utilizing predictive modeling to improve policy through

UtilizingPredictiveModelingtoImprovePolicythroughImprovedTargetingofAgencyResources:

ACaseStudyonPlacementInstabilityamongFosterChildren

DallasJ.Elgin,Ph.D.IMPAQInternationalRandiWalters,Ph.D.CaseyFamilyPrograms

2016APPAMFallResearchConference

ImageCredit:TheStrengths Initiative

• Challenge:Governmentagenciesoperateinanenvironmentthatincreasinglyrequiresusinglimitedresourcestomeetnearlylimitlessdemands.

• Opportunity:Advancesincomputingtechnology&administrativedatacanbeleveragedviapredictivemodelingtopredictthelikelihoodoffutureevents

• Goal:Toprovideanimprovedunderstandingofthemethodology&identifyassociatedbestpractices

The Utility of Predictive Modeling for Government Agencies

• Processofselectingamodelthatbestpredictstheprobabilityofanoutcome(Geisser,1993),orgeneratinganaccurateprediction(Kuhn&Johnson,2013).

• Overthepastseveraldecades,predictivemodelinghasbeenutilizedinavarietyoffieldstopredictdiverseoutcomes

• Withinchildwelfare,predictivemodelshavebeenusedtoinformdecision-making:– Riskassessmentinstruments– Maltreatmentrecurrence,futureinvolvement,childfatalities

What is Predictive Modeling?

• Data: – 2013 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

(AFCARS)• Publicly-available dataset resembling administrative data

– Sample: 15,000 foster care children that were in care throughout 2013

• Operationalization: 3 or more moves, or a total of 4 placements (Hartnett, Falconnier, Leathers & Testa, 1999; Webster, Barth & Needell, 2000) – 11,649 children with 3 or fewer placements– 3,351 children with 4 or more placements

Case: Placement Instability

Methodological Approach: Data Partition Strategy

• The entire dataset of 15,000 children was split into 2 groups:– A training set used to train the models (75% of dataset= 11,250 children)– A test set used to validate the models (25% of dataset= 3,750 children)

Methodological Approach: Data Training Strategy• Train a collection of 10 models using the training set

• Utilize ROC Curves to evaluate how well the models calculate:1. The true-positive rate (sensitivity)2. The false-positive rate (specificity)

ModelType Model Interpretability ComputationTime

LinearDiscriminantAnalysisLogisticRegression High LowPartialLeastSquaresDiscriminantAnalysis High LowElasticNet/Lasso High Low

Non-LinearClassificationModelsK-NearestNeighbors Low HighNeuralNetworks Low HighSupportVectorMachines Low HighMultivariateAdaptiveRegressionSplines Moderate Moderate

Classification Trees&Rule-BasedModels

Classification Tree High HighBoostedTrees Low HighRandomForest Low High

Model Performance on the Test Set• 3 models with highest ROC scores were applied to the test set

(3,750 observations)

• Overall Accuracy= 87.8% - 87.9%– Less than 3 Moves= 90.1% - 90.2%– 4 or More Moves= 77.4% - 77.8%

NeuralNetworkModel4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves

4orMoreMoves 535 153Lessthan3Moves 302 2,759

RandomForestModel4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves


BoostedTreeModel4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves


Improving Model Accuracy• Iterative process involving: transforming variables, ‘fine-tuning’

model parameters, or combination of both• ‘Fine-Tuning’ parameters of the neural network model• Improved Overall Accuracy= 88.2%

Un-tunedNeuralNetworkModel4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves


TunedNeuralNetworkModel4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves


Improving Model Accuracy: Cost-Sensitive Tuning

• Considerable improvements in reducing false negatives, but at expense of notable increases in the number of false positives.

Classification TreewithNoCostPenalty4orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves Sensitivity Specificity

4orMoreMoves 515 181 0.615 0.938Lessthan3Moves 322 2,731

Classification TreewithCostPenaltyof24orMoreMoves Lessthan3Moves Sensitivity Specificity







4orMoreMoves 803 1,161 0.959 0.601Lessthan3Moves 34 1,751

1. Predictive Models Can Improve Upon, but Not Replace, Traditional Decision-Making Processes within Government Agencies.

