Allegheny County, like much of Western Pennsylvania, is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic and it is vitally important that County residents have access to the best and most effective treatment to support their recovery from opioid use disorders. Medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, combines medication and counseling/behavioral therapy and, when clinically appropriate, is a standard of care in the treatment of opioid use disorders. Research has proven MAT to be highly effective in improving recovery outcomes and reducing criminal behavior and risk of infectious disease.

The Allegheny County Departments of Health and Human Services, together with Allegheny HealthChoices, Inc. and Community Care Behavioral Health, issued a Joint Position Statement on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders in Allegheny County, describing their expectations for contracted treatment providers and others who encounter or serve individuals with opioid use disorders. It states that every person entering substance use treatment for opioid use is entitled to the opportunity to learn about and consider MAT as a treatment option. It is intended to dispel ambiguity and should be understood as a clear statement in support of an effective treatment continuum that includes MAT.

Click here to view the full joint position statement.

An involuntary commitment is an application for emergency evaluation and treatment for a person who is considered to be a danger to self or others due to symptoms of a mental illness. In Allegheny County, petitions for involuntary commitment are managed and authorized by the Department of Human Services (DHS), through its Mental Health Information, Referral and Emergency Services (IRES) 24-hour phone line.

This report presents an analysis of all involuntary commitment petitions received by DHS from 2002 through 2013, during which time petitions were filed on 37,750 individuals, most commonly involving teens and young adults. African Americans experienced higher rates at almost every age and men experienced higher rates than women of the same race.

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Click here to view a related data visualization.

An initial assessment is often a client’s first service experience, and, as such, it plays a major role in the perception, comfort and outcomes of the service. Simultaneously, the assessment can set the tone for the eventual outcomes of the  This report describes the process of adapting and/or developing common assessments for use in Allegheny County, the implementation process, and the impact on consumer engagement and service delivery.

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The high percentage of inmates with mental health and/or substance use issues presents significant challenges to the correctional system. Untreated behavioral health issues contribute to higher rates of recidivism as well as a myriad of other barriers to successful community re-entry. To begin to address these challenges, the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative convened a workgroup to review behavioral health services available in the Allegheny County Jail, identify gaps and challenges, and create “maps” of the service navigation process.

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Fiscal Year 2012/2013 saw the implementation of the Human Services Block Grant in Allegheny County, which combined a 10 percent decrease in funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (now the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services) with greater flexibility in how those funds could be spent. The local planning process included community involvement and an innovative Call for Concepts process.

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Focus groups with youth and caregivers identified a number of concerns about the way in which psychotropic medications were prescribed to youth in a child welfare out-of-home placement. A quantitative analysis by Community Care Behavioral Health indicated that youth in child welfare placement and on medical assistance were about two and a half times more likely to be taking at least one psychotropic medication that their peers who were not in placement.  Recommendations to address these issues are included in this report.

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Three events were held throughout May and June of 2011, designed to bring together youth and families from a number of DHS children and youth-serving systems. A description and evaluation of each event are included in this report.

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In 2008, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services hired four Youth Support Partners (YSP), young adults with lived experiences in human services, to serve as positive role models and peer supports for young people involved in the system. From that beginning, the Youth Support Partners program has expanded to include a manager, four supervisors and 15 YSPs. The YSPs have developed effective relationships with the youth while earning the respect of colleagues and others involved in the lives of the youth (e.g., judges, caseworkers and providers).

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This report summarizes the development, implementation and evaluation of a crisis intervention training program designed to teach police officers how to identify and intervene appropriately and safely with individuals with mental illness.

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This report describes Allegheny County’s criminal justice case review process, including factors that have contributed to its success and proposed solutions to ongoing issues.

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DHS is committed to meeting the human services needs of county residents, particularly the county’s most vulnerable populations, through an extensive range of prevention, early intervention, crises management and after–care services. While system involvement is sometimes inevitable, necessary and highly beneficial to consumers, DHS believes that preventing the need for such system interventions can ultimately result in safer, healthier and more cost–effective alternatives for consumers and for the region at–large.

This report begins by presenting a framework for prevention in the human ser­vices field. It then goes on to classify and catalog all prevention efforts across DHS, including program descriptions and other key pieces of information that are important to understanding the evaluation status and priorities of each program or service.

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RESPOND is an intensive treatment program designed to serve youth whose multiple needs (intellectual disability and significant behavioral challenges) are not able to be met through DHS’s current array of services. RESPOND operates on a collaborative model that integrates effective clinical treatment with principles of psychiatric rehabilitation, applied behavior analysis and community support programs. This report was prepared in order to examine – through evaluation of program data, interviews with caregivers and professional supports, and analysis of service and cost data – whether the program’s goals are being achieved.

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Starting Early Together, a program of Allegheny County’s System of Care Initiative, was designed to serve children under six with serious emotional disturbances, and their families, in four high-need Allegheny County communities. The program combined service coordination with formal family supports, and was intended to transform the mental health system for children and families and its relationship to early intervention, child welfare, child care and family support. Focus groups were held to determine the strengths of the program as well as any service gaps. The results of the focus groups, and related recommendations, are included in this report.

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This analysis uses summary violations and criminal convictions to compare recidivism rates of graduates of the Allegheny County Mental Health Court, which was established in 2001 to address the needs of people with mental illness and/or substance use disorders in judicial proceedings.

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This profile of the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood (and subsequent Addendum) was compiled by DHS to assess demographic changes and examine quality of life issues-poverty, education, health care-in Homewood and in the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to accurately assess the community’s assets and needs.

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Click here to read the addendum report.