From June 2018 to December 2020, the Urban Institute conducted a systemwide assessment of the system response in Allegheny County, PA to intimate partner violence (IPV) to better understand the system as a whole and operations of some key agencies

What is this report about ?

Urban Institute presents the findings from their systemwide assessment. The goals of this assessment were to 1) examine how IPV cases enter the justice and child welfare systems in Allegheny county, 2) analyze agencies’ processes for responding to IPV and 3) recommend ways the county can improve responses to IPV.

What are the recommendations?

  • Have county leaders prioritize IPV
  • Shift the focus from case outcomes to people’s experiences, especially during early encounters with formal services.
  • Reinstate and sustain IPV-focused fatality reviews and ensure they embrace a non-blaming culture.
  • Establish a specialized IPV unit in the Allegheny County Public Defender office
  • Differentiate IPV from DV throughout all systems.
  • Record survivor information consistently and securely share it when possible.
  • Prioritize and improve referrals to batterers’ intervention programs
  • Create a mechanism to consistently track aggressors’ and survivors’ experiences at system entry points.

 

How is this report being used?

The county executive and Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh created an IPV Reform Leadership task force in May 2022 to actively work on addressing these recommendations and improving the system.

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Progress Towards Building an Affirming and Supportive Child Welfare System: Findings from an Institutional Analysis

In July 2013, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) launched a partnership to better support child welfare-involved youth achieve healthy sexual and identity development. This institutional analysis prepared by CSSP used data analysis, case reviews, and interviews to understand current experiences of LGBTQ+ children and families who interact with child welfare as well as cultural and practice changes that have occurred since the initiative began.

Click here to read the report.

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Linking Data to Improve Human Services Delivery: Podcast

How is the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) able to link data across programs and with providers, given privacy law restrictions?

Erin Dalton, Director of DHS, and Brian Bell, a supervisor and privacy officer, share their insights on the Gov Innovator podcast. Hosted by Andy Feldman of the Brooking’s Institution, the podcast shares insights and strategies from leaders in the public sector. This talk builds on an earlier conversation with Dalton about the Data Warehouse.

Click here to access the interview.

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Human Services: Sustained and Coordinated Efforts Could Facilitate Data-Sharing While Protecting Privacy

U.S. Government Accountability Office

The U.S. Government Accountability Office examined four innovative data sharing practices (including DHS’s) to determine (1) how selected states or localities have shared data across programs to improve the administration of human services, (2) challenges state and local human services agencies face in balancing privacy protections with greater data sharing, and (3) actions that the federal government could take to help address these challenges.

Click to read the full report. 

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Youth Using Behavioral Health Services: Making the Transition from the Child to Adult System

Addressing the specific needs of youth across multiple life domains as they transition from the children’s behavioral health treatment system to the adult treatment system is critically important. To help quantify these issues and contribute to discussions related to system interventions locally, Allegheny Health Choices, Inc. (AHCI) identified a cohort of youth who turned 17 between January 2007 and December 2009 and used behavioral health services while 17. This report describes their service use characteristics and involvement with other systems during their 17th year compared to their 18th year.

Click to read the full report.