DC Child and Family Services Agency to Use Artificial Intelligence in Support of Child Welfare Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. & SEATTLE–The District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) today announced that they have signed on to use Lyssn’s unique Artificial Intelligence platform to expand the use of Motivational Interviewing in the programs it delivers and funds. The platform provides the agency with an affordable, easy-to-scale way to deliver Motivational Interviewing training, provide immediate feedback to users, and offer detailed reporting, including reporting specifically focused on equity issues.
“At CFSA, we recognize the potential of artificial intelligence and believe it will be most impactful when tailored to the needs of our staff and those we serve”
Motivational Interviewing skill-building is a part of CFSA’s overall commitment to expand the use of evidence-based practices in its programs, including those funded by the Family First Prevention Services Act. The Family First act offers significant new funding for prevention services, with requirements to use evidence-based practices such as Motivational Interviewing.
“At CFSA, we recognize the potential of artificial intelligence and believe it will be most impactful when tailored to the needs of our staff and those we serve,” said Robert L. Matthews, Director, DC Child and Family Services Agency. “Incorporating technology into our practice supports and empowers social workers and community-based partners in their work and creates continuous opportunities to hone their Motivational Interviewing skills as they engage families. As we continue our intentional shift towards child and family well-being, we are committed to innovating to shape the future of child welfare practice in the District.”
Lyssn’s AI platform is built on the largest database of therapeutic interactions of its kind. It offers the most effective form of training: instruction, followed by practice, followed by direct feedback. While most programs offer only instruction, Lyssn AI gives clinicians and others the chance to practice their skills and then receive guidance on how to improve. In addition, the Lyssn AI platform allows comprehensive measurement and reporting not just of participation but of actual improvement in skills, as well as a comprehensive report on equity with regards to all of the population groups served by CFSA.
Lyssn CEO David Atkins, Ph.D., notes that child welfare services are a key part of the company’s DNA. “We have consciously and continuously worked with a diverse range of community and child welfare agencies since the early days of our research at Lyssn,” Atkins noted. “We want every child and family to have access to best support possible, which was also our motivation for creating a training tool – we understand that training is a continuous function in Child Welfare and wanted to have something available that made it simple and economical to do that.”
Among the first child welfare agencies to use Lyssn’s Training tools, CFSA represents a growing number of jurisdictions using Lyssn to support Family First programs. Lyssn currently supports two state-level Title IV-E Prevention Plans with its quality improvement platform, evaluating recordings to evaluate the use of evidence-based practice in actual interactions with families.
About the DC CFSA
The DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is the public child welfare agency in the District of Columbia responsible for improving the safety, permanence, and well-being of abused and neglected children in the District of Columbia and strengthening their families. For more information about CFSA, visit https://cfsa.dc.gov/ And follow CFSA on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
About Lyssn
Lyssn offers the only clinically validated AI platform capable of accurately assessing the use of evidence-based practices such as Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. With more than 54 metrics on everything from expressed empathy to open-ended questions to engagement and more, Lyssn’s AI can help practitioners of all kinds hone their skills, while empowering organizations to better support staff and programs overall to improve patient/client engagement and outcomes. Rooted in over a decade of scientific inquiry, Lyssn’s technology has been validated in over 50 peer-reviewed academic publications, and is in use in clinical, social services, academic, and population health settings across the US and in the UK. For more information about Lyssn, visit www.lyssn.io. And follow Lyssn on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @lyssn.io.
