Current information

Since 2016, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) in Pennsylvania has utilized the Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST), which assists child welfare call screening caseworkers in their assessment of general protective service (GPS) referrals regarding potential child maltreatment.

What is this report about?

This report reviews the research evidence on algorithms in child welfare, specifically focusing on the causal impacts of the AFST and comparable predictive risk models (PRMs). It begins by summarizing the influence of these tools on child welfare decisions. The report then explores the discrepancies between perceived and actual effects of these models, highlighting the importance of bridging the gap between perception and reality to alleviate concerns and maximize the effectiveness of these tools.

What are the takeaways?

The impacts of predictive risk models in child welfare must be compared with alternative approaches to augmenting call screening caseworker decision-making. Traditional risk assessments in child welfare have been largely manual, prone to inconsistencies, and often omit critical information. Before implementing the AFST, Allegheny County did not employ any structured risk assessment.

The main conclusions from recent research on the AFST are:

  • The AFST changed the composition of investigated referrals. The introduction of the AFST decreased the probability of investigation for referrals with low risk of removal and increased the probability of investigation among referrals with high risk of removal. The introduction of the AFST also reduced the racial gap in investigation rates, particularly among higher risk referrals.
  • The AFST is reducing, not increasing, racial disparities. Researchers found that the introduction of the model reduced racial disparities in investigation rates across AFST scores, although the size and precision of the reduction varied. The AFST reduced the racial disparity in investigation rates for the highest risk referrals by 83%, from 10.6% to 1.8%. The researchers estimated that the AFST reduced the Black–White gap in removal rates of screened-in referrals by 73%, from 4.3% to 1.2%.
  • Screeners use the algorithm but with caution. Researchers found that call screening case workers are integrating information from the AFST effectively, aligning their decisions more closely with predicted removal risk compared with the period before the tool’s introduction. The tool is seen as a helpful source of additional information rather than a replacement for professional judgment. 

How is this report being used?

The application of algorithms to support decision-making, especially in sensitive areas like child welfare, mandates high transparency. It is critical that the complexities of predictive risk models are communicated clearly to all stakeholders to maintain trust and prevent misuse. DHS is committed to keeping the public informed about the use and impact of algorithms at the Department and draw upon current research to shape the implementation of these tools in the field.

Read more about AFST here.

Current dataset and related materials

What is the Community Need Index?

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) conducts a Community Need Index (CNI) to identify specific areas that are in greater need, and face larger socioeconomic barriers, relative to others. The newest version of the CNI index ranks neighborhoods by need level by looking at:

  • The percentage of families who live below the poverty line
  • The percentage of unemployed or unattached males
  • The percentage of those aged 25 and up without at least a Bachelor’s degree
  • The percentage of single parent households
  • The percentage of households without internet access
  • Rate of homicide per 100,000 residents
  • Rate of fatal overdoses per 100,000 residents

The researchers used a census tract level to break up the region and assess needs. Census tracts are static, relatively small subdivisions of a county.

How can I view the findings?

An interactive map allows users to view and extract data from the 2024 CNI (which uses 2022 five-year data estimates and totals). The new report focuses on all of Allegheny County, examines changes in need over time, and places emphasis on the connection between race and community need. Earlier reports are linked below.

What are the takeaways?

  • In Allegheny County, we continue to find the highest levels of need in specific sections of the City of Pittsburgh (Hill District, South Hilltop, parts of the West End, Upper East End neighborhoods, Upper Northside) as well as census tracts outside the City of Pittsburgh (Mon Valley, sections of the Allegheny County River Valley, sections of Penn Hills, sections of Wilkinsburg, Stowe-Rocks).
  • There are vast discrepancies between the lowest need communities, which have an average poverty rate of 2%, and the highest need communities, where the average poverty rate is 38%.
  • With few exceptions, census tract-level community need is persistent over time.
  • Only about one-third of Allegheny County’s Black residents live in lower-need communities. For every other racial and ethnic group in the County, the majority of residents live in lower need communities. Black communities in Allegheny County have disproportionately high levels of need, as do a number of racially mixed communities. 
  • Poverty status alone does not account for where various racial and ethnic groups tend to live by level of need; poor Black and Latino families are more likely than other poor families to live in higher need communities. Even Black families above the poverty line are many times more likely than their Asian, White and Latino peers above the poverty line to live in higher need communities.

