AI in social care assessments: writing up the home visit, meeting the deadline, the decision with the assessor
Short answer
After a request under the Dutch Social Support Act the municipality has six weeks for the assessment and two for the decision. Many fail, mainly because of the writing after the home visit. AI can write up the conversation in the report structure, prepare the decision from the report and the by-law, and make the letter understandable. What AI does not do: decide how many hours of help someone gets. That weighing stays with the assessor.
The procedure and the squeeze
The Dutch Social Support Act 2015 prescribes the order: notification, an assessment in consultation with the resident and where possible the informal carer, a report, the application and the decision. The assessment covers the personal situation, what someone can do alone and with their network, and which tailored provision fits: domestic help, guidance, a home adaptation, an aid, transport. Councils in England, Germany and France run comparable needs assessments under their own care laws.
The squeeze is the writing. An hour at the kitchen table produces an assessment report of several pages that the resident must be able to read and on which the decision rests. With a shortage of assessors, reports pile up and deadlines pass.
Where AI helps
| Step | What AI does | What the assessor does |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Summarises earlier requests, provisions and the file, with sources | Sets the topics for the visit |
| Home visit | Writes up the recording in the fixed structure: situation, own capacity, network, general provisions, tailored support | Holds the conversation without a laptop between them and the resident |
| Assessment report | Draft in plain language, with the facts from the conversation | Checks, weighs and finalises |
| Decision | Draft with the right articles from the by-law and the reasoning from the report | Determines the provision and its extent |
| Deadlines | Tracks the six and two weeks per file | Steps in where it threatens to slip |
See Transcribing conversations with AI for recording with consent and deleting the recording after the write-up.
What stays with people
- The extent of the provision. How many hours of help, which adaptation, which transport: that is the weighing the courts scrutinise. A standards framework is fine; a model predicting hours from personal characteristics is not.
- The conversation itself. The value of the home visit lies in what the assessor sees and hears. AI writes up; it does not replace.
- Objections. A decision must survive objection and appeal. The reasoning comes from the report, not from the model. See AI in administrative objections.
- Data. Health, family, finances, housing: everything in a care file is sensitive. Process it in an environment of the authority, never in a public tool.
See also AI in social services.
How werqly fits in
With werqly the write-up runs on the authority’s own node, with the by-law and policy rules as sources and a dedicated role for the care team. Transcription runs in the same environment. The audit log shows which conversation and which by-law version were used for which decision. See AI for local government.
Frequently asked questions
Questions on this topic
May AI record and write up the home visit?
Yes, with explanation and consent from the resident, in an environment of the authority, and with deletion of the recording after the write-up. The assessor checks the report before it goes to the resident.
Can AI decide how many hours of domestic help someone gets?
No. The extent is tailored support the assessor weighs, possibly with an objective standards framework. A model deriving hours from personal characteristics is a decision on access to a public service and therefore high-risk under the AI Act.
What deadlines apply under the Dutch Social Support Act?
The assessment after a notification takes at most six weeks. After the application the municipality has two weeks for the decision. AI mainly helps meet the six weeks by speeding up the writing after the visit.
Is a care assessment report suitable for a public AI tool?
No. A report contains health, family situation and often finances. These are special categories of data that may only be processed in an environment of the authority.
Sources
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and guidance change; check the sources listed or ask your lawyer or DPO if in doubt.