Hackney AI to Help Families

Artificial intelligence computer programme now being used to identify families that require extra support sooner than later.

14:40 13 March 2018

Hackney Council and tech company Xantura have teamed up to launch the Early Help Predictive System that uses artificial intelligence to identify families that may benefit from extra support from the government. Its goal is to provide support to families that need them as early as possible to prevent the need for high-cost and high-risk services later on.

 

Steve Liddicott, head of service for children and young people at Hackney council, said that after two years of testing the software “we’re now getting to the stage where we are using it monthly to generate a list of between 10 and 20 families where we think there is evidence of future concern.”

 

The AI takes data by looking at areas, such as debt, unemployment, housing, anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, and school attendance to create a profile of need for families.

 

With AI being used in all industries whether its helping predict future economy shifts or eyeing out promo code for Virgin Games, AI has a central role in future generations.

 

“It is not necessarily sending a social worker around to see the family, it is about looking at how they could best utilise the support they are already getting,” Liddicott explains.

 

The council reports there have been early interventions triggered in response to alerts the new system has generated.