How is this report used?

The geographic dimensions of community need can help inform many aspects of DHS’s strategic planning and resource allocation decisions, such as decisions on where to locate Family Centers or new after-school programs.

Where can I go for more information?

For more information, you can read previous reports below. Or you can reach out to DHS-Research@alleghenycounty.us with any questions.

 

Previous reports in this series 

Previous datasets in this series

Home » Topics » Page 2

Allegheny County Discounted Fares Pilot Program

Current Plan and Related Documents

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) partnered with Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) to launch a new transportation assistance program in November 2022 called the Discounted Fares Pilot. This program offered free and reduced-price PRT rides for county residents ages 18 to 64 who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, along with their 6- to 17-year-old children. The fare discounts were allocated using a lottery. Each household in the pilot was randomly assigned to one of three groups, each with equal probability. One group received unlimited free PRT trips, a second group received a 50% discount on all PRT trips, and a third group received no discount. The fare discounts lasted for at least 12 months for the free-fare and half-fare groups.  

What is this report about?

This report first describes the results from the first year of the pilot.  It describes the design of the pilot, the characteristics of the participants and provides estimates of the causal impact of the fare discounts on travel behavior and health care utilization.  It also reports on impacts on self-reported outcomes related to employment, financial stability, and well-being.

What are the takeaways?

  • A total of 9,544 adults and 4,928 children enrolled in the Pilot during the three-month open enrollment period. The majority of adult participants were female (72%) and Black (59%). Participants reported taking an average of ten PRT trips per week and spending an average of nearly $30 on public transportation per week at the time they enrolled in the Pilot.
  • Most participants successfully received their Pilot-issued farecard and used the card at least one time. 90 percent of adults in the free-fares group tapped their assigned farecard at least once. 82 percent of the half-fares group and 81 percent of the no-discount group tapped their farecard at least once. The majority of farecard non-users likely never received their assigned card.
  • Larger fare discounts resulted in greater use of Pilot-issued farecards. Participants in the half-fares group tapped their assigned farecards an average of 1.6 more times per week than the no-discount group. Participants in the free-fares group tapped their assigned farecards an average of 3.3 more times per week than the half-fare group. 
  • The fare discounts yielded improvements in certain measures of financial savings and transportation security. In particular, the free fares reduced self-reported weekly spending on PRT trips by more than $17 relative to no discount while there was an $8.92 decrease in weekly spending on average for the 50% discount group. Free fares led to a 26 percentage-point decrease, while 50% discounts resulted in a 10 percentage-point drop in the self-reported likelihood of missing work or other appointments in the past four weeks due to transportation issues.
  • Discounted fares had limited effects on health care utilization, with no clear patterns emerging in terms of increased or decreased use of care. The fare discounts had no discernible impact on participants’ likelihood of receiving Medicaid-funded health care in the first 270 days after they enrolled in the Pilot.

How is this being used? 

DHS is using the Pilot results to better understand the ways that low-income households may benefit from reduced PRT fares. We will continue to refine our understanding by analyzing longer-term outcomes and by incorporating insights from qualitative interviews that were conducted with a subset of participants. These findings will be shared in a future publication.

DHS has also used the preliminary Pilot results to inform the design and implementation of a longer-term program that will offer a 50% PRT discount for working-age county SNAP beneficiaries and their children. This new program, called Allegheny Go, is scheduled to launch in June 2024.

Other information

Research Plan

Reports and related dashboard

Each year, Allegheny County participates in a national census, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), of the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night. The Point-in-Time count enumerates people experiencing homelessness in the County who are sheltered (residing in emergency shelters), unsheltered (residing in places not meant for human habitation) or participating in a short-term, supportive housing program (transitional and safe haven).

