Allegheny County Continuum of Care

Allegheny County Continuum of Care (CoC) is the network of services and stakeholders engaged in making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. Allegheny County CoC includes all of Allegheny County, the City of Pittsburgh, the City of McKeesport and the Municipality of Penn Hills. 

How the Continuum of Care Works

Homeless Advisory Board

The Homeless Advisory Board (HAB) is the working board of the Allegheny County CoC. Utilizing the expertise of its members, the HAB is responsible for planning, coordinating and operating a system within Allegheny County that meets the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Members of the HAB represent individuals who are homeless/formerly homeless, service agencies, planning and advocacy bodies, and funders.

HAB Committees

Five standing committees support the work of the HAB to supply advisory guidance and carry out its responsibilities. Ad hoc committees carry out special initiatives that focused efforts can best accomplish. Each HAB committee has two co-chairs, one representing the CoC-at-large and one HAB member. Co-chairs are responsible for setting the direction and agenda for the committee in accordance with HAB priorities and ensuring the correct membership mix is available for committee work.

The Role of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services

Delegated by the HAB, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) serves as the Infrastructure Organization and manages day-to-day administrative and operational responsibilities. In this role, DHS receives CoC funding and administers it to service providers. DHS also provides programmatic and fiscal oversight; operates and maintains both the Coordinated Entry System (through Allegheny Link) and the Homelessness Management Information System; monitors performance; provides data, research and reports; and staffs HAB meetings and initiatives.

Governance Charter

The  Allegheny County CoC Governance Charter (PDF, 637KB) summarizes the responsibilities and authorities for operation and governance of the Allegheny County CoC under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH Act).

Membership

Membership in the Allegheny County CoC is open to any individual interested in contributing to and productively shaping the delivery of homeless services. Continuum of Care members must annually attend at least one recognized meeting of the CoC (which includes CoC meetings or HAB committee meetings) and provide basic contact information.

Any member of the CoC can serve on a HAB committee. Every HAB committee has one co-chair who is a CoC member.

Each November, the HAB invites CoC members to join the HAB. Interested individuals may complete a nomination form for themselves or another person. The HAB Executive Committee first screens the nominations, and then the full HAB votes on the slate of proposed members at the subsequent January meeting.

To become a CoC member, please contact Hilary Scherer at  412-350-4938

Community Strategic Planning Process 

In late 2024, DHS and the HAB launched a planning process to develop a Strategic Improvement Plan to guide and strengthen the community’s homelessness response system. Between October 2024 and November 2025, more than 200 individuals contributed to this planning process through focus groups, interviews, site visits, meetings with many different organizations, input sessions, frontline listening sessions, committee and subcommittee meetings, and a survey.

These perspectives, combined with quantitative system data and national best practices, are shaping the priorities and strategies for the plan. The resulting five-year Strategic Improvement Plan (2026-2030) aims to prevent and end homelessness by (a) building upon current strengths within Allegheny County’s homelessness response system and (b) identifying and prioritizing the most important improvement opportunities.

The Strategic Improvement Plan to Address Homelessness in Allegheny County (PDF, 12MB) reflects the final plan adopted by the HAB.

Continuum of Care Documents

Questions or Feedback?

We welcome your questions and suggestions. To share feedback, you can reach us at DHSResearch@alleghenycounty.us. If you’d like to stay informed, consider signing up for our newsletter. To learn how to use DHS data in your research, please visit our Requesting Data page. Thank you for your time and interest. Your engagement helps shape and improve how we share data that matters.