Is the Government Really in Control of Its Algorithms?
Clumsy decisions made by software are leading to calls for automation to be audited
Elizabeth Brico’s daughters were removed from her custody in April 2018, in part, she believes, because of an algorithm.
Brico was living with her in-laws in Florida while her husband grappled with mental health issues. While they didn’t always get along, a tense peace had held. But when arguments threatened to boil over, Brico took a short trip to Miami to let things cool down.
“I had my phone on me and remained in text/phone contact with my in-laws, but shortly before returning they called the child abuse hotline and reported that I had disappeared without contact to use drugs,” says Brico, who has been in pharmacotherapy and counseling for five years for previous substance abuse. “My mother-in-law told them I was a heroin addict. I’d given birth to Anabelle while on prescribed methadone in Florida, so there was a record of my OUD treatment. The investigator made no attempt to contact me. She filed for a shelter petition and I learned about it the evening before the court hearing.”
Brico believes that an algorithm unfairly reinforced historic factors in her case, which weighed heavily with those who made the decision to remove her…