While the Point-in-Time count allows for annual comparisons, DHS also maintains a real-time dashboard that tracks the daily number of people in emergency shelters and a weekly count of people known to be experiencing unsheltered homelessness based on their engagement with street outreach teams. 

What are the key takeaways from the 2024 count?

  • On January 30, 2024, in Allegheny County, 1,026 individuals were staying in emergency shelters or experiencing unsheltered homelessness (compared to 913 in 2023).  
    • 857 were staying in emergency shelters (84% of overall count)  
    • 169 were unsheltered (16% of overall count)  
  • An increase in the number of individuals staying in emergency shelter (+99) is largely responsible for the increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in the 2024 count. 
  • The number of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness increased (+14) since 2023, but the percent increase of 8% is smaller than the year-over-year increases in 2022 and 2023, which were 62% and 48%, respectively. 
  • Adult-only households differ from adult-child households both demographically and in how they access and use shelter, which is why we look at these populations separately in this year’s brief. 
  • Among individuals in adult-only households (n=702): 
    • The majority (76%) were staying in shelters. 
    • Men were overrepresented in both sheltered (64%) and unsheltered (66%) locations. 
    • White adults were more likely to be unsheltered (57%) than adults of other races, but Black adults were overrepresented in shelters and in unsheltered locations, as Black individuals make up only 14% of the County’s population. 
    • The unsheltered adult population skewed slightly younger than those who were in shelter; a third of sheltered adults were 55+ (vs. 13% of those unsheltered). 
    • Veterans made up a small percentage of both the sheltered (7%) and unsheltered (5%) populations.  
    • There were 30 adult survivors of domestic violence in shelter (6%); in surveys, an additional three unsheltered individuals mentioned intimate partner violence as a factor leading to their homelessness. 
  • Among the 324 individuals in adult-child households, all of whom were staying in shelter: 
    • Women/girls were overrepresented (61%), skewed by female-headed households. 
    • Black individuals were significantly overrepresented, at nearly 70% of those in family shelters. 
    • There were 93 unique households and they tended to be younger families; most adults were under 45 and 60% of the family shelter population was under 18. 
    • Almost a quarter of adults staying in family shelter were survivors of intimate partner violence.

How are these reports used?

The data collected during the yearly Point-in-time is submitted to HUD, to create a yearly homelessness assessment report presented to congress. For more information, visit the HUD website on the Point-in-Time Count, linked here.

Allegheny County uses the yearly data as a component of its work to understand trends and needs, informing the County’s strategies to reduce homelessness and better serve those experiencing it.

Previous Reports in this series

Current information

DHS has set five goals to guide us and our partners in serving our community well. We aim for our network for human services to improve access to care, prevent overuse of coercive services, prevent harm, increase economic security and ensure quality.

What is this report about?

DHS can reach our goals more quickly if we devote time and attention to several big, bold initiatives that will make our systems and our organization work better for everyone we serve. This document outlines our key initiatives in 2024—which are in addition to our core work of running effective systems of care for people.

Current information

County human services includes programs from over 300 community-based agencies and is delivered by social workers, peers, and outreach staff working all throughout the county. These staff run out-of-school-time programs, answer hotlines, investigate reports of potential harm to children and vulnerable adults, deliver meals to seniors and run Senior Centers, make home visits to families with newborns, and do the administrative work that makes our human services run efficiently.

What is this report about?

This report highlights the 2023 accomplishments that stood out. There are many, many other achievements that people told us about. We chose the ones that made the biggest difference.

Current Information

In Allegheny County, a network of shelters provides temporary places to stay for people experiencing homelessness. Allegheny County’s emergency shelter network includes facilities that serve only adults and others that offer spaces to families with children or other dependents (family shelters).

What is this report about?

This data brief focuses on the group of approximately 598 people in 184 households that enrolled in one of six family shelters at least once from April 2022 through March 2023. People are eligible for family shelters if they are 1) an adult with a minor child(ren) or a child over 18 years old still enrolled in high school, 2) a woman or couple without a minor child where the woman is in her third trimester of pregnancy, or 3) a couple unable to separate or parent with an adult child where one is caregiving for the other.

