Structured Decision Making
Structured Decision Making (SDM) is a child-welfare case-management system that brings consistency to the most consequential decisions in a case — whether to investigate, whether a child is safe, how high the risk of future maltreatment is, what the family needs, and whether to close — by applying a standardized, research-based assessment tool at each of these decision points. Developed by the Children's Research Center (now Evident Change) around the actuarial-risk work of Christopher Baird, Dennis Wagner, and colleagues, SDM aims to reduce the wide variability and bias of unaided judgment and to target resources where they matter most.
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Sources
- Baird, C., Wagner, D., Healy, T., & Johnson, K. (1999). Risk assessment in child protective services: Consensus and actuarial model reliability. Child Welfare, 78(6), 723–748. link ↗
- Baird, C., & Wagner, D. (2000). The relative validity of actuarial- and consensus-based risk assessment systems. Children and Youth Services Review, 22(11–12), 839–871. DOI: 10.1016/S0190-7409(00)00122-5 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Structured Decision Making System for Child Welfare. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/social-work/structured-decision-making-child-welfare
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- Child Safety AssessmentSocial Work↔ compare
- Child Welfare Risk AssessmentSocial Work↔ compare
- Evidence-Based Practice ProcessSocial Work↔ compare
- Standardized Clinical CutoffSocial Work↔ compare