2. Government Agencies Should Clearly Articulate the Methodological Approach and the Predictive Accuracy of their Models.

3. Consider Opportunities for Incorporating Community Engagement into the Predictive Modeling Process.

Best Practices for Designing & Implementing Predictive Models

~Questions & Feedback~

DallasElgin,[email protected]

RandiWalters,SeniorDirectorofKnowledgeManagementCaseyFamilyPrograms

• What is it? Occurs when a child in the care of a child welfare system experiences multiple moves to different settings

• Why does it matter?Placement instability can have significant consequences on children:– Greater risk for impaired development & psychosocial well-being– Greater uncertainty surrounding a child’s future– Greater likelihood of re-entry and/or emancipation

• Is it a big issue?25% of foster care children experience three or moves while in care (Doyle, 2007)

Placement Instability

Improving Model Accuracy: Cost-Sensitive Tuning

• False-negative predictions may be unacceptable as a failure to correctly identify placement instability could result in unnecessary exposure to adverse events

• Cost-sensitive models impose cost penalties to minimize the likelihood of false predictions

Data• 2013AdoptionandFosterCareAnalysisandReportingSystem

(AFCARS):Federaldataprovidedbythestatesonallchildreninfostercare

• Sample:15,000fostercarechildrenthatwereincarethroughout2013 77.66%ofChildrenin

theSamplehave3orfewermoves

22.34%ofChildrenintheSamplehave4ormoremoves

3 Highest Performing Models on the Training Set

• BoostedTrees:buildupontraditionalclassificationtreemodels– Fitaseriesofindependentdecisiontreesandthenaggregatethetreesto

formasinglepredictivemodel

• RandomForests:buildupontraditionalclassificationtreemodelsbyutilizingbootstrappingmethodstobuildacollectionofdecisiontrees– Considerationofsmallersubsetofpredictorsminimizesthelikelihoodofa

highdegreeofcorrelationamongmultipletrees

• NeuralNetworks:resemblethephysiologicalstructureofthehumanbrainornervoussystem– Usemultiple layers(oralgorithms)forprocessingpiecesofinformation

Linear Discriminant Analysis Models• Utilizelinearfunctionstocategorizeobservationsintogroupsbased

onpredictorcharacteristics• Examples:logisticregressions,partialleastsquaresdiscriminant

analysis,andElasticNet/Lassomodels• Thesemodelscommonlyhave:

– Highdegreeofinterpretability– Lowamountofcomputational time

Non-Linear Classification Models• Utilizenon-linearfunctionstocategorizeobservations

• Examples:k-nearestneighbors,neuralnetworks,supportvectormachines,andmultivariateadaptiveregressionsplines

• Thesemodelscommonlyhave:– Lowtomoderateinterpretability– Moderatetohighcomputational time

Classification Trees and Rule-Based Models• Utilizerulestopartitionobservationsintosmallerhomogenous

groups

• Examples:classificationtrees,boostedtrees,andrandomforests

• Thesemodelscommonlyhave:– Lowtohighinterpretability– Highdegreeofcomputational time

Model Performance on the Test Set

• 3modelswiththehighestROCvalueswereappliedtothetestsetof3,750children

Identifying Prominent Predictors

• Thecaretpackage’svariableimportancefeatureprovidesoneoptionforcharacterizingthegeneraleffectsofpredictorswithpredictivemodels

• Thefeaturewasranontheneuralnetwork,randomforest,andboostedtreemodelstoidentifythemostimportantvariables

VariableNameNeuralNetwork

RankingRandomForest

RankingBoostedTrees

RankingAverageRanking

DateofLatestRemoval 3 1 1 1.7BeginningDateforCurrentPlacementSetting 2 3 4 3.0DateofFirstRemoval 1 5 5 3.7Child'sDateofBirth 4 6 6 5.3EmotionallyDisturbedDiagnosis 8 11 8 9.0DischargeDateofChild's PreviousRemoval 5 12 11 9.3CurrentlyPlacedinNon-RelativeFosterHome 9 14 13 12.0CurrentlyPlacedinanInstitution 6 20 10 12.0NumberofDaysinCurrentPlacementSetting 36 4 3 14.3Female Child 16 17 18 17.0

utilizing predictive modeling to improve policy through

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