See the related data briefs, “People Using Adult-Only Emergency Shelters in Allegheny County” and “People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness in Allegheny County” for descriptions of other people served in the homeless system

What are the takeaways?

  • Ninety percent (N=165) of heads of household who used family shelters were female and Black individuals were over-represented – 77% of heads of households were Black, but Black individuals only make up 14% of the county. Most households (71%) consisted of an adult female head of household and one or more children. Forty-nine percent of children (N=179) were age 5 or younger at the time they entered a family shelter. An additional 35% were ages 6 through 12 and 16% were ages 13 through 17.
  • Most families had not recently used the shelter system and only stayed once. 84% of families only used shelter once during this period and only 6% had used a shelter or County housing program in the year prior to their first stay.
  • Although half of families stayed in shelter for more than two months, the largest group of families exited within a week of entering. Seventy-nine percent (N=153) of all stays resulted in households exiting to stable housing, which includes a County housing program (32%), housing with family or friends (27%), or an owned or rented property (19%). An additional 19% exited to another shelter.
  • Income is limited for heads of household using family shelters. 70% (N=129) of heads of household self-reported income from any source, with an average monthly income of $923. Additionally, DHS was able to access Pennsylvania Labor and Industry information for 171 individuals in this cohort (93%). Of these heads of household, 47% (N=81) had earnings, with an average monthly income of $1,243.
  • About a third of Medicaid-enrolled heads of household used behavioral health services, most of which were mental health outpatient services. The most common diagnosis was acute stress disorder (30% of people with a diagnosis), a short-term mental health condition that can occur within the first months after experiencing a traumatic event.
  • Asthma was the most common chronic condition for Medicaid-enrolled children using shelter and the second most common for heads of household. Asthma rates for both are twice as high as those in the general Medicaid-enrolled population in the County
  • Fifteen percent of families using these shelters had an active child welfare case in the year prior to their stay. This could indicate the need for additional support and safety nets within the child welfare system or as families transition out of it.

How is this report being used? 

Emergency shelters are meant to be short-term accommodations for people experiencing a crisis. The County’s goal is to ensure that shelter stays are rare, brief and non-recurring.  The County is working with shelter staff and other housing providers to support client moves to stable housing when possible, with the goal of improving their overall outcomes and ensuring that short-term beds are available when people need them. 

Current Information

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) believes that appropriate sharing of client information is essential to the provision, continuity and overall quality of care provided to DHS clients. It has created a number of tools and mechanisms to facilitate this sharing, including the creation of tools for contracted providers to access information on clients they are serving and mechanisms for providers to safely and security share client information back with DHS. Read more about this here and access the tools through the below links.

Where can I access provider tools?

Links to clientivew, a tool for individual care coordination, and provider connect, a tool for to support provider decision-making, are found here. You can also access data exchange, one of the tools that providers can use to securely share information back with DHS.

How I can gain access to these tools if I don’t already have it?

If you are a contracted provider with DHS, you can request access to provider tools through DHS’s application support portal.

Learn more about the Data Warehouse

What is the Allegheny County Data Warehouse?

The Allegheny County Data Warehouse brings together and integrates client and service data from a wide variety of sources both internal and external to the County.

How was the Data Warehouse developed?

The Data Warehouse was created by consolidating publicly-funded human services data (e.g., behavioral health, child welfare, developmental supports, homelessness and aging) and, over time, expanded to include data from other sources. The Data Warehouse was made possible with support from the Human Service Integration Fund, a flexible funding pool created by a coalition of local foundations for the purpose of supporting integration and innovation within DHS.

How does the Data Warehouse support of the work of Allegheny County?

The Data Warehouse was designed primarily to improve services to clients, but also to improve the ability of workers to perform their jobs and to support management decisionmaking; it is also intended to be available as a community resource, making data and information publicly available whenever possible.

Where can I learn more?

