Missouri currently uses the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Risk Assessment as part of the SDM suite; however, the tool is outdated and no longer aligns with current practice expectations, family engagement best practices, or national guidance on risk identification and response. The current version does not clearly inform next steps for case planning or service intensity, and several items no longer reflect Missouri’s policy or the realities of family functioning today.
In Progress Tasks
January
- Conduct listening sessions with both Investigations and Family Centered Services teams
- Conduct listening sessions with identified stakeholders
Next Steps
February
- Collaborate to develop interim policy and procedures, and present to leadership
March
- Interim policy developed and finalized.
April
- Evident Change to complete analysis of transferred datasets and collaborate with Children's Division when clarification is needed
- Evident Change to produce a comprehensive report detailing data findings, themes, and key considerations
May
- Formal presentation of data findings and recommendations to Children's Divisions project leadership.
June
- Results shared with stakeholders; feedback collected to inform policy development and tool redesign
- Evident Change to provide Children's Division with a recommended approach for tool enhancement or redevelopment
- Detailed next-steps and development timeline created based on the selected approach
July 2026 – September 2027
- Complete final design update and customization
- Complete policy revision
- Training development for CD team members
- Frontline, Supervisor, Manager and Leadership Training
- Risk Assessment Automation and Certification
Completed Tasks
- 2025 - Quarter 4
October
- Created and validated the scope-of-work timeline with Evident Change, using chart-identified milestone ranges
- Completed the first round of data transfer and validation with Evident Change
- All relevant Missouri policy, memos, guidance, and procedural documents provided to Evident Change
November
- Provided a full data set to Evident Change
- Evident Change reviewed current risk assessment and reassessment processes to identify inconsistencies and areas for improvement
December
- Children's Division and Evident Change debriefed early findings and started conversations around immediate policy adjustments needed to stabilize practice
- 2025 - Quarter 3
August
- Submitted and processed research request
- Coded and prepared the required datasets
September
- Launched contract work and aligned expectations between Evident Change (EC) and Children's Division (CD)