Structural equation modeling the use of a risk assessment instrument in child protective services

Risk assessment instruments have been developed to help human service workers identify risk factors associated with abusive families. Many such instruments have been incorporated into management information systems in the form of Decision Support Systems (DSS). This paper reports findings from a case study that evaluated a risk assessment instrument as a decision support tool. Respondents considered “usefulness” of the information a more important factor than how easy the system was to use, the configuration of reports or whether the system was up or not. Focus groups were used to explore how to increase the usefulness of the information.