  • This overview document describes the development of the Data Warehouse, the County’s data sharing partnerships, and how the data is utilized to support client services and decisionmaking. 
Home » Topics » Page 2

Annual Human Services Case Competition for Local Graduate Students

Latest report

What is the DHS case competition?

Each year, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) hosts a competition for local graduate students that challenges interdisciplinary teams to solve a problem in local government.

What information is available?

Yearly reports, below, describe the case topic and students’ proposed solutions. A short video explains the event.

All reports

  • 2023: Improving outcomes for people involved in an involuntary commitment
  • 2022: Innovating in the Aftershock of COVID-19: A Post-Pandemic Local Government Playbook
  • 2019: Human Service Delivery in the Gig Economy
  • 2018: Emerging Technologies to Address Human Service Problems
  • 2017: Rethinking Human Services Delivery
  • 2016: Improving Systems to Help People with Barriers Gain and Sustain Employment
  • 2015: Making Transportation Work: Creating Access and Ensuring Equity
  • 2014: Pathways to Safe and Affordable Housing for People Involved in the Human Services System
  • 2013: Building a Human Services Workforce for the 21st Century
  • 2012: Addressing Suburban Poverty and Those Affected by It
  • 2011: Reducing Stigma among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
  • 2010: Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pathways to the Promise
  • 2009: Building the Homewood Children’s Village
  • 2008: Greening DHS
  • 2007: The Future of DHS
Most recently published plans

In its responsibility for administering publicly-funded human services, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) plans for the allocation of more than $1B in areas that span behavioral health, children and families, aging, housing and homelessness, and intellectual disability and autism services.

How does DHS plan its allocation of resources?

DHS planning activities are ongoing and iterative. They include:

What is the County Human Services Plan?

The County Human Services Plan consolidates planning requirements for categorical components of the Human Services Block Grant, including Mental Health Community Base-Funded Services, Behavioral Health Services Initiative (BHSI), Intellectual Disabilities Community Base-Funded Services, Act 152 of 1988 Drug and Alcohol Services, Homeless Assistance Program Funding, and Human Services Development Funds. It is submitted annually to the PA Department of Human Services, 60 days after the agency releases its annual bulletin (usually in the summer).

What is the Needs-Based Plan and Budget?

The Needs-Based Plan and Budget articulates Allegheny County’s priorities, planned services, and resource needs for serving children and families – in particular those children and families who are involved with, or at risk of involvement with, the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. It is submitted annually to the PA Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth & Families (the budget narrative submission deadline is August 15th every year).

State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025-26

Older plans:

What is the Area Agency on Aging Strategic Plan?

The Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is part of a nationwide aging network led by the U.S. Administration on Community Living and the Pennsylvania Department on Aging (PDA). Every four years, PDA requires each of the Commonwealth’s fifty-two (52) Area Agencies on Aging to submit an action plan for the following four years. This Four-Year Plan considers the demographic trends of the region, the changing needs of the consumers, and the current services provided by the Allegheny County AAA.

Additionally, every year the Allegheny County AAA releases Program Updates and a Budget Prospectus, as well as an Annual Report.

Community Services Needs Assessment & Strategic Plan

Allegheny County DHS is the designated community action agency for the receipt of the County’s (outside the City of Pittsburgh) Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds. CSBG is a federally funded block grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Office of Community Services that supports services aiming to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in under resourced communities. CSBG recipients are required to conduct a needs assessment and develop a strategic plan no less than every 5 years.  

Housing and Homelessness

Allegheny County DHS, through its Office of Community Services, is the designated Infrastructure Organization and United Funding Agency for the Allegheny County Continuum of Care (CoC) – the network of services and stakeholders engaged in making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. Starting in 2016, the CoC underwent a community planning process to create its strategic plan. The strategic planning process is summarized in Preventing and Ending Homelessness – Community Strategic Planning Process. Principles guiding the strategic plan can be found in the Guiding Principles: Allegheny County Plan to Prevent & End Homelessness. The working board of the CoC, the Homeless Advisory Board (HAB), voted to accept the plan on July 25, 2017.

