Description:

Racial disparities are well documented across many social service systems, but the evidence base specific to adult protective services (APS) remains thin. This session examines what is currently known about racial disparities in APS and presents findings from Minnesota’s work with Evident Change to analyze how its Structured Decision Making® (SDM) intake and screening process functions across racial and ethnic groups. Presenters will walk through why Minnesota pursued this analysis, what the data revealed about consistency (or inconsistency) in screening decisions, and the questions that remain unanswered about how disparities emerge and how they affect frontline practice. The session closes with a practitioner panel reflecting on whether these patterns match what they see in their own jurisdictions and discussing concrete approaches to reducing inequity in screening. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how standardized decision-making tools can be used to surface disparities, and with practical starting points for examining equity in their own intake processes.