomes through a perpetrator pattern-based approach. The tool allows practitioners to apply the Model’s critical concepts and principles to their current case load in real

Check out David Mandel's new book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence.

Visit the Safe & Together Institute website.

Start taking Safe & Together Institute courses.

Check out Safe & Together Institute upcoming events.