Decision support for child-welfare investigations

Sound, defensible decisions about children — without more admin.

Family Barometer helps social workers and child-welfare investigators weigh risk and protective factors using research-based models, document in a structured way, and reach consistent decisions — throughout the investigation.

Family Barometer is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Developed together with research
Lund University Linköping University SWPS University Forte
Weighted assessmentCase 2043 · draft
Protective factors
7
supportive network, schooling
Risk factors
4
2 flagged as acute
The challenge

Investigations about children are decisive — and hard to make equitable.

The decisions are far-reaching, time is short and the evidence is scattered. The difference between caseworkers must never decide a child’s safety.

Time pressure

High caseloads and short lead times make it hard to weigh in everything known about the child and the family.

Arbitrariness

Without a shared structure, assessments risk varying between caseworkers, daily form and experience.

Documentation

Compiling and reporting take time away from what matters — meeting the child and the family.

How it works

A structured, transparent basis — all the way from conversation to decision.

Family Barometer follows the course of the investigation and makes every step traceable, so the conclusion can always be explained.

Step 01

Collect

Enter observations from conversations, meetings and documents. Optional note-taking and transcription support captures what is said, so you can stay present.

Step 02

Analyse

Research-based models weigh risk and protective factors into a clear, transparent picture — with rationales you can review and adjust.

Step 03

Decide & document

Get support with prioritisation and decisions, plus finished, consistent documentation that follows the structure — with no double work.

Video

See Family Barometer in action.

A short walkthrough of how an investigation takes shape — from data collection and analysis to decision and finished documentation.

Family Barometer — product film Click to play
Features

Built for legal certainty, equity and less admin.

Research-based models

The assessment is built on established models for risk and protective factors — not on gut feeling.

Transparent & traceable

Every conclusion can be traced back to its evidence. Nothing hidden behind a number.

Consistency between caseworkers

A shared structure gives more even assessments regardless of who runs the investigation.

Less admin

Documentation and reporting are produced from the work you already do — not as an extra step.

Secure handling

Data is processed in accordance with GDPR, stored within the EU.

Flexible deployment

Get started on the web or in the app, and adapt it to your organisation’s routines.

Research

Built on research — developed with those who understand child vulnerability best.

Family Barometer is developed in collaboration with researchers in psychology and social work at Lund and Linköping universities, grounded in established research on risk and protective factors.

Lund University Linköping University SWPS University Forte
“A child’s protection should rest on what we know — not on who happens to be running the investigation.”
The premise behind Family Barometer
Pilot study

What the research shows so far.

In an experimental pilot study, ten practising social workers carried out the same simulated custody investigation — once traditionally and once with AI support. The difference lay in how the assessment was produced, not in the case itself.

More detailed assessments

The AI-supported risk assessments were considerably more detailed than those done traditionally.

Shorter writing time

At the same time they took less time to write — more documentation at a lower time cost.

Highly rated by users

On a 5-point scale, the social workers rated the AI support consistently high.

Experience of the AI support — mean scores on a 5-point scale AI group · N = 10 · pilot study
Cognitive support
4.6
Efficiency in the work process
4.6
Reflection & alternative interpretations
4.4
Confidence & acceptance
4.4
Trust & transparency
4.2
Influence over the assessment
4.2
05
Participants’ own words about the AI support
ProfessionalObjectiveAnalyticalStructuredSupportiveClearly explainedEfficientFastConciseEasy to read

The results come from an experimental pilot study (N = 10, the same simulated case in both conditions). The next step is validation in real cases with ethical approval.

Compliance & security

Support for professionals — not a medical device.

Family Barometer is a documentation and decision-support tool for social work. It makes no diagnoses and never replaces the professional’s judgement — the decision is always yours.

GDPR Data stored in the EU ISO/IEC 27001:2022-based security work Encryption at rest MFA & role-based access Full audit log

Our information-security work (ISMS) is built to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, with documented procedures for personal data, incident handling and access. Family Barometer is not a medical device and requires no CE marking.

Pricing

Pricing tailored to your organisation.

Family Barometer is priced per organisation based on the number of users and scope. Get in touch and we’ll put together a proposal — and set up a focused, no-obligation pilot.

Start a pilot with your team.

See how Family Barometer works on your cases — book a demo or run a focused pilot in your organisation.

Contact

Book a demo, start a pilot or request a quote.

Fill in the form and we’ll get back to you shortly. You can also email us directly at hello@familybarometer.com.

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