Opioid Settlement Funding

Other plans

Current Information

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) conducted a study of the involuntary hospitalization program in the county. Involuntary hospitalizations occur when an individual undergoing a psychiatric episode is deemed to be a clear and present danger to themselves or others.  The specific section that governs the intake process of an individual is Section 302 of the Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA), and for that reason the entire program is sometimes called the 302 program.

Evaluations occur in a hospital setting. Following an upheld commitment individuals can initially be detained for up to 120 hours, with the potential for extensions. The county seeks to understand the system in detail and improve outcomes among individuals who go through this process.

What is this report about?

This report describes individuals who went through the involuntary hospitalization program from 2015-2022. The analysis profiles the individuals including their characteristics such as diagnosis, their usage of mental and behavioral health services, and their outcomes post release. 

What are the takeaways?

  • Involuntary hospitalizations are common, affecting over 3,700 residents each year. The most common source of referrals occur from friend / family (43%), police officers (19%), and physicians (14%).
  • Individuals who are involuntarily hospitalized have poor outcomes upon release—within 5 years of their first evaluation, fully 20% of the population has died, a rate that is higher than that for clients exiting jail, enrolling in homeless shelters, or receiving food assistance (SNAP) as well as the rate for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) diagnoses.
  • We find worse outcomes among 302 individuals with a pre-existing substance use disorder (SUD)— 5% of those with SUD 18–50 years of age die within two years of intake, compared to 2.5% of the 18–50-year-olds without SUD. Of those with SUD, eighty percent (60%) of the mortality rate is attributable to drug overdose.
  • We found similarly elevated risks for other adverse outcomes. Over 23% were charged with a crime within 5 years of release, and 60% used an emergency department (ED) within one year of release.
  • Statistical methods can distinguish between riskier and less risky clients with high fidelity at the moment of the 302 evaluation.
  • Those petitioned for involuntary commitment were disproportionately Black, although petition-upheld rates are similar across race. A similar picture emerges for gender—men were more likely to be petitioned, but upheld rates at the point of exam were similar for men and women.

How is this report being used?

The report serves as an initial analysis into the involuntary hospitalization process. The county is using this analysis, as well as planned subsequent ones that look at the impact of an involuntary hospitalization on a person’s outcomes, and input from clinicians and community members to develop recommendations to improve care for this vulnerable population. Ultimately the county is looking to improve both the process and the outcomes for individuals who experience an involuntary hospitalization.

Home » Topics » Page 2

Hello Baby Prevention Model and Program Supports Parents of New Babies

Overview documents

What is Hello Baby?

New information added September 2023

Hello Baby is designed for parents of new babies in Allegheny County to strengthen families, improve children’s outcomes, and maximize child and family well-being, safety and security. Hello Baby’s tiered prevention model offers a variety of supports designed to meet families’ varied needs and interests through the child’s third year.

How was Hello Baby developed?

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) undertook an extensive process to develop the Hello Baby prevention strategy. In addition to drawing from decades of experience by DHS leadership, service workers and families, the process included:

  • A review of data and best practices identified in the literature
  • Dozens of individual and group meetings with local service providers, families in the community, social workers, clinical specialists and local, national and international child development experts
  • Two independent, comprehensive reviews by experts in the field

How is Hello Baby being used?

The resulting prevention program has a differentiated approach, with flexible service delivery that is based upon the understanding that each family is unique and has different and varying levels of needs and barriers to support. In addition to self- and community-referral pathways, Hello Baby also uses an innovative and predictive risk model (PRM) that uses integrated data to identify the highest need families eligible for services. Hello Baby includes a universal entry point designed to increase awareness of available support services for all new parents and improve overall engagement rates. It incorporates community level support and proven home visiting techniques, hiring culturally competent staff with lived experiences to support families with moderate to high needs and intensive engagement and service coordination to support families with the highest needs. An evaluation partner has already been selected to ensure that Hello Baby benefits from rapid feedback and learning throughout the implementation.

Related materials

For more information about Hello Baby and to access resources for new parents, visit Hello Baby online.

Recent press coverage of Hello Baby is available here.