This is an excerpt. The full article will appear in Volume 34, Number 2 of Children’s Voice, to be published in March 2025.

 

by Danielle Nabinger 

 With limited hours and bandwidth, families who foster, child welfare agency (CWA) staff, and service providers can face an intense battle against time, juggling critical responsibilities essential for child safety and family support. The challenge of managing these demands has persisted for decades and only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the successful deployment of virtual assistance in various industries, the potential to streamline and enhance child welfare operations through virtual assistance remains largely untapped. Isn’t it time to harness the power of virtual assistance for child welfare? 

Addressing Challenges in Child Welfare
Caseworkers are burdened with high caseload counts; this makes it challenging to maintain meaningful contact with families within a typical 40-hour workweek (Casey Family Programs, 2023). Providers often are limited to only a few hours weekly to meet with the children and families they serve—barely enough time to sustain progress from one session to the next. Families involved with child welfare must manage child care, home maintenance, and personal commitments alongside the added stress and time commitment of child welfare meetings or court hearings.  

 The work of child welfare staff also is demanding. Administrative burdens, such as extensive documentation and compliance requirements, consume a considerable portion of staff energy, leaving less time for direct engagement with families. The emotional toll of witnessing and addressing the trauma and hardships experienced by children and families can lead to secondary trauma and compassion fatigue (Administration for Children and Families, n.d.; University of Kentucky College of Social Work, 2021). Additionally, the constant pressure to ensure the safety and well-being of children, combined with insufficient resources and support, often results in burnout and high turnover rates among staff (Fuseini, 2024).  

Key challenges identified by child welfare workers include:  

  • Navigating responsibilities and scrutiny: Both families and caseworkers can face intense pressures from regulatory bodies, the public, and other stakeholders, adding complexity to child welfare management. 
  • Limited time and high number of caseloads: Caseworkers struggle to provide focused attention to each case due to overwhelming caseload numbers and limited available time. 
  • Emotional strain and staff turnover: The demanding nature of the work and poor work-life balance leads to high rates of burnout and frequent staff turnover. 
  • Trauma experience and witnessing complex family dynamics: Many children, families, and caseworkers involved in the child welfare system have experienced trauma themselves, complicating their own emotional and psychological well-being and making assisting families challenging.

 AI and the Child Welfare Workforce
In recent years, AI—technologies that use computers to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence and involvement—has begun to revolutionize the way in which certain tasks are performed. In finance, for instance, AI performs automated trading and fraud detection, processing vast amounts of data at speeds unattainable by humans (Angarola & Placeres, 2023); in customer service, AI-powered virtual assistants handle inquiries, enhancing customer satisfaction with immediate responses (Jobanputra, 2024).  

Building on these advancements, GoMo Health, a New Jersey-based consumer engagement company focusing on behavioral science, technology, and wellness, is using AI and the latest research in human motivation and brain development to enhance virtual assistance in health care and child welfare. The GoMo Health Virtual Assistant program works by meeting users where they are and supporting them through information sharing, enhancing decision-making skills, and guidance toward achievable actions. The program offers numerous benefits for child welfare staff and families involved in the child welfare system, providing consistent engagement, real-time connections, and proactive interventions. It supports various needs through a structured process, beginning with the enrollment of specific groups and continuing with tailored support based on individual feedback.  

 The program also connects health and social service providers—both clinical and non-clinical—to facilitate direct referrals as needed. This integration ensures that families receive support aligned with their specific needs. To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the virtual assistant program, a user-friendly reporting center is available. This center compiles data and metrics related to key performance indicators (KPIs), providing insights into the impact of the program on enhancing family support, improving response times, and creating better outcomes within the child welfare system. 

 The Virtual Assistant program works to:  

  • Foster resilience and positive youth development 
  • Improve family and social connections 
  • Increase resource awareness and utilization 
  • Reduce health care costs 
  • Reduce emergency department (ED) visits 
  • Enhance beneficiary/provider satisfaction 
  • Improve care coordination efficiency 
  • Centralize communication and support 
  • Deliver timely, personalized interventions 
  • Cultivate mental and emotional resilience through continuous engagement 

The Science Behind the Virtual Assistant Program
 The program utilizes a personalized science of engagement, BehavioralRx®, to deliver specified, evidence-based, informed interventions, enhancing engagement and outcomes. This approach uses behavioral psychology to foster trust and encourage healthier behaviors, and cognitive neuroscience to help develop lasting habits through timely support. 

BehavioralRx science supports the Virtual Assistant program by encouraging new behaviors through short, focused content that aligns with natural learning processes. This continuous engagement helps form new neural pathways, turning positive behaviors into automatic responses. The personalized messages, care content, and support strategies are tailored to individual needs, promoting sustained behavior changes. 

 The program supports these changes by providing personalized guidance in real time. Using AI and secure messaging, the program delivers tailored interventions and reminders, ensuring timely support. Continuous engagement means regular communication, which supports keeping individuals on track with their CWA goals. The addition of psychosocial support reduces stress and feelings of isolation, boosting motivation and resilience.  

By applying BehavioralRx science to foster care, welfare, and social services using the Virtual Assistant program, the quality of life for staff, caregivers, and youth within these systems can be enhanced. This science supports family unit preservation, prevents out-of-home placements, and assists caregivers with health knowledge and early intervention tools.  

This article is an excerpt.

Danielle Nabinger is a leader in child welfare, specializing in strategy, planning, policy development, and systems improvement, with over 30 years of experience. For the last decade, she has consulted for Amerigroup Community Cares of Georgia, advising executive leadership on program design, strategy, and community engagement to enhance safety, permanency, and well-being for children in foster care, adoption assistance, and select juvenile justice programs. Previously, Danielle was the Director of Permanency for Fulton County, managed child welfare outcomes, and worked as a data administrator for the Division of Family and Children Services under the Kenny A. Consent Decree. She has also provided consulting and training on child welfare across multiple states for the National Resource Center on Child Maltreatment. Danielle earned a BA from Bucknell University and an MSW in administration, policy, and planning from Rutgers University.